Hate that deadly silence after, ‘Any questions?’ Wish someone apart from the Black Hat or the fluffy HR type asked the questions?
It’s time to change the Q&A ritual. It’s broke and you need to fix it.
Following the New Q&A Ritual means:
- You’ll have fewer questions focused on the needs of just one person
- You’ll have more questions that are of use to the group
- You’ll have more questions. End of sentence.
Let’s look at what the ritual is now, why people don’t ask questions, and how we can set things up so that more people ask more appropriate questions.
The current Q&A ritual
Presentation dwindles to a close.
The speaker or the facilitator asks, ‘Any questions?’
In almost all cases, there is either:
- total silence
- a couple of questions dredged up by polite people or
- a bunch of ‘challenging’ questions from people who like to create a stir.
None of this is useful to the audience or the speaker.
People refrain from asking questions because they haven’t got any, or because they don’t feel safe asking them
If people don’t have a question you’ve either answered all the questions in their head (yeah, right – droned on and on more like), not given them anything they find relevant, or, significantly, not given them enough time to find the questions they do have.
There aren’t many people who like sticking their hand up in front of a group, and even fewer who (ahem) ask useful questions. You’re also battling against the inertia of 20-45 minutes of them sitting in silence (bad presenter, BAD presenter), so they need some time to rouse from their daze.
People will ask questions when you give them time and make it safe
Even the brightest people need a moment or two to marshall their thoughts, and are more likely to ask questions when they feel like they’re acting on behalf of someone else.
The New Q&A Ritual
Towards the beginning of your session say:
I’m going to share some of my thoughts on this topic, then you’ll have a change to quickly confer with your neighbours and ask me any questions you still have.
At the end:
You’ve been listening to me for a while, but I’m sure you have some questions still unanswered in your head. Take 2 minutes to talk to the people nearby and write down some of the things you’re interested to hear more about.
Nod and smile encouragingly then turn your back on them, take a sip of water, gather your notes, walk to the back of the room and check your Blackberry, whatever makes it clear that you mean it.
After a couple of minutes, ask for volunteers to relay the questions coming up from ‘their group’s discussion’.
Suddenly, people have had time to think what they’d like to ask, and safety as they’re not necessarily asking on their own behalf.
What do you think? Are you already using the New Q&A Ritual, or some variant of it, to handle the Q&A session? Leave a comment…
Any questions?
Related posts:
~ How to review your presentation: Two things people get wrong
~ 9 easy things you can do to stand out in technical presentations
~ 3 reasons why you should deliver your presentation like it’s a conversation
~ How to start a presentation
In other news:
- I’ve been getting stuck in to LinkedIn, having been lazy about it for a year. LinkedIn is like serious Facebook for business. Extra-ORDinary who you’re connected to by just one or two degrees of separation. If I haven’t linked in (!) with you yet, invite me:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewlightheart
- I attended the launch of PrettySmart, Natasha Golding’s company that specialises in crafted web content. It was a truly interactive event, including a Venn diagram for business cards, and an ever growing tip wall..
- Oooh, and I’ve posted a question on LinkedIn:
What are the worst ‘crimes’ you’ve seen in technical presentations?’
If you’re on LinkedIn, go answer it. If you’re not, it’s free to create a profile and a truly great investment, especially in these uncertain times. (It’s not what you know…)
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Photo by tj scenes
