Comments on: Answering Presentation Questions Confidently

By: physical therapist

physical therapist — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 01:27:32 +0000

Pretty nice post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed browsing your blog posts. In any case I’ll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you write again soon!

By: Lenny Laskowski

Lenny Laskowski — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 07:54:28 +0000

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”

By: presentation-skills.biz

presentation-skills.biz — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 17:37:31 +0000

Hi Jonathan, that’s a good point you make when its a “standard response” and obvious as such to the audience.

By: Jonathan Hemus

Jonathan Hemus — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 17:27:32 +0000

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.

By: Tim Lyon

Tim Lyon — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 13:58:37 +0000

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!

By: presentation-skills.biz

presentation-skills.biz — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 22:05:07 +0000

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?

By: Jonathan Hemus

Jonathan Hemus — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 13:28:08 +0000

I agree with m ost of the comments above, but I disagree with Robin’s second point:

b) Always answer a question with a (personal) acknowledgement e.g. “Thanks, Jo. That’s an excellent question.” Acknowledgment is so powerful, and it buys you time for those tricky questions.

I think this has become a cliche and the cynic in me says that the audience knows that the presenter is playing for time – and often that they really wish that particular question had not been put!

By: Tim Lyon

Tim Lyon — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 07:31:41 +0000

When answering questions I try to keep another ‘rule of three’ in my mind. Firstly, when the question has been asked I repeat it back to the audience, this ensures that everyone has heard it.
Secondly, answer it using all the great tips above.
Thirdly, thank the questioner and check with them that they satisfied with the answer. Then there can no avoidance issues.

By: presentation-skills.biz

presentation-skills.biz — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 08:52:03 +0000

Lenny, great point you make re how to end the Q&A session. Can’t think of a better way of doing it.

By: Lenny Laskowski

Lenny Laskowski — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 10:33:32 +0000

On additional tip I suggest to my clients when teaching them how to handle the Q&A session: After you have taken the last question, many people just say thank you. Instead, after you have taken the last question, close with short statement which restates your main message. This brings back the full control of the presentation to you.

Lenny Laskowski
National Best Selling Author, “10 Days to More Confident Public Speaking”