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Articles/Presentation Skills |
The
Presentation After the Presentation
by Stephen D. Boyd
Allowing
the audience to ask questions after your
presentation is an excellent way to reinforce your message and to
continue to sell your ideas. In addition, because listeners can ask for
clarification, audience members are less likely to leave your
presentation with misconceptions about the concepts you delivered.
Because of these benefits, the question and answer period is actually
another presentation and vital to most speaking situations.
Here are some suggestions to more effectively handle the question and
answer period. Create the right mental set among your listeners by
telling them early in the presentation that you will have a question
and answer period at the end of your speech. If you have an introducer,
tell that person to mention your willingness to answer questions at the
end of the presentation. People are more likely to ask questions if you
tell them at the beginning that they will have this opportunity.
Show that you want queries. Say, “Who has the first question?” Look
expectant after you ask the question. If no question is asked, “prime
the pump” by asking a question. Say, “A question I’m often asked is….”
Ask the question and then answer it. If there are then no questions,
you can finish with “Are there any other questions?” Some of the
enthusiasm for your presentation is lost if you have no questions from
the audience. Usually, “priming the pump” will motivate audience
members to ask questions.
Look at the person asking the question, and repeat it, especially if
there is a large audience or if you need a moment to think. By
repeating the question you also insure you understood what the person
asked. However, do not continue looking at the person once you start to
answer the question. Remember that you are still in a public speaking
situation and that the whole audience should hear your answer—not just
the person who asked the question. In addition, continue to stand where
you are equally distant from all members of your audience. Avoid the
temptation to move directly to the person who asked the question.
Visually this will make the rest of the audience feel left out. As you
end your answer, look back at the person and his/her facial expression
will tell if you answered the question satisfactorily.
Keep your answer concise and to the point. Don’t give another speech.
The audience will be bored if you take too long to answer a question.
In addition, possibly the only person interested in the answer is the
one who asked the question! If you can answer with a “yes” or “no,”
then do so. This keeps the tempo moving and will help keep the
audience’s attention.
One of the toughest challenges is the loaded question. Don’t answer a
loaded question; defuse it before you answer. Before answering a
question such as, “What are you doing with all the money you are making
from increased prices?” defuse it by saying, “I understand your
frustration with the recent rate increase. I believe what you are
asking is, ‘Why such a sudden increase in rates?’” Then answer that
question. You only get into arguments when you allow yourself to answer
the loaded question. If the person is not satisfied with the changing
of the question’s wording, tell him or her that you will be glad to
talk about it following the question and answer period and move quickly
to the next question.
Sometimes you will have a listener raise his or her hand and instead of
asking a question will make an extended comment—or a speech. This
person has no question. A way to handle this is to watch the person’s
speaking rate, and when he or she takes a moment for a breath interrupt
with “Thanks for your comment….Next question?” Look to the other side
of the room and the long-winded speaker is not sure whether you
interrupted him or whether you really thought he or she was finished.
Do not allow the person to continue with the “speech” because it will
deprive other members of the audience of the opportunity to ask
questions.
Don’t evaluate questions. Avoid saying “That was a great question,” or
“Good question.” If the next person asks a question and you give no
positive adjective, then the person may think you did not approve of
the question and that could stifle others from asking questions. If you
want to affirm a specific question, simply say, “Thanks for asking that
question.” Make everyone feel equally good about asking questions.
Consider having your conclusion after the question and answer period.
This technique allows you to control the end of your time in front of
the audience. Instead of the last question, the audience receives your
prepared and planned conclusion. Say, “Before I make some concluding
remarks, who has a question to ask?” Then when you take the amount of
time you want for the question and answer period, go back to your
conclusion. Thus you can end in a positive and upbeat way rather than
trailing off with “So if there are no further questions, I guess that’s
it….”
Always maintain control of the speaking situation. When you open your
presentation for audience participation, there are risks of losing
control. Anticipate the unexpected. Plan ahead as much as possible.
Look at your content and think about likely questions the audience will
ask. Prepare your own questions to ask. Don’t be afraid to say, “I
don’t know,” and move on to the next question (You might add that you
will be glad to get back to them with an answer at a later time). Be up
front with a questioner if you think the question is not relevant and
in a kind way say so. Your response might be, “Actually, that question
doesn’t the fit the context of our discussion.” Work hard not to lose
your temper with someone who is trying to make you look bad by the
question asked.
Remember that many speaking situations really involve two
presentations: the formal presentation and the question and answer
period. Insure success with both presentations by using these
techniques for the question and answer period.
Stephen D.
Boyd,
Ph.D., CSP, is a professor of speech communication at
Northern Kentucky University in Highland Heights, Kentucky. He works
with organizations that want to speak and listen more effectively to
increase personal and professional performance. He can be reached at
800-727-6520 or visit http://www.sboyd.com for free articles and
resources to improve your communication skills.
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