Answering Presentation Questions Confidently
Taking questions is an integral part of your presentation and requires the same preparation as the presentation content in order for you to manage things with confidence. There are different ways of taking questions from the audience and this will depend on the type of presentation scenario.
If you are giving a more interactive presentation, you may be taking questions throughout the presentation and it can become more of a discussion with the audience. If it is a more formal presentation, you may have a Q&A session at the end of the presentation.
The importance of preparation
Whatever type of presentation it is , its important that you prepare for the questions from the audience.
You don’t want to just rely on being able to think on your feet on the day and hope that it all goes well. You can do some specific preparation, just as you do with your presentation.
Audience Baggage
It’s good to think about the audience again and what attitude or pre-conceived ideas or opinions they may have when the come to the presentation.
This is what we call ’Audience Baggage’. If you consider the Audience Baggage beforehand and think about the types of questions the audience may ask, you are going to be more prepared.
Preparing for difficult questions
It’s good to write down some of the most difficult questions you may be asked.
Then take the time to decide how best to answer these. Write down your answers. Then practise answering them out aloud. If you’re unhappy about your response, rework it.
The responses that you have prepared will then help you if you do actually get asked these (or similar) questions on the day by giving you a set of phrases and words you have already formulated in your mind that you can now draw upon.
Controlling the audience
You want to be in control of your audience and not let anyone take over in the question section.
There are some key techniques that you can use to help control your audience. For example setting ground rules and how to do this effectively so that the audience follow them.
Also it’s important to fully understand the questions first before responding. Often we go into panic mode when we hear the question rather than staying calm and taking time to listen to the question to make sure that we fully understand it. So taking time to listen and understand the question first is a good calming technique and will help you stay in control.
Avoiding audience traps
The ability to deal with difficult questions and being able to respond with ease, without losing face is very important in order for you to maintain your confidence.
It’s therefore important that you are succinct in your responses and say what you want to say rather than what the audience might try and trap you into saying. Again – the more you have prepared beforehand and anticipated difficult or trap questions, the more you will be able to handle them effectively on the day.
Ending confidently
It’s also important that you know how to end the question and answer session confidently.
It can be sometimes hard to bring the session to an end if people have got more questions to ask. The last thing you want is to lose control of things right at the end, so plan how you want to end the Q&A session beforehand. Make sure you stick to the time allocated and have a closing statement or strategy at hand, ready to use when you want to end the session.
The ability to take questions effectively is all about good preparation and planning, so that you have the ability and confidence to be able to tackle any question that you have thrown at you.
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Hi Jonathan, thanks for your comment. It’s good to have some debate here. However I suspect you’ve missed an opportunity to add what you’d personally suggest instead of acknowledging the question.
For me, acknowledging and then rephrasing the question in a way that allows me to validate my own understanding is a great way to give my brain the time needed to formulate the best response and avoid putting my foot in it!
What do you think?
My feeling is that the rephrasing can form part of the ‘repeat back’ to ensure that everyone has heard. If the question has been asked in a convoluted way (as they often are) it also gives the presenter the opportunity to confirm that have heard and understood correctly. So “Thank you for the question. What I have been asked here is………………have I go that right?” And then answer. Of course “Thank you for the question. You don’t happen to know any easier ones do you?” always get a laugh!
I agree with the acknowledgement and confirmation of the question – my issue is with the standard “that’s a great question” line. I’ve heard some presenters use it after every single question that’s asked. When this happens, the phrase becomes meaningless and sounds insincere. It can sound like it’s been taught to them by rote rather than being a natural and honest statement of fact/opinion. One of the key qualities of a good presenter is credibility and authenticity and I worry that stock lines of this kind can dilute this.
Hi Jonathan, that’s a good point you make when its a “standard response” and obvious as such to the audience.
The challenge many presenters face is dealing with difficult questions. Presenters should, as part of their preparation, make a list of possible questions, especially difficult ones, you anticipate people will ask you.
You then need to determine how you want to answer those specific questions, keeping in mind what the response would be from your company’s position as well as your own. If it makes sense, incorporate answering those questions directly in you actual presentation. Having thought about the questions and actually including those questions will show the audience you considered what they may ask ahead of time. You will then be in a better prepared state to deal with the specific questions.
If posed with a very difficult, or even hostile question, learn how to “rephrase” the question to a more neutral position and respond to the rephrased question. This becomes easy with practice.
I encourage my clients to practice questions during their “dry run” rehearsals. Having a dry run rehearsal will other colleagues will also allow you to collectively decide how to best answer the question. With many clients, I even suggest keeping a notebook of questions which have been asked in the past along with the proper responses to those questions.
The Q&A period of a presentation may be the most exciting part of the presentation. It also demands that your learn to think and speak on your feet more. I will sometimes prepare what I call “hip pocket slides” which I can use to illustrate (if needed) the answer to those questions.
The important piece of advice I can say is to “PRACTICE” answering questions as part of your dry run rehearsals. Presenters today do not do enough dry run rehearsals. If they did, their presentations would be much more effective.
Lenny Laskowski, National Best Selling Author,. “10 Days to More Confident Public Speaking”
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