Question & Answer – How to Ace That Q&A Segment?

Ever been stumped by a difficult question before? Most, if not all, of us, are reluctant to place ourselves in the stressful situation of being bombarded by questions. Some of these situations even require you to respond in an impromptu setting! A forum setting is more common than you think, especially if you are a subject-matter expert. Even if it is a short Question and Answer (“QnA”) segment after your technical presentation, you may find yourself needing the necessary skills to handle questions professionally and expertly.

QnA sessions require the ability to internalise, understand, and respond to questions efficiently. This is not about your ability to ‘avoid’ questions. Some of the common mistakes communicators make is to find a ‘fluff’ answer or believing that quantity is preferred over the quality of the answers. In short, the more you talk, the more confident you sound. We believe that it is more difficult to craft a precise answer that directly answers the audience queries. Remember, the fact that the audience asks you questions in such a session is not an attack on you! Rather, it is an opportunity for us as communicators to showcase our ability to respond in a high-stress environment.

If you find yourself in a QnA situation, here are three quick tips to help you get through it!

Tip #1: Understand Your Knowledge Bank

The important step is not the QnA itself – it is the preparation you need to do before the QnA session itself. Traditionally, a QnA or forum segment is accompanied by an initial sharing by the speaker(s), often on an area of expertise. Even in a small-scale meeting setting, your QnA scenario is likely to come about at the tail-end of your presentation. In these settings, it is important to know what your knowledge bank limit is. You need to know what is within your area of expertise or the scope of presentation – not every question that can come up, will come up!

In line with that, it is important to pre-empt and prepare your responses to the obvious questions that are likely to come up based on your presentation. One method of doing so is to pre-empt based on relevance – what would be the relevant broad areas that your audience will be interested in. Beyond relevance, you can also prepare for possible clarification questions. These are questions that the audience may have in response to more complicated or complex areas of your presentation. Finally, you may pre-empt questions that focus on consequences/effects/gaps, especially if you are delivering a persuasive speech. These are forward-looking questions that aim to clarify the long-term effect or view of your sharing. Once you have a list of the likely questions, you can prepare your draft responses and ensure that you are not taken by surprise by the questions during your session!

Tip #2: Be Precise and Summarise

But how should we respond to questions? The obvious answer is to respond professionally and politely. As we shared, these questions are not meant to attack you. Rather, most of our Trainers prefer having questions from a lively audience who are keen to learn! One of the common mistakes we make in an impromptu QnA segment is the tendency to share our responses without crafting a clear structure. Think of it as a voluminous stream of consciousness that does not directly answer the question.

Instead, aim to answer with precision. Identify the immediate positional answer – this is the clear-cut response where the question seeks your position (e.g. Yes/No; Agree/Disagree). Even with a non-committal answer (e.g. “This is a complex question …”), you can highlight this at the outset before you dive into your main answers. You should avoid ‘hedging’ your answer – you may have seen a speaker do this before. Before they respond, they would dedicate a few lines to lower expectations (e.g. “I may not know the correct answer …”; “This is just my personal opinion …”). Try and move away from this habit to respond directly to what your audience is concerned about.

Tip #3: Err … Let Me Get Back to You?

The final area that we fear is when we are faced with a question that we don’t know the answer to – gasp! Instead of panicking and struggling to respond on the spot, remember that there is always an option of retreating. The challenge though is to retreat well! Retreating does not mean that you are avoiding the question completely. Rather, it is a polite request to the audience for time for you to dedicate sufficient attention in crafting a proper answer and giving the question the answer it deserves.

So, how can we retreat well? First, remember to acknowledge or clarify the question. Retreating is not a quick way out (it should be a last resort instead). Try to clarify or confirm the parameters of the question and make sure you understand it completely. Second, explain the reasons why you need more time to look into the answer. Remember to be professional and polite, e.g. “I would need more time to look into the research for this area …” This ensures that the audience member knows that you are not trying to avoid the question. Third, ensure you commit to answering the question! If you need a few minutes of thinking space, let your audience know. If not, you can arrange for a response after the session ends. For example: “Allow me to get back to you by the end of today with a response after I have looked through the files”.

These three steps will help you to respond to such a difficult situation in a classy and structured manner!

You Are Ready!

At the outset, you may think that you may never find yourself in a QnA or forum session. But as you progress in your workplace or even take up leadership roles, your ability to respond to people effectively becomes important. This is so especially in a high-stakes situation (such as a briefing or meeting to the management of your company!). With the tips above, we hope you have a quick guide on how you can address those situations like an expert!

Additional resource | Watch “Impromptu Speaking | How To Think, Speak & Talk Fast Yet Critically | #SpeakUP 005”

By The Way…

If you’re keen to take your public speaking & presentation skills (either business/corporate presentation, handle question and answer segments, or impromptu speaking) to the next level so that you may public speak and present with flair and charisma, feel free to check out our offerings below!

For more about our Public Speaking Course for Adults :

https://publicspeakingacademy.com.sg/courses-and-programs/group-classes-for-adults/

For more about our Public Speaking Course for Kids / Children:

https://publicspeakingacademy.com.sg/group-classes-students-age-9-18/