English Presentation Q&A Skills: How to Handle Audience Questions and Difficult Situations

As you saw in the video, this speaker faced some challenging questions from the audience. Most audiences are much kinder than this, right? But let's discuss receiving questions from your audience. If you are at all worried about this part of presenting, get prepared. Try to imagine the questions you may need to answer. When you anticipate the questions, you can practice your responses. You have two choices for handling questions: let people ask them anytime, or request that they save their questions until the end of your presentation. In formal presentations, the second option is much more common. It helps manage time more effectively by saving questions until the conclusion.

Feel free to stop me anytime with your questions. I'd be happy to answer questions at the end of my talk. We'll have time for questions at the end. If someone asks you a question but you prefer to answer questions at the end of your presentation, politely say something like: I’d be happy to answer that question at the end. Let's discuss that in a few minutes. Would you mind waiting to ask that question? Sometimes people ask questions about something you are just about to cover. Here are responses you can use. These only work if the answers will appear in the remainder of your talk: Good question. I'll come to that in a few minutes. Yes, I'm just about to talk about that.

At the end of your presentation, ask for questions—and remember to use the plural. For example: Does anyone have any questions? Any questions or comments? I'm happy to answer any questions. What questions do you have? Sometimes audience members can't hear others’ questions, so repeat them. Could everyone hear? Let me repeat the question. Sometimes it is difficult to hear or understand a question from the audience. Here are some ways to ask for repetition: I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that. Could you repeat that please? I'm sorry. Are you asking how long it will take to launch this? Do you mean why it can't be done faster?

There are two types of difficult questions: one you can't answer and one you don't want to answer. The most important thing is to respond positively in either case. Say something like: That's a great question. Or, Yes, good question. Then you can explain why you cannot answer it: I don't know the answer to that off the top of my head. I don't know the answer right here. I'd like to think about that. I'd like to discuss that during the break. Interesting question, but I haven't looked into that. That's a good question, but I don't know the answer.

What if someone disagrees with you or is upset about something you said? As in meetings or negotiations, it is important to stay positive. Use expressions to empathize or show understanding: I understand how you must feel. I understand that you have a different point of view. I'm sorry you disagree. It's true not everyone agrees on this. And as shown in previous courses, do not say someone is wrong. Phrase it positively: I don't think you're right about that. Avoid saying, That's not true. Instead, say, I don't believe that's true. If it risks turning into an argument, you can say: Let's not get into that discussion right now. Or perhaps we can talk about that later. You can end by saying, Thank you, everyone, to indicate the Q&A session has concluded.

Now that you've reviewed guidelines and language for concluding presentations and handling difficult situations, let's look at presentation A again. What could the presenter do differently? Then watch presentation B. Does the presenter behave as you expected?