Coming Up with Answers

Here’s a question for you.  Is it reasonable to expect that you should be able to answer every question that your audience asks at the end of your business presentations?

Well, no.  It’s not.  As much as you prepare, the questions your audience asks are unpredictable and, as a result, if you miss one or two, your audience will generally be forgiving.  They do expect, however, that one or two will be your limit and that when you do respond it will be more than just a simple shrug of your shoulders accompanied by a dopey, “I don’t know.”

So what do you do?  If you don’t know the answer to a particular question your audience asks, how do you answer?  Let me offer you five techniques for evasive action.

The first is Repetition.  Most of the questions that your audience asks will be for clarification, so if someone asks you a question and you’re not sure of the answer, treat it as a clarification question.  Go back to one of your slides that comes close to what your questioner has asked for and explain it a second time in a different way.  Very often this will be what they need and when you ask, “Does this clarify things for you?” they’ll often answer with a ‘yes’.

The second technique is Responsibility.  If you don’t know the answer, refer your questioner to someone in your office or on your team who does know.  You may be delivering a sales presentation, for example, and someone may ask you a technical question.  It would be nice if you could answer, but it will be understood if you explain that your company has expert technicians who can answer that question much better than you can.

The third technique for sidestepping a question is Delay.  You hear this one all the time expressed in five words: “I’ll get back to you.”  This answer, however, suggests that you do not know the answer, and you have to do additional research.  Delay can be more effective if you explain to your questioner that you can answer the question, but the information you need isn’t with you; it’s back in your office on your desk.  As soon as you get back, you’ll send whatever your questioner has asked for.

Throwback is a fourth useful technique.  If you don’t know the answer, find someone in the audience who does.  Turn the question into a discussion and get as much information from your audience as possible.  Then go back to your questioner and ask whether he or she needs more information.

Finally, a fifth technique you can use when you don’t know the answer is Reference.  You might not know the answer, but you do know where it can be found.  Refer the questioner to a book, a magazine article or a website that you’re familiar with. 

Not all of these techniques will work in every situation.  However, if you use them wisely, you can still wind up looking good even when you don’t have all the answers.