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“What do I do
during a presentation when the questions are getting farther and
farther away from the issues that I want to cover? How can I stay on
track?”
We get that
question a lot during our workshops. And many presenters will shy
away from taking questions for fear that they will lose control of
the program.
But taking
questions is an incredibly important part of a presentation. We
recommend reserving as much as half your time for Q&A. And you
don’t need to fear losing control during Q&A if you remember the
magic phrase:
“That leads me back to . . .
.”
Here’s how it
works. If the questions are getting more and more obscure and
irrelevant, make the decision to get the meeting back on track.
Then, as you finish answering the last question, say,
“And that leads me back to the
next major topic that we need to focus on.”
Don’t worry if the
last question does not in fact “leads you back to” the point your trying to
make. Who cares? No one really analyzes your words to that degree.
It’s just a verbal trick to get the meeting back on track. And
usually, the other listeners will appreciate your efforts to get
back on point.
Use judgment. You don’t want to cut off questions too
quickly. You don’t want to
signal that you don’t want questions. Often even Irrelevant
questions actually help loosen up the audience and get them
involved. And audience involvement is a wonderful thing for a
presentation.
But sometimes the
questions can get so far off base that the presenter needs to take
control. And one trick to gaining control is the magic phrase “That
leads me back to. . . .”
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. |
