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One of our coaches was at a nice restaurant
recently and when the first person at the table
gave his order, the waiter said, “Very nice
choice.” In fact, the waiter said, “very nice” or
“good choice” to everyone at the table . . .
except our coach!
“I ordered the fish,” the coach said. “He just
nodded and walked away. I felt a little
offended. He didn’t tell me I made a nice
choice. The rest of the meal, I wondered if I
had ordered poorly.”
Similarly,
it's not a good idea
to say “That’s a great question” when someone
asks a question during a presentation.
Once you say “great question" once, you’re put
into the position of having to say “great
question” to everyone who asks a question.
After all, everyone thinks they’ve asked a
“great question.” Failing to say so to everyone,
once you've said it to one person,
will seem like a snub. Also, so many presenters
say “That’s a great question” that it often
seems patronizing and insincere.
Of course, we understand why people say “great
question.” They want to connect with their
audience and prod more questions. One of the
most uncomfortable parts of presenting is when
you open the floor for questions and no one
speaks up. So the thought is that by giving the
question positive reinforcement, other
questioners will volunteer.
Rewarding questioners is a good idea. But you
don’t need to do it patronizingly with “That’s a
great question.” Instead, reward the questioner
by treating the question as if it were a great
question. Smile at the questioner, nod your
head seriously, and give a strong answer. Most
importantly, don’t do anything to indicate that
you think the question is stupid. Don’t snicker
or roll your eyes.
If you’re giving interesting and lively answers,
the questioners will want to ask more. And you
won’t have to tell everyone that they’ve asked a
great question.
At Speechworks we help our clients learn how to
communicate in a way that connects and
persuades. If you’re interested in becoming a
great communicator give us a call at
404-266-0888 or check out our website at
www.speechworks.net |
