It's definitely unsettling to have your credibility challenged during a presentation! Here's how you can regain trust and authority if it happens to you: 1. Stay Calm & Collected: Don't get defensive & acknowledge the concern 2. Address the Challenge Directly: Provide evidence & acknowledge limitations. Offer to follow up if you don't have the information at hand 3. Reassert Your Expertise: Subtly highlight your qualifications & connect with shared experiences. Maintain eye contact, stand tall, and speak clearly and confidently. 4. Shift the Focus Back to the Bigger Picture: Reiterate your main points & engage the audience to shift the energy. 5. Be Prepared: Anticipate potential challenges and have backup information readily available.

I hate to say it depends, but…it depends! If someone is correcting information of yours that is incorrect, simply accept the challenge with gratitude and grace. If they are doing more than that, you might say something like, “I’d love to hear more about your perspective when I’m all done.” While there may be some temptation to engage more directly, I believe the podium confers a responsibility to “keep it classy” at all times.

I think nothing can substitute thorough preparation for the presentation. Preparation and practice will give confidence that I fairly know the subject and what I am presenting is not off the mark. However contrary views can come. Quite often I found that those views are not correct. If you are thorough with preparation, you may explain clearly. In the event, view expressed by someone seemed logical, it should be acknowledged with a confirmation that changes will be done. No one will know everything on any subject. Secondly, I have seen , presentation with logical flow backed by realistic data goes through. Over the top claims, emotional point do have different views

When your credibility gets challenged during a presentation, first and foremost, stay cool—don’t get defensive. Acknowledge the concern and engage with it head-on. Validate the speaker’s points or perceptions to show you’re listening and open to a constructive exchange. Take responsibility for any missteps. Transparency and accountability go a long way in moments like this. Next, shift the conversation back to the facts. Focus on the claim, not the person, and work through the issue stepwise. If possible, reference past successes to remind the room you deliver results. Keep it professional, clear, and focused on the bigger picture.

Firstly we need to remember that we are humans and can make mistakes. Few pointers when our credibility is questioned- 1) remain calm 2) think for rational answer during the queries 3) revise data points quickly in mind 4) listen attentively for any loopholes which you can capitalise on 5) if topic going out of hand then try to divert the topic to the area where you are strong