Excelling at Q&A: Some Rules

Excelling at Q&A: Some Rules

By Michael Crom, Executive Vice President, Dale Carnegie Training

Dear Carnegie Coach:
As a sales person for legal software, my main goal is to convince lawyers to adapt to new technologies that would ease their workload by purchasing my product.  I wrap up my presentations with Q&A sessions but, usually, no one seems to have any questions for me.  As you can imagine, this is very frustrating for me.  How can I get my audience to be more open-minded and ask some questions? 
—Joseph

Dear Joseph: 
An effective question-and-answer session is an important part of your overall presentation.  The last impression you make stands out, just like the first.  If you follow up a persuasive talk with a sloppy Q&A, your audience will leave with a final image of weakness or confusion.  Worse, it can raise doubts about your credibility.

But not to worry:  There are practical steps you can take to make sure your Q&A goes well.  Here are some specific guidelines:

1.Prepare thoroughly.  You need to think about the hardest questions you’ll get, including some hostile ones.  Rehearsing your Q&A is a smart idea too. And, come up with a few questions of your own.  This will get the audience thinking.

2.Don’t take questions during your presentation.  At the start, tell your audience you’ll take their questions at the end of your talk.  This way you won’t be taken off track or lose focus.  Plus, participants will have time to formulate better questions as they listen to your full presentation.

3.Answer questions precisely yet simply, supported with facts, data, and experiences.  But, if you don’t know an answer, say so.  Don’t guess or fake it.  Also, assure questioners you’ll get back to them with a response.  This is one of many ways to reinforce audience trust.

4.Give concise answers and address as many questions as possible.  A short answer is almost always more powerful than a long one.  Also, be certain you answer everyone’s question before returning to a previous questioner.

5.Rephrase troublesome questions.  Through restatement, you can turn negative language into positive, clarify a query, or present correct information.   It also gives you time to think of the best way to handle the tough question.

6.Tell the audience when the Q&A is about to end.  This is better than just announcing “the last question” since you may get one that’s extremely difficult to answer well, or at all.  By taking several last questions, you’ll have a better shot at ending with a response that shows you at your strongest.

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