Handling questions is a critical component of successful presentations. Unfortunately, you can’t ace this part of the presentation if you can hear a pin drop when you ask if there are any questions.
Without questions, you have no idea how the presentation landed with your audience. As a presenter, you may feel like the audience lacked interest or simply did not understand your message. But that is not always the case.
Consider the following scenario. A presenter I was coaching lamented about his experience, “No one ever seems to want to ask me anything after my presentations.” Then he asked, “How can I get people to ask questions?”
In observing him, I noticed that he concludes his presentation and then invites questions by saying, “Does anyone have any questions?” As he waits for audience questions, he unplugs his laptop and begins packing his briefcase. Just as he said, no one asked a question…
Where did he go wrong?
To help answer that question, I’ve shared below BRODY’s top strategies for generating questions:
- Let them know when you will be handling questions. Will it be throughout, at section breaks, or at the end? Set the expectation early on in your presentation.
- Use visual cues to encourage questions. Do you look receptive and interested? Look at your audience, open your gestures, and have a pleasant expression.
- Be assumptive when asking for questions. Say, “Who wants to open with the first question?” or, “What questions do you have?”
- Allow a moment of silence. Be prepared to wait up to 10 seconds. Don’t worry—they aren’t looking at you, they are thinking. So, give them time.
- Be prepared with “sample” questions. If no one asks a question, you can introduce these by saying, “When I first learned this, I wondered…” or, “A question I’m frequently asked is …”
- Avoid grading or judging any question. In other words, don’t say, “That’s a good question.” If you compliment some questions and not others, it can come across as judgmental. If you compliment all, it sounds perfunctory. Instead you can say “thank you for that question.”
- Never embarrass the questioner. When you say things like, “I covered that in my presentation,” or, “As I said before …,” not only will it discourage the person who asked, but most likely the rest of the group as well. Just answer the question, or take it offline if it doesn’t relate.
- Keep your reply brief. Long answers discourage more questions.
What strategies have you used to encourage questions?
To learn more about how BRODY training can help presenters encourage questions and audience interaction, check out this link: https://brodypro.com/facilitative-presenting/