Presentation Skills
The Question & Answer (or Q&A) session happens at the end of your presentation—audience members are free to ask you questions about your content and your ideas, and you have the chance to show how well you know your research.
But what happens if someone asks a tough question?
In this section, we'll look at how to handle audience questions so you can feel more in control of the situation.
Make sure you understand the question and that you've heard everything the person wants to learn.
Re-state the question in your own words and have the person confirm that you've heard and understood their question. For example, you could say, "Are you asking…?" or "Did you mean…?" before rephrasing the person's question.
Be direct and honest. If you don't know the answer, that's okay too, but you should try your best to respond in a way that will satisfy the person who asked you the question.
Use a story that is relatable to the audience to build a better connection with your audience.
If someone asks you a difficult question, don't get rattled! Make sure you're polite, professional, and courteous. Be prepared for your presentation—think about what people might ask you during your presentation and either include the content in your session or leave it for the Q&A.
Handling questions from audience members can be one of the most difficult aspects of presenting your work. So, what kinds of questions might come up during your Q&A session?
Check the boxes below to learn more about a few different types of questions and how to handle them.
Direct questions are the typical questions we use when we want information. Direct questions require direct answers. You want to be clear and concise with your response, and you'll likely only need one sentence to answer the question.
There are three types of direct questions:
Hostile questions are often designed to challenge the narrative, structure, and conclusions of your presentation. These types of questions can range from annoying comments or rude interruptions to mild differences of opinion to highly charged challenges.
It's important to handle these kinds of disagreeable questions without getting hostile back. Remember: You have the power to control and optimize these difficult situations.
Four common types of hostile questions include:
Example: "Your conclusion here is unrealistic, don't you think so?"
With these types of questions, you can respond with a simple “No,” immediately followed by a recap of the issue under consideration.
For example: "No, my conclusion is based on… and…"
In this case, long answers can be effective for diffusing the hostility. Maintain a neutral expression, and maintain eye contact with the questioner. Focus on the issue at hand and use this time to reinforce your ideas. Don’t let your emotions dictate your response.
Example: "How can you suggest such a flawed idea to solve this issue?"
What's essential about your response here is that you do not repeat the inflammatory word (in this case, it would be "flawed"). Keep a cool head, and summarize the issue without repeating the word that the questioner used.
For example: You might start your response saying, “The issue at hand is what impact this solution will have on our user group going forward… ”
You can then use this time to provide more information about how you came to this solution for this particular user group. Respond on your terms, not the terms of the questioner.
Example: "What kinds of sources did you look at to come to your conclusion?"
This type of hostile question is difficult to convey in a written form because they will sound similar to a direct question. The question is not using any inflammatory words or asking you to agree with a negative, but the question may still be hostile depending on the tone
In these situations, ignore the tone and respond as if the question was asked in a completely straightforward way–as difficult as that may be. Stay calm and give the questioner the information in a simple, direct way.
Example: "Given your background and limited knowledge on this subject, why did you even choose this topic for your presentation?"
Negative preconditions refer to the inclusion of negative assumptions or statements about the presenter or their work before the question is even asked. By framing the question in a negative way first, the presenter is then put into a defensive position, which makes it harder to provide a confident or satisfactory answer.
Similar to inflammatory trigger words, try to ignore the negative preconditions and focus exclusively on the issue at hand.
For example: "During this project I learned… which has a major impact on… As I stated earlier in the presentation, I was drawn to this topic because of… and… which has helped me…"
It's important to note that these kinds of negative preconditions are not constructive or helpful in the classroom—ideally, your professor will confront the person who asked a question like this!
Multi-part questions are questions that have multiple distinct parts or sub-questions. Instead of asking a single, straightforward question, the questioner will weave together different inquires in the same question.
For example: "I appreciated that your project focused on renewable energy sources—I was curious about a few things: What are the advantages of those sources in Ontario? Are they more expensive than our current energy solutions? What's their potential for widespread adoption here?"
As a presenter, it can be difficult to keep track of all these different questions—in most cases, the questioner genuinely wants more information, but they know you'll only have time to call on them once during the Q&A session.
You can approach this situation by answering each part separately. It can help to pretend a different questioner asked each question. Make sure that you're concise with your answers so that other audience members can ask their questions as well.
If you're having trouble remembering each part of the multi-part question, you can ask: "Could you remind me of your next question?" There's nothing wrong with briefly asking the questioner to repeat a part of their question—it shows that you care about providing a complete answer for your audience.
Long-winded 'questions' are more of an experience than a question.
In this situation, an audience member will flood you with their opinions or personal stories and there may or may not be a question tacked on to the end of their speech—but you're still expected to respond to them.
For example: "This is more of a comment, but your presentation reminded me of a project I worked on where I had to… It's refreshing to see someone else explore this topic, I only just learned about it last term when we… I was hoping to learn more about… I added something similar in my presentation for… … …"
A simple way to handle this situation is to acknowledge the higher-level, big picture ideas in what the person has said, and to then talk to the central idea of their 'question'. You don't need to address all the smaller opinions or ideas the person has shared—just stay focused on the key ideas or arguments from your presentation.
You could start by saying, "Clearly, there are a lot of issues going on here. Overall, I would say…" and then either answer the question or summarize your key ideas in about 2-3 sentences. Then you can move on to the next questioner.
Watch the video below to learn about the tone you should use during your Q&A session. You'll also learn specific phrases you can use to clarify questions or communicate when you're not sure about an answer.
Successful presenters prepare for the Q&A session with the same focus and detail as their presentations—this is a chance for you share extra details, clarify any confusion, and make a great last impression on your audience.
Check the boxes below to learn what you should do before and during your presentation to create a smooth, successful Q&A!
You might not know exactly which questions you'll be asked during your Q&A session, but there are still ways you can prepare yourself.
Try the following three techniques before your next presentation:
Work out the answers to these questions as you're working on your presentation—these questions can help you figure out where you might need to do more research. Decide which questions you'll incorporate into your presentation, and which ones you'll leave to the Q&A session.
Test out your presentation with a friend, a family member, or a tutor at Sheridan's Tutoring Centre. Ideally, you want to test your presentation on someone with little to no knowledge about your topic—they can help point out areas that aren't clear so you can add more detail. You can book a free tutoring appointment on TutorOcean.
Spend time practicing your answers by speaking them out loud. The more you prepare, the more natural you will sound during your Q&A session!
Use an open-ended question (e.g., "Who has the first question?" "What topic should we start discussing?") rather than a 'yes/no' question (e.g., "Are there any questions?" to get the conversation started.
If you've waited about 30 seconds and no one is asking a question, you could start the Q&A by talking about something that interested you in you research. For example, "When I started my research, I had a lot of questions about 'X'. A key part of 'X' is…"
Repeating questions serves two main functions: First, it allows you to clarify what the questioner has asked; second, it helps to make sure your audience has heard the question.
You don't need a quick answer for everything—give yourself the chance to think about what the questioner has asked, what you know about the topic, and what information might help the questioner.
Aim for 2-3 sentences in your answer. If you feel like your answer needs to be longer, offer a summary of your ideas in 2-3 sentences and then offer to either talk to the questioner after your presentation or to e-mail the questioner (or the class) with a longer response.
It's better to say, "I don't know, but let me look that up and I'll send a note to the class" than it is to make up an inaccurate or misleading answer.
If someone asks you a difficult question, respond calmly and politely. Help the questioner feel heard by briefly acknowledging their concern or point or question, and then offer to follow up with them after the Q&A session is over.
End your Q&A session by thanking everyone for their thought-provoking questions. Make sure that you return the favour by engaging with your classmates during the Q&A session of their presentations too!
