Many post-presentation question-and-answer sessions are nerve-wracking for speakers because they are unpredictable. You wonder: What if no one asks a question? What if I get a question I can't answer? The key to handling Q&A sessions is planning plus a few tricks to maintain a degree of control.

Prepare for tough questions
As part of your preparation for the presentation, set aside half an hour to imagine the questions you're going to receive. Formulate answers to them. Most important, be ready to answer the questions you don't want to get such as "How come your job isn't being cut along with ours?" Your audience, collectively, will be smart. They will probably ask good, pointed questions. Be your own best critic and prepare for them.

Q&A Basics
Follow these guidelines for a successful question-and-answer session:

Set a time limit: Before you begin, say something like, "I've got ten minutes now to take a few questions." Then adhere to the time limit you set. Having a time limit helps people focus their questions, and it gives you a legitimate out when you've reached the limit.

Move closer to the audience: Ideally, Q&A sessions are more intimate than the speech or presentation you just gave. If you're standing behind a lectern or table, move out in front of it, or go into the audience in the manner of a talk show host. Doing so helps relax both an audience and you.

Have a few questions ready to get things started: Experienced speakers will often have a few friends in the audience ready with softball-easy-questions to get things moving positively. Or they may ask questions the speaker wants to address. You can also ask yourself questions if no one is forthcoming: "I'm sure one question on your minds is probably this: How do I collect severance benefits if I'm laid off?" Once someone-even you-asks the first question, people loosen up and begin asking their own.

Use questions to repeat or amplify important points: Always do your best to answer the question that's asked-no one likes the politician who can't give a straight answer to an honest question. That said, take advantage of opportunities to use an answer to hammer home important points you made in your speech: "...and that takes me back to my original point: wearing a helmet on the job can save your life." If you don't know the answer to a question, admit it. If the answer is easy to find out, promise to get back to the person. (With a large group, or with people you don't know, ask the questioner to slip you a business card after the talk so you can respond.)

Listen hard for the question being asked: Many people find it difficult to ask a simple, clear question. You sometimes have to strain to understand what's being asked. If in doubt, try restating the question to confirm that you understood it correctly. For example, "What I think I hear you asking is whether or not there's a chance the plant will reopen before the fall. Is that correct?" Make sure you answer the question. If in doubt, ask for confirmation: "Does that answer the question?" Q&A sessions are important events for building credibility and validating all the good points you made in your speech. If you seem evasive, you may damage the work you did up to that point.

Disarm the long-winded: Some people don't ask questions; they seek a platform to express their own ideas. The rest of the group will thank you when you break in and say, "Have you got a question for me?" Others are unable to come to the point. Interrupt them, if necessary, and say, "I think what you're leading up to is this: Have we got any R&D money left over for Product X? The answer is no, and here's why." If possible, don't give the speaker an opportunity to break in again to "clarify" your question. After answering the question, take another, immediately, from a different side of the room.

Eventually, you'll learn to look forward to a good Q&A session. Nothing cements a talk as well. It wraps up the presentation for both you and the audience, and it helps ensure that it did the job intended to the satisfaction of all.

Return to the Presentation Pointers index.