HOW TO ANSWER DIFFICULT QUESTIONS
A guide to make your presentation more effective
Suppose you just finished your presentation and everything
went very well. Now, it is time for
questions. When the very first one is
asked, you cannot answer it.
What should you do?
Or, someone in the audience just wants to show off his knowledge
and does not really want to hear your answer.
What can you do?
These and other situations perplex even veteran business and
technical professionals when they give presentations or lead meetings at the
office. However, there are some easy
methods to adopt when confronted with difficult questions and difficult
questioners.
Overall, you must first consider three points before you
even begin your presentation:
1) When to take questions
2) How to take them
3) How to deal with difficult ones
1) WHEN -- You can take questions during or after your
presentation.
If you take them during, the answers may be more
meaningful. However, there is the
danger that you will lose precious time and introduce information prematurely
(before its time and before the schedule/outline).
If you take questions afterward, you will control the
schedule and time, but you risk losing the audience’s attention and interest
perhaps. Also, at the end of the
presentation, there will be extra emphasis on the questions and answers to them
– rather than on your presentation and your conclusion/recommendation – since
the questions and answers (Q&A) came last in the time sequence.
To avoid this problem, schedule two or three minutes at the
end of the Q&A to summarize your main points.
2) HOW TO TAKE --
There are three usual methods of taking questions. (1) orally, directly from
individuals in the audience, and (2) written, collected and then read to the
audience, and (3) using both oral and written.
The first one is the most efficient, because it saves time
and there is a better opportunity for feedback, clarity of understanding and
eye contact with the person asking the question.
The second method, writing, can sometimes be helpful with an
audience that is too shy to stand up and ask directly.
However, this is time consuming and really limits the
valuable interaction between the presenter and the audience that can be very
effective in communication. On the
other hand, in our environment, sometimes this method is more appropriate,
especially when the presenter is at a higher level status than those people
asking the questions.
The third method, of course, may be the best choice since it
combines the benefits of both oral and written and can accommodate all types of
audiences.
3) HOW TO DEAL WITH DIFFICULT
QUESTIONS -- Here are 5
methods, some of which help you deal with difficult questions and questioners
(for example, see numbers 1 and 2). The
other suggestions will help when you, for a minute, cannot remember the answer,
or need some time to think (for example, look at numbers 1, 4 and 5):
1) REPEAT
– Say: “You’re wondering how to deal with this situation of” (say the
issue/problem) and take the time while you are repeating the question/issue/problem
to formulate an answer that deals with it.
2) TURN
AROUND or TURN BACK – Say: “How would you answer this question?” Or
say: “How would you deal with this issue?”
This tactic is effective for the one who is asking just to be heard and
seen, or for the one who is trying to “catch” you in a mistake. Unfortunately, sometimes, there is one of
these in the audience.
3) TURN
OUTWARD – Say: “How would you deal with this problem?” (point to the
entire audience and make eye contact with several members of the audience).
4) REFLECT: Say: “Good question. “Let’s take a minute to think about this,
and really understand it?”
Another tactic in this situation
that I have seen is to take off your eye glasses, clean them and replace them
on your head, all the while talking about one point of another about the
issue/question/problem.
5) COPY: Write the question on a flip chart,
whiteboard, chalkboard or transparency.
Then allow time for you and the audience to read it. This will give you time, if you have
forgotten the answer and need some time to formulate a response.
NOTE: There are other “phrases”
(which come from our Internet Age environment) I have witnessed in boardrooms,
meeting rooms and conference rooms – and even during telephone conversations –
such as
“Let’s
take that offline” which means you will speak individually with the
person in private because you do not want to answer to the entire audience.
“I
don’t have the bandwith to deal with that right now” which means I don’t
have the authority or I don’t have the permission, or I don’t have the time to
deal with that right now.
IMPORTANT
GENERAL SUGGESTIONS
If
you do not understand the question, ask the person to make it clearer so you
can answer properly
If
you do not know, say “Can I get that information to you, or anyone else who’s
interested after the ______ (meeting, presentation, etc.)
If
someone asks a question (during your presentation) that focuses on information
you are going to give later in your presentation . . . just say: “Good
question. We are going to cover that in
just a few minutes,” Then continue with your current point/idea. CAUTION: Do not use
this as a stalling tactic, because you do not know the answer! This will get you into trouble, because the
audience will be waiting for you to cover the point asked in the question, and
the person asking will certainly catch you!
Talk
to everyone when you answer. Keeping
eye contact only with the questioner will make the others in the audience feel
left out and lose interest in you.
Maintain
eye contact with the audience to see who is confused or has a problem with
understanding your answer. Looking for
negative non-verbal signs will be a clue to you. Just saying: “Is that clear?”
or the usual “Does that answer it?” is not enough, because most people will say
“Yes” even if it is not clear and doesn’t answer it properly. Look at their faces which will tell a bigger
story of their understanding.
CONCLUSION
Finally, remember that Q&A
sessions are not designed to find out if you cannot answer something. They are usually polite part of the
presentation that provides opportunities for exchanging ideas and new
information for both the questioner and the one answering.