Navigating the Q & A When Presenting Online
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels
By Scott J. Allen & Maria Soriano Young
Question and answer sessions (those at the end of a presentation where the audience can ask questions) can be stressful. They take away your control as a presenter, since you have no idea what questions are coming and how you will answer them. Some level of anxiety is completely normal (and probably good). If you expect perfection, though, you are going to have a difficult time. It will not be perfect. However, there are some concrete measures you can take to navigate the Q & A more effectively.
First, remember that you are still “on” and it will be essential to focus on your timing. From a timing perspective, when an audience member is asking you a question, you do not want to jump in too quickly, or cut off the person before they have finished speaking. Online presentations can make this aspect of timing even more complicated, since internet speeds vary and participants are not always in the same room to see who wants to speak next. Our suggestion is to be patient while a person asks a question and wait to respond until after you are 100% sure their question is finished (an extra second of silence will also help you collect your thoughts). Remember that your delivery is still a priority. Many presenters are so relieved to be done that they forget they are “on” and slip into space fillers, a tone that is too conversational, and so forth.
This is also where you will want to remind everyone of the Q & A rules that you noted at the beginning of the presentation. If you have encouraged participants to submit questions in the chat box throughout your presentation, you can begin the Q & A by asking your co-pilot if any themes emerged (i.e., “There are a number of questions about how long it will take to ship this product batch out, so could you address that?”) or to relay specific questions. You could also say, “Please use the ‘Raise hand’ feature if you have a question. My co-pilot will call on those who have raised their hands.” It is crucial for YOU to address these expectations—otherwise, people will talk over each other or multiple people will try to start asking a question simultaneously...which does nothing but waste time!
Once the question is asked, take the time to smile, repeat, and acknowledge (repeating the question will also help your audience, in case they missed what was asked). At times, presenters will let the discussion speed up on them. A great way to combat this is to slow down the pace of the conversation intentionally. For instance, saying, “Thank you, very insightful…so the question is about the potential downside of us making this investment. First, I think this is a critical question, and I am sure there are many perspectives in the room. For me though, a few issues deserve consideration as a starting place for dialogue…”. After you answer, you have at least a couple options:
Ask if others have responses or perspectives, and simply facilitate the conversation.
See if specific people have additional thoughts (e.g., call on a person that you know who works in that department or area.) Maybe they have content expertise that could add value.
Move on to another question.
If you do not know the answer, acknowledge the individual, and let the audience know you will find the answer and get back to them quickly. The key is to enter the Q & A space with humility, curiosity, and preparation.
Humility – You cannot possibly know everything. If you know you have done your best to prepare, remain open to other possibilities and perspectives that audience members may bring to the conversation. It’s in that space that new ground can be covered. Scott will often say, “There are many ways to think about this topic; this is what’s been top of mind for me in recent months, and I am excited to hear what you have been thinking about as well.” When presented with a new perspective, Maria will respond with, “That is a great perspective, and I have not thought about it from that angle yet” before continuing. Acknowledging the question in this way gives validity to the contributor, allows Maria some time to think, and diminishes the “I don’t know” aspect of the response so that attendees don’t dwell on wondering, “she didn’t think about that?”
Curiosity – If you are truly curious, you know that there’s likely more work to do, more to learn, and additional research to be conducted. Whether it’s a scientific paper, a proposed strategy for your business, or some other type of proposal, letting your ego take a back seat to the wonderment of the puzzle can be a “freeing” approach to the Q & A period. In essence, you show up as an individual who knows they do not have all the answers (humility) and a person who is genuinely interested in moving closer to the truth or the ‘best’ path forward (curiosity). You can demonstrate this openness to continue learning to your audience by acknowledging topics you might want to explore in more detail or noting questions that you hadn’t thought about before, as mentioned above. Demonstrating to your audience that you want to know what they want to know, and that you will continue working within the topic, will illustrate your curiosity.
Preparation – If you are prepared, you have anticipated the questions, hot button issues, and criticisms of your presentation, and you have planned how you might respond to them. However, we were reminded by Micki Byrnes, President & General Manager at WKYC-TV, of the importance of preparation when she stated, “We see some folks on Zoom [who] are not doing a great job. It’s because you know damn well, they’re faking it, and they’re trying to tap-dance their way through stuff. And it’s very easy to know.” She’s right. If you are presenting at your best, you have proactively addressed some of these in the body of your presentation. In addition, maybe you include extra slides after your final slide that you can draw upon if people have questions, comments, or concerns. Or perhaps you let the audience know that you are open to further dialogue after the formal presentation to continue exploring ideas. Some will try to lure you into doing so during the presentation; if this happens, a great approach is to say, “That’s a longer conversation, but I would love to have it with you. Maybe we can connect after?”
Here are some other concrete ideas that you can prioritize before you speak:
Know your triggers, and do not get sucked in if an audience member has ill intentions or a disagreeable nature.
Don’t put pressure on yourself to be perfect.
Know some key statistics that work in most situations.
Plant someone in the audience who is willing to provide honest feedback on your performance.
Above all, it is vital that you intentionally make time for Q & A in your presentation; try to dedicate time at the end for the audience to respond with their thoughts and questions, or even request clarifications or talk through next steps. This is a great time to do a “soft handoff” of control from you over to the host and/or the attendees, especially if the conversation moves toward creating an action plan that the group can take away and continue working on.
We explore this topic and others in our book Captovation: Online Presentations by Design.