by Tim Calkins
It is very possible to predict the questions people will ask. This is a useful exercise; if you have a sense of the questions, you can then prepare your answers. If you think someone might ask about 2018 sales figures in the West Region, you can locate this data. If you think someone will ask about a prior new product launch, you can do your homework in advance.
The best way to appear in command of the situation is to nail each question. If you can respond to a question with a clear answer, backed up by specific data, you will come across as credible. When you reply to a question about new products with “Well, we launched the Deliciously Light line of products in 2009, the Fat Free line in 2013 and the Rancher’s Choice Collection in 2016. That was our most recent new product introduction,” you come across as an expert on the business.
PLANTING QUESTIONS
Sophisticated presenters sometimes deliberately plant a question to prompt discussion and build credibility. With a planted question, you can prepare a very impressive answer. You can research the key facts beforehand and have them written down in your notes. When the question comes, you just go with your thoughtful response.
There are two ways to do this. One way is to ask a colleague to ask a specific question at a particular moment. You can then respond with a very thorough and polished answer; you knew the question was coming.
A more elegant approach is to deliberately leave a point unresolved, creating an obvious moment for a question. You open the door just a bit, inviting an inquiry. If you say, “This is a bit like Acme’s experience in Brazil last year,” you are encouraging people to ask, “So what happened to Acme in Brazil?” With the comment “Our competitor learned about social media the hard way,” you invite the question “So what happened to our competitor, anyway?”
A planted question is a particular opportunity to shine. You already know the answer. It makes you look in control and wise. If you can take a question and then answer it in a logical fashion, supported by solid data, you come across as a powerful and competent leader.
PREEMPT A QUESTION OR NOT?
When creating a presentation, it is worth considering whether you want to head off a question. If you know there is a point of interest, do you address it or wait for the inquiry?
In general, it is best to proactively address questions. If you think someone will ask about something, just put it in the presentation. Why force the person to ask the question?
To a large degree, anticipating questions is a key approach for writing a presentation. The flow of the document follows a line of thought, based on likely questions. The pages follow a step-by-step flow: the audience will wonder about this, and then that, and then the following point.
Only on rare occasions will you want to leave the obvious question unaddressed. You might want to encourage discussion at a certain point. It might be an easy question that will make you look competent and in control.
What if people don’t ask the obvious question? You can still make the point; you just need to pull the question from the air. You could say, “Now, you might be wondering about how our retail partners will respond to this...” and then answer the question. Or you might say, “One of the concerns you could have is the issue of timing. Can we execute all this before the holidays?” and then provide the needed answer.
Responding Well
How you respond to questions can have an enormous impact on how people perceive you and your presentation. So you need to respond effectively to each question.
The key, of course, is to know your business well; you understand the dynamics, you know the latest customer research studies and how the business has been performing. With that grounding, questions become a wonderful opportunity to encourage a discussion and get people thinking. The more questions, the better, especially if you’ve communicated your key points in the executive summary.
LISTEN
The first thing to remember when answering questions: listen to the question.
This sounds obvious but it isn’t. You will be tempted to cut off the question; you have a good sense of where the questioner is heading, you’ve thought about the issue and you know how to respond. Your energy is high, you are alert and focused, so you jump in and provide the answer. You think, “You are about to ask about the competitive response! I know all about the competitive response; I’ve thought about this for hours. Let’s go!” Then you interrupt the question and respond.
Don’t do this! You don’t know exactly where the question is heading until you hear all of it. You also risk offending the questioner. People like to talk and appear smart. This makes them happy, and happy people are more likely to approve your recommendation.
Several years ago, I had the opportunity to participate in improv comedy training with Second City in Chicago. One of the exercises really stuck with me. Each person had to start their sentence with the last word used by the prior speaker. So if one person said, “I think we should get Chinese food for dinner,” the next person would have to say, “Dinner...” The exercise forced you to really listen to what the other person was saying; you were waiting and focused on the last word.
The exercise was remarkably difficult; it was so hard to wait and wait until the other person was done. It highlighted how much we like to jump ahead. Waiting for someone to finish is challenging.
BE RESPECTFUL
Instead of cutting off a questioner, you should look at them and nod your head. You should appear deep in thought, intrigued by the question and appreciative of it.
Treating your audience with respect is important. People want to feel that they are valued and intelligent. If you brush off someone’s question or demean it in any way, you are sending a signal that you think they are not very important or bright. This is not a productive message.
This isn’t always easy. Some people ask ridiculous questions. Other people ask about things you have already covered. Just the other day I had someone ask the exact same question someone else in the room had asked three minutes earlier. They were just not paying attention to the discussion. You will be tempted to scoff at these people, perhaps saying, “Well, John, we just answered that question. Seems like someone is a bit too distracted by their phone!”
This is not a good idea. Remember, you are trying to win over your audience. Don’t insult them, demean them or belittle them. If someone repeats a question, answer it in a respectful fashion. Other people in the meeting will understand what you are doing and respect you for it.
REPEAT THE QUESTION
A best practice is to repeat the question, rephrasing it slightly. If the CEO asks, “What is our competitor’s pricing strategy?” you might start your answer with “The question is about competitive pricing...”
Playing back the question has three purposes. First, it confirms that you have heard the question and that you understand it. This validates the person asking the question.
Second, it lets other people in the room hear the question. Very often presentations take place in large rooms with difficult acoustics. Someone in the back of the room might not have heard the question. Yelling out “Excuse me, but can you repeat the question?” gets very old.
Third, repeating the question gives you time to formulate your answer. As you rephrase the question, you can be assembling your response. What are the relevant points? What information do I have to draw upon?
You can also subtly rephrase the question, making it easier for you to address it. If the question was “Bob, what was the sales growth in France in December?” you might repeat it as “So, Susan is asking about sales growth in France. The growth rate last year was 3.2 percent.” This can work quite well, especially if you know some figures but not others.
You don’t want to significantly change the question; you have to remain consistent. You never want your CEO to say, “Ankit, that isn’t what I asked. I want to know the sales growth rate in France in December. What was it?” This makes the interaction somewhat antagonistic, the opposite of the feeling you are trying to create
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ANSWER FULLY
The key to answering a question is fairly simple: answer the question as fully as you can. Respond with an answer that addresses the question, providing support points as you go.
If someone asks a two-part question, answer both parts. If someone has a follow-up question, answer it.
INCORPORATE DATA
Your answer will always be stronger if you leverage data. Saying “The cost of production has increased over the past year” isn’t particularly helpful or impressive. Saying “The cost of production is up 18.4 percent over the past twelve months” gives a very different impression. You nailed this one.
If you’ve held back some data points, you can use these to answer the question in an impressive fashion. Ideally, you’ll have four or five rock-solid support points held back for use in questions.
The points might not exactly match the question, but that isn’t really a problem. Let’s say you know, for certain, that average pricing in the category is up by 2.45 percent over the past twelve months. You can use this point when answering many different types of questions.
Question: “Shouldn’t we increase our prices next year?”
Answer: “We believe we need to be cautious about increasing our prices; if we raise prices too fast, we could lose significant market share. Across the category, average prices are up just 2.45 percent over the past twelve months. This indicates that there isn’t much of an opportunity for price increases.”
Question: “Isn’t this a risky plan?”
Answer: “There is always risk in a plan, but we think this has a relatively balanced outlook. We are planning on a small price increase. This is consistent with trends in the category. Average prices, for example, are up 2.45 percent in the category. This is very much in line with our proposed move.”
Question: “What do we know about our competitor’s strategy?”
Answer: “Our competitor appears to be under financial pressure. They are really focused on building profits. Just look at pricing in the category. Over the past twelve months, prices are up, on average, by 2.45 percent. This is just one indicator that profits are a key priority for our competitors.”
WATCH
As you answer the question, you should be looking at the person who asked it. This establishes a connection. It is responsive.
Looking at your questioner also gives you a chance to evaluate their reaction to your answer. If they nod and smile, then you know that your answer has addressed their issues. If they frown, however, you know that your answer didn’t connect. You might then want to probe, perhaps saying, “Does that make sense, Hugo?” or “Did that answer your question?”
Common Mistakes to Avoid
There are several things to avoid when answering questions. These actions will likely generate a negative reaction from your audience.
LOOKING AWAY
If you look away, you are avoiding the dialogue. If you glance around the room, side to side, perhaps, you look like you are dodging the question. You seem nervous. If you flip through your notes, you may appear desperate, searching in an anxious manner for the answer to this difficult and confounding question.
Turning your back is an even bigger problem. You are not so subtly insulting the person asking the question; you are signaling that the question, and their input, isn’t worth your time. This will either diminish the questioner or make them angry.
If someone asks a question, you should respond directly to them. You can look around the room on occasion, to connect with other people, but most of your energy should be directed toward the person who asked the question.
ROLLING YOUR EYES
Any gesture that suggests that the question isn’t valuable is a problem. You will annoy your questioner and risk antagonizing the entire group.
You might be tempted to roll your eyes, particularly if the question isn’t especially insightful, or if someone is asking their ninth question. Making a snide comment might even get a laugh from the group. But a demeaning response won’t help your credibility.
A better response is to nod thoughtfully, respond fully, and then try to not look at the person again during the meeting. This might slow the flow of questions.
SAYING “NOW, THAT IS A GREAT QUESTION!”
Recently I watched a colleague at Kellogg present her latest research on developments in the world of media. It was an interesting talk; she had done some impressive research. This led to a series of questions from the audience.
The first person asked something about measurement. My colleague responded with an enthusiastic “Now, that is a great question!” She then went ahead and answered. She responded in a similar fashion to the next question: “That is such an interesting question.” The next person received a chipper “Great question!” and the person after that, “Another great question.”
Every question received basically the same enthusiastic response. The only difference was that some questions were “great,” others were “super,” and a few were “so interesting.”
It is tempting to respond to a question in this fashion. It feels like we are praising the question and, in turn, the person who asked it. It also gives us a little time to think about the question and how we should respond to it. We are buying time and warming up the room, all at once. A true win-win situation!
Don’t do this.
If you just repeat the phrase over and over, you devalue the meaning. If every question is exceptional, are any really exceptional? Everything can’t be exceptional, unless the meeting is in Lake Wobegon, where all the children are above average and all the questions are great.
Using the phrase selectively creates a problem. You have just two options, because you aren’t likely to declare a question truly off base. Saying “Now, that is a really dumb question” doesn’t win friends with anyone. But if one person gets a “Great question!” and the next person doesn’t, you are passing judgment on the quality of questions. People may start to hold back on questions for fear of asking what might be a dumb question, or at least a question that is dumber than one of the “great questions.”
The other problem is that the phrase subtly diminishes your presentation. If an issue really is that interesting and exciting, you should have addressed it in the presentation. You aren’t playing a game of “Find the Issue.” You are fully discussing a topic. That means you should proactively touch on the interesting and complex dynamics involved in it.
As a presenter, your job isn’t to judge the quality of the question. You want to engage your audience, answer whatever questions they have and present your argument. Questions are usually good.
Don’t praise questions. Just answer them.
Managing Tough Questions
Things get a bit more difficult when you don’t know the answer to a question. When the CEO asks, “So, Javier, what is the IRR of this investment, anyway?” and you don’t know the answer, the presentation gets interesting. There are several things you can do.
GIVE YOUR BEST ANSWER, WITH CAVEATS
As I noted earlier, caveats give you freedom. If you get the question “What was the sales growth in Poland last year?” you can reply, “I believe it was close to 4.5 percent.” This response sounds quite direct but it actually includes two caveats. “I believe” indicates that you don’t know—you are giving your understanding, which might or might not be correct. “Close to” allows for some inaccuracy: 4.3 percent is close to 4.5 percent, and 4.8 percent is pretty close to 4.5 percent, too. One could argue that 6 percent is also somewhat close.
This works if you have a general sense for the answer. If you really have no idea, don’t guess.
It is good to remember these questions and how you responded. After the meeting you can check the actual numbers and correct yourself if you were off. A simple email will head off many issues. You could write something like this: “Susan, I double-checked the growth rate in Poland and found it was even stronger than I thought. Growth was actually 7.6 percent.�
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REDIRECT
It is always tempting to redirect the question to someone on your team, saying, “Harit, you’ve been studying our European business. Do you recall the growth rate in Poland?” This gets you off the hook, transferring the risk.
Be careful about doing this. It may be that your colleague isn’t paying attention, isn’t ready for the question or doesn’t know the answer. In all of these cases, both you and your colleague will look unprepared. Making Harit look clueless takes the pressure off of you, but it doesn’t make the overall presentation more compelling.
You should only redirect a question if you are very confident they can handle the question. A best practice is to glance at your colleague before redirecting. If they are alert and attentive, then you can proceed. Best case, they nod, indicating you can direct the question. If they are looking at their phone, staring off into space or just asleep, you should find someone else or deal with the question yourself.
DELAY
If you get a question and you simply don’t know the answer, acknowledge this and say you will respond later. There is nothing wrong with this response, particularly if the question is precise and not directly related to your presentation topic. If someone asks, “Who is the CEO of Unilever?” and you don’t know, simply say, “That has slipped my mind. I’ll check and follow up with you.” Just be sure to follow up!
Providing a wrong answer may do more harm than good. If you respond to the Unilever question by saying confidently that Jack Welch is CEO, you damage your credibility. It will be very clear to people that you don’t know the answer. Even worse, it appears that you don’t know that you don’t know the answer. This is a dangerous combination.