How to Handle Q&A Sessions

How should you handle question and answer (Q&A) sessions? We can answer that.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Index Cards
• Microphones

1. Think about what your audience may ask and prepare answers before your presentation.

2. Inform your audience at the beginning of your presentation that you'll be taking questions at the end. This step helps avoid audience interruptions that may make your speech hard to follow.

3. Make it clear that everyone will be allowed to ask one question and that you'll take further rounds of questions if time permits. Don't let a few audience members dominate the session.

4. Call on audience members in the order that they raise their hands.

5. Repeat each question before you answer it. This step ensures that everyone present (including you) has heard the question properly, and it also gives you time to formulate your answer.

6. Begin answering by making eye contact with the questioner, then extend it to the rest of the audience.

7. Answer questions in a thorough yet concise manner, when possible.

8. Close the session after you've answered a significant number of questions or as you are approaching a preset time limit. Wait until you give an exceptional answer to a question, then inform your audience that, regretfully, you've run out of time.

Tips & Warnings

• If no questions bring exceptional answers, end by saying, "We're about out of time, but many of you are probably still wondering. ..." and insert a question of your own that you can follow with a strong answer.
• If an audience member begins to speak at length without asking a question, politely cut the person off by asking whether he or she has a question.
• Maintain the same persona during the Q&A session that you displayed during your speech.
• Don't guess the answer to a question, for any reason. If your guess is revealed to be wrong, your credibility and your presentation's validity will be weakened.
• If you don't know an answer, ask whether anyone in the audience knows it, direct the questioner to a resource where he or she can find the answer, or offer to get back to the questioner once you've done further research.

[willowman1]

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on 11/22/2005 Never appear to be self-conscious or stressed. Always maintain a firm, confident stance and give frequent eye contact and smile. This way, questioners will be able to look up to you and see you as a role model!