Handling Questions & Answers Sessions like a Professional - Part 1

The question and answer session (Q & A) could be terrifying, even for seasoned speakers. No presenter wants to be embarrassed for giving an incorrect or mediocre answer. Even if the audience did not well receive your speech, this is a golden chance to make amends, reinforce your credibility as a speaker, and win the appreciation of the audience.

As you grow in your speaking career, you will have to further polish your skills by learning to handle Q&A sessions. The Q&A session is an integral part of press conferences, political debates, business presentations, or even inspirational speeches. Many a potential candidate lost his chance of becoming the President of America because he was not convincing in his answers to the opponent’s rhetoric. 

Superb products became a part of history because the presenter was not able to convince the crowd or handle the questions well. A Q&A session could either strengthen the impact of the talk or destroy the creditability of the product and the presenter. This often happens not due to the speaker’s lack of product knowledge but to his inability to handle critical questions and pressure.

So the best approach is to anticipate possible questions, prepare answers for them, and more crucially, practice delivering these answers. As part of your preparation, anticipate the possible objections to your point of view and formulate the answers based on your research, knowledge, and conviction. We suggest that you write down the answers and practice delivering them. This way, you can rehearse your responses to the point while staying within your time constraints during the actual presentation.

You can also create a live situation by asking your family or friends to listen to a dry run and ask questions and get feedback on your answers. Maybe your dog can join in too. Your pet could provide a friendly balance by just listening or barking in approval at your responses.

A word of caution: don’t be shocked if you get some ridiculous questions or no questions at all.

Welcome to the world of Q & A sessions. Since this is a very influential part of any presentation, we will further dwell on it in the next article.

Thanks to Dr. Dilip R. Abayasekara for providing his valuable inputs.

Toastmasters International President, 2005-2006