4 Statements Every Speaker Can Use in Their Question-Answer Session

When was the last time you had a presentation and you struggled while answer audience’s questions?

As a professional speaker and public speaking expert, I regularly deliver a lot of presentations in REAL WORLD.

Initially, one of the main challenges I faced was answering questions during Question-Answer.

I used to be confused.

Because I knew my subject very well but I was not effective in answering questions.

Have you ever faced the similar struggle?

Well, most of my students faced it in the past.

“Why is it that I know my subject very well, but I’m not able to answer questions properly?”

“Why do I take so much time to come to the point while answering questions?”

“Why am I not POWERFULLY answering my questions?”

These were the 3 questions asked by one of the NEW MEMBERS of our Bangalore-based public speaking group who came to MASTER his public speaking & presentation skills.

Recently I was doing our “ROCK THE STAGE: ULTIMATE FORMULA EXPERIENCE” and I taught an extra session on “How to Lead a POWERFUL Question-Answer Session.” This session was powerful enough to MOVE my students, most of whom have AT LEAST 15 years of work experience, from “not knowing how to do Q-A session” to a “SENSE OF POWER to lead a Q-A session that people dream of delivering.”

While for the time being I can’t really go in-depth about those tips here today, right now right here you’ll pick up 4 STATEMENTS you can use during your Q-A session to CONNECT with your audience MORE DEEPLY.

When you USE THESE STATEMENTS in the right MANNER, you’ll MAGNETICALLY attract your audience.

READY?

Here are the 4 STATEMENTS:

1. “I agree with you.”

This is one the MOST POWERFUL statements that can come out of a man’s mouth.

You see, everyone wants to be right.

So does your audience.

One of the mistakes I see often is most speakers make their audience wrong!

WHAT A COSTLY MISTAKE.

For example, I was at a conference recently and one lady (from the audience) asked a question to the man on the stage. The man’s reply started with: “You’re completely wrong. You have no clue…”

HAH!

Really?

Imagine you’re in the middle of 200 people and the speaker tells you THAT. How would you feel? Would you listen to what else the speaker has to say?

2.“Thanks for the question.”

When you thank the person for their question, they NOW FEEL VALUED. They know you respect their question.

So the next time someone asks you a question (especially during Q & A Session), say: “Thanks for the question. Here’s the thing…”

And when you use this line, have a smile. : -)

3.“Tell me a bit more about that.”

This STATEMENT has made me CONNECT WITH PEOPLE very deeply.

One of the mistakes I see in most speakers is that when audience members ask a speaker a question, the speaker starts answering immediately.

Well, there are two NEGATIVE RESULTS of it.

(a) When you start answering immediately, most often you’ll realize that the audience’s ACTUAL question was a little different than you THOUGHT what the question was. No speaker feels great when the after giving the answer, the person asking the question says: “Well…..BUT WHAT WAS NOT MY QUESTION. MY QUESTION WAS DIFFERENT.”

(b) When you start answering immediately, the audience thinks you’re more about trying to know everything than you’re about caring for them. So, care for them. When you ask “Tell me a bit more about that,” they feel the care you have for them and they respect you for that.

4. “What was your most valuable takeaway in today’s presentation?”

Always end on positive note. Instead of taking questions after questions, you can ask the audience members “What was your most valuable takeaway in today’s presentation?”

When they start answering that question one person at a time, 2 things happen:

(a) THEY are doing the review/summary of your entire presentations, which is GREAT

(b) They REALIZE how CONTENT-RICH & POWERFUL your presentation was

Once they share their best takeaways, you can smile & say: “Thanks for the amazing review. You just demonstrated that we had an AMAZING time today. Have a GREAT rest of the day.”

There you go, use these 4 STATEMENTS today and see MASSIVE CONNECTION. When you use these statements, you’ll increase your confidence, your CONNECTION level will go MUCH HIGHER, and your audience members will become YOUR LIFELONG fans.

I look forward to that day.

By the way, what was your most valuable takeaway in today’s blog?

About the author: Bishal Sarkar, popularly known as “Mr. PRACTICAL”, is called the best motivational speaker of Bangalore India. Bishal is the creator of “Present like a Champ Boot Camp” (The Best Public Speaking Course in Bangalore) where he teaches the participants the step-by-step easy-to-follow process of public speaking success. He regularly speaks to professionals, youth groups, corporate groups, and trains people from various walks of life and brings out the excellence within them. As the author of the book “I Love Public Speaking”, Bishal now teaches professionals how to overcome fear of public speaking and deliver powerful presentations using the proven formula of speaking & presentation success, through his public speaking courses & communication skills classes in Bangalore. He also helps aspiring speakers by teaching them How to become a motivational speaker in India. People say that he has designed the best presentation skills classes & public speaking workshops in Bangalore. For enrolling in Bishal Sarkar’s “Present like a Champ Boot Camp”, call us on +91-88803-61526.

India’s Public Speaking Expert