Questions in Presentations

If there is a fear beyond the fear of giving the presentation, there is the fear of taking questions during the presentation. And yet I would suggest questions from the audience to you are essential for two reasons: (1) the nature and number of the questions you receive correlates closely with the buy-in and understanding of the audience i.e. have you done what you were there for? And (2) it causes you to think on your feet and raise your game-a natural accelerator for developing your best presenting skills.

So perhaps rather than planning to dissuade questions, plan to encourage them by:

• Being in the room to meet those who arrive early so people discover you are approachable and happy to take a query or two;
• In long presentations having a mid-session pause where you allow people a minute or two to review what had gone so far and raise any issues;
• Allow enough time for a full Q&A;
• 'Seeding' quieter audiences by mentioning questions from previous sessions;
• Thanking those who question you to encourage others.