Handling Q & A

Beatriz P. Lorente, Ph.D.

Effective handling of Q&A involves 3
Elements

 Thorough Preparation

 Attentive & Active Listening

 Good Answering Strategies

Thorough Preparation is the First Key

It helps you to:

 know what to LISTEN for
 have a „directory‟ of ready ANSWERS to
select from
You should prepare based on the
content of your preparation

 „hot spots‟: areas & issues that might be

controversial

 „short spots‟: areas that you cannot cover or

choose not to cover in the presentation

 „wart spots‟: areas that you know may not be

convincing enough (and which you hope won‟t be
noticed!)
You should also prepare based on your
analysis of the audience

 What are their main interests concerns, e.g.

based on the nature of their responsibilities?

 Which part of the presentation might different

members pay special attention to?

 What agendas might some members of the

audience have?

 What types of questions do they normally ask?

Attentive & Active Listening is the 2nd
Key

 Listen for two types of CONTENT:

 Ideational content

 Interpersonal/emotional content
 Listen beyond content to INTENT, e.g.:
 Genuine questions really meant to obtain
information & understanding?
 Test questions to check your competency?
 Trick questions to set or trip you up?
 „Vent‟ questions to let off steam?
 „Challenge‟ questions to push opposing
viewpoint or agenda?
Make your listening attentive & active
by:
 Preparing to listen: do a quick activation of
possible „schemata‟
 Focusing your listening: key themes, key words
that are repeated, main question vs sub-question
 Bullet pointing as you listen
 Back-channeling while you listen: deliberate
acknowledgement of points to keep YOUR mind
focused
 Mental reframing as you listen: to focus on
speaker‟s meaning, not words
Good Answering Strategies
are the Final Key
BEFORE you answer:
 Decide the PURPOSE of your answer
 Force yourself to choose a STRUCTURE for
the answer
 PRIORITIZE: decide what is the most
important point to begin your answer
with, or to emphasize through repetition.
WHEN you answer:
 Start by reframing the question to CHECK THAT
YOU HAVE UNDERSTOOD correctly: repeat,
paraphrase, sum up, confirm, clarify etc
 ANNOUNCE your structure to your audience (“I
have three points to make in response to this:
first, …”)
 Force yourself to stick to the structure
 Speak SLOWLY, and use REPETITION
Answering ‘template’
 „REFRAME‟ question
 [Provide „In a nutshell‟ answer first]
 Introduce answer structure
 Produce answer with clear structure
„signals‟
 Sum-up answer
Important reminders
 Focus on KEY ISSUES, not trivial details
 Keep the BIG PICTURE in mind, and
remind audience of this
 Acknowledge that you don‟t know if you
don‟t know, but promise to find the
answer
What are poster presentations like?
What are poster sessions like?
References
Atkinson, C. Beyond Bullet Points. Microsoft Press. 2005.
Lin, B. Effective Technical Presentations III: Handling Q
& A (Power Point slides)
Mandel, S. Effective Presentation Skills. Crisp Learning,
1993.
Reynolds, G. Presentation Zen. New Riders Pub. 2008