Q&A Quandaries: Dealing with Difficult Questions

Running successful Q&A sessions is part of my?longer presentation workshops. During the pandemic and the influx of shorter presentation programs, covering Q&A is often left out of the program (or I run a separate workshop focused solely on Q&A and impromptu speaking). Regardless of shortened workshop schedules, participants usually ask? about handling difficult situations in Q&A sessions. When coaching subject-matter experts and leaders, I get the same inquiries. Participants aren’t fussed about how to answer questions they know; they want to know about the sticky situations of difficult questions or receiving no questions at all.?

Here are the most common Q&A quandaries professionals face and strategies to handle them well. This article focuses on Q&A situations after presentations. These strategies could apply to other settings like questions during presentations, in meeting discussions, in interviews, and even in social settings. Yes, this article might help your next dinner date.

The six quandaries covered are:

1. When no one asks a question
2. When you don’t know an answer
3. When the answer is complex
4. When the question is off-topic or irrelevant
5. When the questioner is a storyteller or rambler with no question
6. When a question or individual is disagreeable or hostile

Before getting into the quandaries, let’s summarize basic strategies of Q&A sessions:

1. Plan for the questions you’ll likely get and rehearse your potential answers. Some questions you get will be different than what you planned for, and? some of your prepared answers will still relate. Remember to think from the specific audience members’ points of view: marketers’ questions will differ from lawyers’ questions.?

2. Remember that it’s your stage (or conference room, Zoom meeting, etc.). Even when sharing the stage with a panel or moderator, when a question is asked to you, it’s your stage. Control your stage by controlling your confidence and delivery. Need help maintaining your mojo during difficult questions? Ask a colleague or friend to throw you unexpected or hard questions during rehearsal.?

3. Start each answer with a conversational approach. Thank people for asking questions, even tough ones. By asking you, they are engaged and trying to understand your ideas. You can acknowledge people by commenting on their questions instead of repetitive phrases like “thanks for the question” or “that’s a good question.” Find the question interesting? Tell them. Find it complex? Tell them. It shows you’re already thinking about their question before you answer it.

4. Before diving into your answer, either repeat or rephrase the question. Repeating it in large rooms ensures everyone hears the question especially if you have a microphone or are facing the full audience. Rephrasing it helps clarify it in your own words which may be more appropriate or specific coming from you, the subject-matter expert.

5. Adding structure to your answers will?do 2 things: limit your response (especially if you like to carry on) and deliver ideas in a way that makes sense to your audience. If you think of 7 ideas, just deliver the top 3. If you can put your reply into an impromptu structure, that’s even better.

Want more tips about Q&A and impromptu basics? Here are 3 articles:?

A Three-Part Strategy Presenters Can Use To Overcome Anxiety About Answering Questions by Laura Camacho, Forbes

9 Tips for Handling a Q&A Session by Eric Holtzclaw, Inc.

10 top tips for delivering an impromptu speech by Jeremy Cassell and Tom Bird, Management Today

The first quandary: when no one asks a question

1. Prevent this uncomfortable experience by giving a task at the start?of your presentation: "Today, I would like each of you to ask one question or tell us what you found most helpful in my presentation." This can get participants to focus more (especially in the age of multitasking during virtual meetings) and spark more questions.?

2. If you predict there may be no questions, plant some with a trusted audience member. Give them a question to ask ahead of time or get them to confirm they will think of a question during the presentation. Keep in mind that planting questions for conversational flow is different from planting questions to manipulate your audience. Think of it as a back up plan in case no one raises organic questions.

3. Consider why there are no questions. If the meeting is over time, people might withhold questions because they need to get to another meeting or a yoga class. Propose a way to submit questions and get follow up later: a future meeting, email, virtual whiteboard, etc. If you think the audience simply doesn't care or finds the information irrelevant, ask them what they want to hear about. This is also a great tactic in the middle of?presentations when the audience looks uninterested or distracted.

In some cases, your presentation may have been so good and so detailed, all questions were already answered! Leaving a meeting early is usually a good thing. When this happens, I like to verify this with the audience: "Have I included everything you need today? If so, that's great news!” Go ahead and leave a way to follow up later; the introverts will silently thank you.

4. If we can predict questions, we can prepare answers. If there are no questions, be ready to present your prepared answers. You can use framing like "One question we often get..." "A question we thought you would want answered is..." or "Those in the pricing team might be wondering..." If you are in a team presentation and there are no questions, ask your team members the predicted questions the team was expecting. You could also plant these questions with a moderator.?

5. If you are familiar with an audience member, ask them for a question or feedback, or start a conversation with them. Be careful you aren't putting anyone on the spot or making them uncomfortable. "I don't have any questions" isn't the reply you want to get from them!

6. If all else fails, and you feel like you need to present more information in the time you have left, return to a previous section of your presentation and give additional insight and detail. You could also have an additional part of your presentation ready to go (for example, you presented 3 main points but have points 4 and 5 ready to go). In any case, let the audience know why you think this extra information is helpful. This will prevent them from thinking you’re killing time just to fill the schedule.

The second quandary: when you don’t know an answer

1. Consider if you should actually know the answer or not. If you’ve done proper planning, you’ll be ready for most answers. Remember: We aren’t expected to memorize every statistic or data point. To quote Albert Einstein, “Never memorize something that you can look up.”?

2. Be honest. Making up an answer can be disproven? later and crush your credibility. There are better phrases than simply “I don’t know.” Try “I need to look up the specific answer” or “I know where to find it and get back to you.” If you use “I don’t know,” follow it up with something more: “I don’t know off the top of my head, and I’ll contact you? this week.”?

3. If you promise to follow up with the answer later, give a timeline and method. Invite someone to email you, get their email or phone number, connect with them on LinkedIn, etc. And of course, actually follow up to keep your credibility.?

4. Some answers might be available to anyone, so give people a place to find the info. Government data and publicly traded companies are examples of easily-accessed data. Tell people where they could seek the answer. Be careful: a high-ranking executive or a client might expect you to do the digging and follow up, which could make this strategy seem lazy.?

5. Ask someone else on the panel or in the audience for the answer. There may be people in the audience who know; just be careful not to refer to the audience to simply avoid the question. If you ask someone specific, judge whether or not they may know the answer and be comfortable with the surprise spotlight. Don’t overdo this strategy. Hearing “Let’s ask the audience” over and over makes us think you didn’t prepare or aren’t invested in a dialogue.?

6. Reframe the question and/or redirect your answer to what you DO know. Let’s say someone asks you for a specific statistic and you don’t have it memorized. Talk about related information. Example Q: “How many clients purchased XYZ product last year?” Example A: “I would need to look up the specific number of clients. What I can tell you is that we had to open an additional office last year?to handle the increased volume.”

Redirect the topic to discuss what’s important. Example Q: “How many clients purchased XYZ product last year?” Example A: “I don’t know the specific number right now. An important issue we see is the number of positive reviews we are getting. Our client satisfaction rate has risen from 85% to 90% over the last year, and we’re tremendously proud of that.”

7. When discussing related information, giving your expert opinion can add value to your message. Ensure the audience is clear on whether your answer is hard data or your opinion and whether it’s your opinion or an official company statement. 2 useful examples:?“This is just my individual opinion” and “I can’t give you an official company statement, but in my experience…”

Looking for more summaries on what to do when you don’t know an answer?

This Is How To Respond To A Question You Don’t Know The Answer To by Anett Grant, Fast Company

What Leaders Say When They Don’t Know the Answer by Jo Miller, The Muse

What To Say When You Don’t Know the Answer by Amy Boone, Ethos3

The third quandary: when the answer is complex

1. A complex question might need to be separated into individual questions and/or your complex answer might need to be separated into sections. Creating sections and structuring them can help you organize your thoughts and help the audience follow your ideas. Be careful that a complex answer doesn’t eat up all your Q&A time especially if many audience hands are raised.

2. If time is short, schedule a way to connect later. Mention it’s to preserve the meeting schedule and to get as many audience questions as possible. This will prevent the audience from thinking you are avoiding tough ideas.

3. Complex answers often arise when mixing research with suggestions. Be aware the audience (especially executives) may not want or need all your research; they want your suggestions, takeaways, and conclusions. If you are giving opinions or predicting future outcomes, state how you came up with your opinion or prediction. Maybe it’s based off of last year’s results or based off of other experts’ findings..?

4. Invite follow up questions. This shows you are open to more dialogue and gives people a chance to ask about research, data, or new topics that arose in your answer. Again, be conscious of the scheduled timing.?

5. Take a break if needed. Sometimes we know an answer but we need time to arrange our thoughts. We may even need to map out an answer on paper as if we are creating another segment of our presentation. Break for coffee or for lunch if possible. Sometimes we need time to do some quick research and find hard data, too.?

The fourth quandary: when the question is off-topic or irrelevant

1. If you don’t see a question’s?immediate relevance, ask the questioner for the relevance. “May I ask how your question relates to my presentation topic?” or “I want to understand how your question links to my speech” are both useful replies. Be polite (not frustrated) if you are really trying to understand the relevance!

2. If a question is clearly off-topic to both you and the audience, call it out directly. “I would like to keep questions within the scope of today’s presentation” or “We can discuss that external? topic another time.” Remember, you are the professional on the stage and you can still be polite when being direct. Avoid insults no matter how annoying or off-topic the question might seem.?

3. Off-topic or irrelevant questions might actually be interesting questions or relevant to the questioner’s line of work. Once again, offer a way to connect at a later time especially if the questioner is a client or VIP. For example, if most audience members are financial advisors, a question about human resources might be relevant to your topic but not be relevant to the rest of the audience. Invite the human resource personnel to connect with you after the meeting.

4. Use the audience’s time to your advantage. State that you only have a limited amount of time and want to stay on topic for the audience’s sake. Maybe one person feels disheartened that their (off-topic) question wasn’t answered, yet the rest of the audience appreciates you moderating the questions and respecting the group’s time. I attended an education conference years ago where an author presented ideas from his new education book. Apparently, someone in the audience knew this author enjoyed science fiction novels and asked the author about his favorite sci fi authors. Despite a dozen hands being raised in the audience, the author spent his full 5-minute Q&A session addressing this lone science fiction question. The educators in the room wanting to know more about education strategies were disappointed.

The fifth quandary: when the questioner is a storyteller or rambler with no question

1. Consider who is talking. Are they high-level? Are they a client’s decision-maker? Are they adding value to the discussion as another subject-matter expert? Are they establishing a scenario to frame their question? Q&A sessions might benefit by becoming conversation sessions when many voices add value.

2. On the other hand, some audience members want the spotlight or just want to converse at length. Remind them about the session time limit and refer back to getting as many questions as possible from the audience. Don’t be afraid to interrupt long-winded talkers by asking them “May I ask for your direct question?” or “What is the specific question you’d like to ask?” Keep control of your stage.?

This article has more tips on both off-topic questions and rambling questions:

How to handle a Q and A: 3 common and difficult Q and A session questions—and how to turn them to your advantage by Anthony Sanni

The sixth quandary: when a question or individual is disagreeable or hostile

1. This situation is the least common for the clients I work with, but it sometimes arises. Plan for it especially if you know your proposals are controversial or if specific employees or departments may disagree with your ideas.

2. If the questioner has a valid opinion or understandable concern, let them know. Find common ground to avoid fighting fire with fire. What elements do you both agree on? For example, “We can both agree we want our new product to succeed.” Be open to seeing things from their perspective. For example, “I can understand how those of you from the accounting team see this as a red flag.”?

3. Refocus your answer and the audience to what is most important. “I agree, my proposal will cost more money this year than last year. The important thing is that my proposal will save us money in year 2, year 3, and year 4. In fact, by year 4, we will reduce our spending by 25%.”

In some cases, additional factors might need to be discussed. “I agree, my proposal will cost more money this year than last year. I believe the increased spending on recycling company waste is worth the environmental impact our clients care about. The PR benefits of being a green company next year are huge.”

4. If you feel your Q&A session could become a verbal battlefield, don’t invite follow up questions from the disagreeable person. Address their concerns and move on. You can always invite them to have a longer discussion or additional meeting about their ideas later. Once again, refer to hearing from as many audience members as possible during your Q&A session.

5. If needed, call out anything inappropriate, unprofessional, or personally hostile. It’s your stage. Keep it, and focus on the audience members that want a conversation not a conflict.?

In closing, Q&A sessions are chances to push through our persuasion and proposals. With a bit of planning and practice, we can make the uncertainty of Q&A sessions exciting instead of intimidating. Best of luck in your next presentation!

If you have questions about other Q&A quandaries or you have other successful strategies to share, please add them in the comments.

Here are additional articles for dealing with difficult Q&A sessions:

Overall advice: When a Tough Question Puts You on the Spot by?Allison Shapira

More specific examples and phrasing: How to handle difficult Q&A moments with confidence and professionalism by Caryn Jones, Think Science

Using software apps to gather and moderate questions: 5 Ways to Deal With Difficult Employee Questions During Q&A by Martina Cicakova, Slido

Specific language and phrases for difficult situations (with an ESL focus): How to deal with difficult questions in a presentation by Alex Case, Using English

If you have access to LinkedIn Learning, here are 4 videos that discuss answering difficult questions:

Managing difficult questions by Tatiana Kolovou and Brenda Bailey-Hughes

Three ways to handle difficult questions by Pete Mockaitis

Handling difficult questions by genConnectU

Six tips for addressing tough questions by Deirdre Breakenridge