When giving a presentation, whether your goal is to convert audience members into clients or be purely educational, don’t derail your (amazing!) talk with a poorly handled question-and-answer (Q&A) session. Q&A sessions are the riskiest part of your talk because you give control to your audience. A mismanaged Q&A can seriously detract from your credibility and conversion rate. Here are 10 tips for handling your Q&A session like a pro.
1. Never end your presentation with Q&A
Never close your presentation with Q&A. If you do, you will likely experience what I call the “Foosh!” Factor. That’s when all the positive energy you generated during your presentation suddenly drains from the room in a very noticeable way. That’s not how you want to end your presentation.
You want your most important words to be ringing in your audience’s ears as they file out of the room. The quickest way to lose the benefit of all the hard work you’ve done is to have someone in the audience make an odd comment or ask a question that takes the energy out of the room.
Many years ago, I was speaking to a group of entrepreneurs. The talk was going great. I opened up the Q&A and got a few good questions. Then a man raised his hand and said, “I just want you to know that that slide you have up on the screen has been sitting there for the past 20 minutes, and I’m really distracted by it.”
I kept my poise and politely thanked him for the feedback, but immediately, the room was deflated of its energy. It was an odd comment, and he may have been right, but it had no bearing on the discussion. Certainly he could have given me that feedback after my talk, and I would have been happy to receive it.
Fortunately, that wasn’t the end of my presentation, so I was able to recover the energy. The rest of the talk went great, and it ended on a high note. But if that had been the end of my presentation, that awkward moment would have been what people remembered—not my key message.
2. Decide if and when the Q&A will happen
So when should you do your Q&A session?
Most speakers don’t even ask themselves that question; they just assume they need one. That’s not necessarily true. I encourage you to consider your talk and determine if you need or want to have a time that’s designated for Q&A?
Sometimes, the Q&A session actually can decrease your conversion rate. For example, if you’re offering appointments to meet with you, then having a Q&A session could adversely affect how many people sign up.
If you decide you do need a Q&A session, there are two ideal places to put it:
- After each key point
- After your last key point—but before your offer and conclusion
3. Take control of the situation
Before you even decide where to place Q&A, adopt the mindset of a benevolent dictator—you are kind and good, but you are running the show. You want your audience to recognize that you’re in control. It’s kind of like hosting a party at your home. You want all your guests to have a great time, but you also want to make it clear which rooms they are and are not welcome to explore. When you establish that up front, your guests will treat you, their host, with the utmost respect. This is true when you are the speaker on the stage, too. Assume control of the situation.
People get intimidated because there’s only one speaker but 50, 100 or even thousands of audience members and feel pressure to conform to what the audience expects them to do instead of doing what is good for the group. As a speaker, your mindset has to be, “I am going to put the good of the group above the need of any one individual.”
4. Set expectations for the Q&A
At the beginning of your presentation, state that you will be taking questions later on. This will stimulate the audience to start thinking of questions to ask later.
Then, once you get to the Q&A portion of your talk, let your audience know how many questions you will take or how long you will entertain questions. You could say, “I’ll take two questions, and then I’ll wrap up the message: or “We have five minutes for questions, and then we’ll put a bow on the message for today.”
Along with setting expectations, this also lets your audience know that your presentation will not end with the Q&A session. This is important information. Why? Because most speakers do end with Q&A, as soon as that segment begins, people begin packing up their papers and shuffling around in anticipation of leaving. That is disruptive to your presentation and creates that Foosh Factor!
5. Launch your Q&A with an open-ended question
Avoid asking, “Do you have any questions?” or “Are there any questions?” Those are closed-ended questions that can be answered with a simple “Yes” or “No”—or silence. Instead, ask, “What questions do you have?” Now it’s no longer about whether or not they have a question; it’s about what questions they have, and how many.
6. Restate every question
There are many reasons, both practical and tactical to do this.
Often, someone in the front of the room will ask a question, and few in the audience can hear what the question is. This is frustrating because then the speaker’s response holds little meaning.
Also, if the session is being recorded, that question might not be audible on the recording. If you have someone in the audience with a wireless microphone who hands the mic to each person who asks a question, that will help.
In addition, restating the question also makes the person who asked the question feel understood, and it gives you time to frame your response.
7. Give brief answers
Anticipate what questions people will ask, and prepare for those answers in advance. This is easier if you’ve given the same presentation before. The longer you take to answer, the quicker your audience will stop believing you.
If you are going to give a three-part response, let your audience know. You might say, “There are three critical strategies you can use. First… and second… and finally…” This way, if you do speak a little longer than you want, it won’t seem like you are rambling. It will still be a structured response.
8. Acknowledge the validity of exceptional questions
Some speakers resist doing this. They say that if you compliment one audience member on his or her question, then you will offend everyone else who asks a question. Let them be offended! If somebody gets offended because you praised someone else, that’s really not your problem. Saying “Great question!” often does more good than harm. But say it only if you mean it.
9. Check your audience’s understanding
Especially if the answers you’re giving are somewhat complex, ask your audience, “Does that make sense?” Don’t overdo it, but it can be a helpful technique if the person who asked the question or other audience members have puzzled expressions. It doesn’t hurt to check.
10. Handle difficult questions with poise
Sometimes, your presentation is going along well, and then an audience member hijacks the situation and creates an uncomfortable situation. Here are four potential scenarios and how to handle them with poise.
A. Confrontational or snarky audience member
It doesn’t happen often, but you could encounter an audience member who becomes confrontational or snarky when asking you a question. It could be because your answer didn’t satisfy the person or because he or she is just in a bad mood or disagrees with you. Whatever the reason, keep your cool and simply say, “I would be happy to speak with you about that after the talk.” And then move on.
It’s really important to remember that when someone acts like that, it’s not personal. That person would probably challenge any speaker and probably has done it to other speakers. It’s about them, not about you, and usually, the audience knows it’s the audience member who’s being inappropriate. If you can handle the situation in a professional manner, you’ll look really good.
B. Audience member asks a personal question
This next scenario comes up often: an audience member will ask a question that’s specifically related to his or her personal situation. It’s not something that will benefit the group at large. If that happens, you can say, “The answer to your specific question is complex. It requires a more in-depth conversation. Let’s take it offline after the presentation. Just come see me afterward. I’d be happy to discuss that with you in greater detail.” And then move on. Do not get into long answers about personal situations because the rest of your audience will get really annoyed by this and will start to lose their focus. Remember, as a presenter, your job is to act for the good of the group, not for the good of one individual. It is appropriate and necessary for you to redirect those types of questions.
C. You don’t know the answer to a question
If someone asks you a question you don’t know the answer to, just throw it back to the audience. You could say, “Interesting question. What do you think? Does someone in the audience have experience with this or an answer for this?”
Or you can just be honest and say, “I don’t know the answer to that. Let me research it, and I’ll get back to you. Come give me your email address after we’re done here, and I’d be happy to get back to you with the answer.” That can be difficult, but it’s better than scrambling to think of an answer in front of your audience or providing an inaccurate answer.
D. No one asks questions
What if you open up the floor for Q&A, and no one asks a question? (This happened to me today!) It does not mean you did a poor job. If people are engaged and paying attention during your talk, that’s what counts. I had many people come up to me today saying, “Thank you! I loved your talk!” I had people come up after the talk and ask me questions. But for some reason they didn’t want to during the presentation.
It’s OK. There are many reasons why audiences don’t have questions, but since we’re not mind-readers, let’s move on and talk about how to handle it when it does happen. First, don’t panic. All you have to do is say, “Here are the two questions I typically get,” and give them the answers to those questions. This takes preplanning. Come to your talk armed with one or two questions in advance that you have been asked before, and use this strategy if no one asks a question. It works like a charm and moves you past a potentially awkward moment.
If you incorporate these 10 techniques into your Q&A session you will create a deeper connection with your audience, you will own the room, and best of all, you will avoid the dreaded Foosh Factor!