How to handle difficult questions

You’ve just finished your presentation and come to the part you silently dread: Q&A. You don’t mind the questions but what if someone throws you a curveball?

The Challenge

In your professional life you’ll encounter difficult questions and conversations all the time. Your colleagues may ask why you’ve done something a certain way. Your manager wants to know why you missed a deadline. Your audience challenges you on the intricate details of something you’re selling and they won’t stop until they get you to the point where you just don’t know the answer.

These things happen and they don’t have to be awful. Here’s how you can handle difficult questions from today going forward.

The Solution

You need options.?

Here are some I’ve used successfully:

1. I don’t understand the question: I ask the person to clarify their question. This can involve playing their answer back to them to ensure I have understood correctly. It also buys me a bit of time to compose myself.

1. It’s a multi-part question and will require a long response: I break it down and tackle one problem at a time. I give myself permission to ask for a prompt in case I forgot the rest of the question.?

1. The question is unrelated to the topic I have presented: I acknowledge the question and try my best to relate it back to the topic. If that’s not feasible, I invite the person to chat to me afterwards so we can address further questions during the Q&A.

1. I don’t know the answer: This is the most challenging situation and it’s the one where honesty is the best policy. In this case I say something like “I am not the best person to answer this question as it’s not my area of expertise. I am happy to connect you with an expert who can help. There are two people who immediately come to mind and I can introduce you after this session.” This approach has always worked well and has been accepted and respected by the audience.?

Remember, you don’t know everything and nobody expects you to. You cannot anticipate every single question from people, whether they’re internal stakeholders or external audiences.?

What is important is that you have an answer, even if that involves getting other people to jump on a call to tackle a problem together.

My response also shows you how important it is to build a strong network. With connections to people across different roles and areas of expertise, you can draw on these experts quickly when you need them.

The Next Step

Ahead of your next presentation, think about how you’ll tackle difficult questions.?

• Who can complement your expertise, for example, by bringing knowledge about processes, licensing, data architecture, and more?
• If there’s an opportunity to solve someone’s question through a live demo, is this something you’d be prepared to do? It is really impactful when done well.
• How will you ask for clarification when you don’t understand a question? (this is always better than answering what you think they asked even if that’s miles off the point)
• What tools can you use to help yourself navigate Q&A? For example, taking notes for complex questions, or having someone else moderate the Q&A and check the questions before handing them over to you.

With practice and preparation, Q&A sessions can become much less daunting. They are a common and expected part of many presentations, including internal sales meetings, customer demos, technical presentations, and panel discussions.

I want to help you dread them less and less until they become just a normal part of your job and something you may even look forward to.

Keen to learn more? I have two coaching spots available in May for people who want to improve their public speaking skills, so they can face their audiences with confidence and awesome content.

DM "Public Speaking" to learn more.

Have a great week!

Eva