Running a Smooth Q&A Session

When you deliver a business presentation, you are in complete control of the content you include, the slides you design and the amount of preparation and practice you put in. The only section of the presentation you don’t control is the question and answer session. You can prepare all you want, but you can never fully anticipate exactly which questions you audience will ask. As a result, the Q&A session can be intimidating.

Even so, your audience still expects that you will handle your Q&A session professionally and it’s your job to meet those expectations. To help you maintain control and manage your Q&A session with confidence, here are five easy guidelines that you can follow.

#1. To help you and your audience relax, begin the Q&A session with a question of your own. This will break the ice, get your audience talking and create an atmosphere for discussion. Once you’ve created safe space, your audience will be more likely to ask questions of their own.

#2. Make questions and answers an interactive dialog. If someone in the audience asks you something clever, respond by saying “Good question” before you answer. When you’re through, go back to that person and ask, “Does that answer your question?” and then thank them for asking. Everyone (especially you) will feel more relaxed if Q&A is conversational.

#3. Clarify questions to ensure that you understand. Repeat them back to the person asking. This is useful not only for your understanding, but for everyone else in the room as well.

#4. Answer the questions you receive. Many speakers are skilled at talking back to questions in circles and moving on without providing an answer. This may be allowable in politics, but not in business. Your audience is asking questions to obtain information necessary for important decisions. They rely on your expertise and on your answers.

Finally, #5. If you don’t know an answer, don’t fake it. A non-answer may do more harm than good, and there may be someone in the audience who calls you on your bluff. Professional presenters know how to use techniques that help them to maintain credibility even when they don’t know the answer to a question.

Good presentations can be impressive, but the question and answer session is what’s going to make it or break it for you. Managing a good Q&A session professionally will convince your audience of your confidence and your credibility.