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When someone asks you a question, you can possibly answer it anyways. Your answer will decide if you will have a conversation, or the discourse will end there and then. When it comes to presentations, the way you handle questions plays a big role in what your audience feels about your presentation.
If you are forthcoming in the way you respond to questions at the end of your presentation, the question and answer session can prove to be in your favor. You may get a chance to convey the information which you missed while delivering the main presentation. Thus, you must learn how to effectively handle the questions thrown towards you at the end of your presentation without feeling puzzled or taking offense.
This article aims to help you find ways effective for learning to handle questions in business presentations.
Top five ways to handle questions in business presentations
It is an art to respond to all kinds of questions without getting angry or overjoyed. Keeping your calm and disseminating the appropriate amount of information is absolutely necessary for ensured success in business presentations.
Think of it as a business owner. Are your company’s presenters smart enough to answer criticism and appreciation with composure? Give your employees a chance to learn by indulging in presentation skills training courses in Dubai to handle the audience concerns smartly.These are necessarybecause they enable them to handle the question and answer session of a business presentation smartly. A useful strategy would involve the following ways while responding to questions in business presentations:
1. Maintain eye contact
Eye contacts are very helpful in maintaining your confidence level as well as keeping the other person engaged. When someone from the audience is asking a question, do not take it as an opportunity to fix your microphone or check the time. Instead of grabbing the opportunity to take a few sips of water, you must maintain eye contact with the person who is aiming the question at you.
Along with eye contact, you can occasionally nod to show that you understand where the question is coming from. In this way, you will be able to show that you have a certain level of respect for what the audience wants to know.
2. Take a pause before answering
Oftentimes people listen so they can answer. But before answering, listen to understand. After listening carefully, take a pause. When you do not rush to answer the question, the person asking the question feels relax and elaborates on the question. Secondly, your patience reflects the level of respect you have for the said person.
Apart from that, you get a few moments to think of the most appropriate way to answer the question. Thus taking a pause before responding will increase your chances of articulating your response well.
3. Understand all parts of the question
Sometimes the people asking questions have a hard time conveying their query. At other times, you may not be able to comprehend it adequately. If any of these cases happen, you can ask the person to repeat himself with a smart approach. Rephrase it to confirm and ask if that is what he/she meant. The person may put it in a different way, and this may help you understand their viewpoint better.
Sometimes the questions people ask are multi-faceted. You need to answer all parts of the question. For this, make sure you develop an understanding of their viewpoint.
4. Acknowledge the importance of each question
Remember, your schoolteacher always encouraging students to ask questions, no matter how useless they sound? Well, think of all the questions as a chance to complement the content you just delivered. The notion that no question is silly should come in handy for you here.
Thus when you answer, try to start with something like ‘I have been discussing this my team.’, or ‘I see why this concerns you.’ You may even appreciate a question by saying something like, ‘this is a good question and requires attention on the part of our team.’
5. Answer comprehensively
When the questions are long, instead of trying to cut it short, respond in a comprehensive manner. When the person is asking the question, do your mental math and divide the query into two to three parts. When you have the question, and its parts sorted in your mind, you will be able to address each part of the query in a comprehensive manner.
In this way, your audience will be able to observe how keen and determined you are to address the queries of a potential customer or investor.
How well do your employees handle questions in presentations?
Even the best presenters feel rattled when it comes to answering questions. So if your company’s presenters are in similar boats, don’t be harsh on them. Instead, give them the chance to learn better and improve their presentation skills. This is the strategy that businesses in most corporate hubs have begun to implement.
The prime example is UAE, where the acquisition of corporate training has become a norm now. If you run your business there, your employees have a good opportunity in the shape of presentation skills coaching in order to learn to handle question and answer sessions. As a plus point, your employees will deliver powerful presentations and end them on a high note.
This is as close as you can get to an increased level of profitability for your business. So help your presenters now!
