00:01
In this lecture, you'll learn how to handle
audience questions during a presentation,
even when you don't have the answer.
00:07
You'll learn how to remember what you were
saying and where you were in your
presentation. When your mind goes blank and
you forget everything and you'll learn how to
ask questions during a presentation so that
you can keep the audience members
engaged. Number one, let's talk about how to
handle unexpected
questions. Sometimes for a presentation, you
might have to ask your audience members
to hold their questions until the end.
00:30
And you probably have seen this at the
beginning of presentations a lot where people
will say to the audience, If you could
please hold your questions until the end, I
would appreciate that.
00:40
Try not to do just that.
00:42
If you ask your audience at the beginning to
hold their questions until the end,
you're starting out by asking something
that's kind of an inconvenience for most
audience members. However, if you were to
instead say, make sure that if you have a
question, as I'm delivering this
presentation, you write it down so that I can
give it my full attention and answer it
during break time.
01:02
When you say something like that, that gives
a benefit.
01:06
So write it down so that I can answer it
fully and give it my attention during break.
01:10
Then you're giving people something to do
that benefits them rather than telling them
what not to do at the beginning of your
presentation.
01:17
But during the presentation, even if you
have done that, people will ask questions.
01:21
Sometimes as you're speaking, they'll throw
them out.
01:24
They'll raise their hand and they'll
interrupt you as you're speaking.
01:28
Under normal circumstances, I recommend
letting people do that because people
then feel more comfortable with you.
01:34
People trust you when they know I can
interrupt you during your presentation and
you'll pay attention to me and ask my
question the next time you get a question
from an audience member and you weren't
expecting it.
01:44
Use this simple four step process.
01:46
It makes you look polished and it answers
the question.
01:49
Number one, repeat the question.
01:52
If someone were to ask me, for example, Hey,
Dan, can you tell me how I might be able to
punctuate a message using a nonverbal cue?
And I were to say back to them.
02:03
All right. Let me just make sure I
understand the question you're asking how to
punctuate a message with nonverbal cues.
02:08
Correct. When you do that, people tend to,
whether it's the person asking the question
or the entire audience, think, wow, they're
really giving their attention to that
person. Or my question.
02:19
I believe that more.
02:20
Then move along to step number two.
02:22
Answer the question.
02:23
If we don't have the answer, schedule it for
later.
02:26
To answer it, you can simply say something
such as?
I would say, Ah.
02:30
I'm glad you asked that because we're going
to be answering that at the end of this
lecture when we discuss pregnant pauses or
if I don't know the answer, remember the
phrase, I don't have the answer to that, but
I'll find the answer and get it to you.
02:42
How about before you leave, you shoot me an
email and I will get it back to you as soon
as I discover what the answer is.
02:47
Will that work for you? When you say, I
don't have the answer, but I'll get it to
you, that actually adds to your credibility
if it's in front of a group.
02:55
Then move along to step number three.
02:57
If you don't have the answer or if you do
have the answer, in any event,
you can use a solution focused question to
reinforce the good
answer you just gave, or that you are there
to help and you should be
trusted using the solution focused question
to answer, the question that you were
asked would sound something like this, and
now that I've shown you that, are you more
likely to subscribe to our service?
Or and if I can answer that question for you
in the manner that you wish, would you be
more likely to subscribe to our service?
For example, if someone asks you, Hey, this
sounds pretty
expensive, do you think it would be worth it
for me?
You could say. If I could show you how this
would fit into your budget and
actually make you money in the end, would
you then subscribe to this service or.
03:46
I don't have the answer right now how this
could fit into your budget.
03:50
But when I get it and give it to you, will
you then be more likely to subscribe to our
service? So if you use the solution focused
question as you answer questions to the
audience, it benefits not just the person
who's listening, but everybody who is in
the audience will hear it and be a little
bit more convinced with whatever it is you're
saying. And then step number four, once you
have repeated the
question, you've answered it or scheduled it
for later, you've asked your solution focused
question. Taking advantage of the
opportunity to answer a question, you confirm
it. Great.
04:22
Does that answer your question?
Great. Can I move along now?
Great. Are we all done?
And when you do that, when you have that
system for answering questions, people will,
if they are asked at the end of your
presentation where all of your questions
answered, they will respond with a Yes, they
were.
04:38
He was really good at answering audience
questions.
04:41
And if you forget where you're going, like a
lot of people, because they aren't
confident that they will be able to find the
words all throughout their speech, they have
huge anxiety. They're very nervous.
04:52
They're scared. Their fear of public
speaking is huge.
04:54
And the number one thing people are fearful
of is blacking out, forgetting where they are
and looking what they would consider to be
foolish in front of a crowd.
05:03
Don't worry about that. Under normal
circumstances, if you're speaking, there's
going to be a podium or a table.
05:08
And on that table, you will almost always
see what?
You'll always see a picture of water and a
glass.
05:15
Now, I have seen in the past 20 years I've
seen that transform into a
bottle of water.
05:21
But if you can bring up to the podium a
glass, if there isn't one up there and you
can have someone bring one up, or if you can
personally bring one up, if you have a glass
and a bottle of water or a pitcher of water,
any time you lose your words, if you totally
forget what you're saying, just act as if
it's a pregnant pause.
05:39
Stop there and look around.
05:42
Pour yourself a glass of water.
05:44
Take a drink. And then move along.
05:47
It seems natural.
05:48
It's something people do when they're up at
the podium because especially when you speak,
you have to drink and it helps you buy some
time and remember where you were,
especially if you have strategically placed
someplace around the water
flashcards. Let's talk about index cards and
how you can use them as flash cards or
visual cues when you grab yourself a glass
of water.
06:10
If you place a little index card by the
water pitcher on the podium,
by some materials, by the projector.
06:17
If you strategically place index cards
around you before you start speaking, in the
event you forget your words, you can find
them incredibly useful, and it builds your
confidence that you won't forget what you're
saying.
06:29
Here's how you use them.
06:30
Take some index cards, the cards that are
about the size of a breast pocket.
06:35
And on that card, take some of the main
points that you want to discuss during your
speech, during your presentation, and put on
those cards a visual cue
not that explains or that you have to read,
but some picture that would remind you.
06:48
For example, when I give speeches, sometimes
I have to relate how
what I'm teaching them a communication
strategy is going to financially benefit
them. I have to mention something like that
before I end, and if I haven't,
I haven't done my job.
07:04
And so I may place a visual cue such as an
index card with a big dollar sign on
it strategically someplace maybe you're on
the water pitcher, maybe around the
projector, maybe simply on the podium.
07:15
And that way, if I forget where I'm going
and I stop and think, Oh, I forgot my words,
what do I say? What do I say?
I can look down.
07:22
No one notices that I'm doing it.
07:24
And a visual cue reminds me.
07:26
Make sure before you go tell them how this
financially impacts them.
07:30
And then I say, Oh, there you go.
07:31
And then I can mention that point, even if
it's out of order.
07:35
But I have the words and I accomplish all of
the goals that I had set before I started
speaking. For example, if you have, let's
say, three or five goals that you must
accomplish during a speech or a
presentation, if you have those three or five
goals illustrated in a visual sense and as
you say them, you take an index
card, set it aside, take an index card, flip
it over.
07:55
Nobody notices that you do that.
07:57
And if they do, people simply think, Oh,
those must be his notes.
08:01
Oh, thank goodness he's not just reading.
08:02
If you flip them over or put them aside as
you cover the points that you have
strategically placed, once they're gone, you
can think, Oh, great, I covered everything
that I wanted to in my speech without having
to read a script.
08:14
And finally, I'd like to give you a simple
strategy that you can use to not simply
engage your audience members, but also
convince them to do whatever it is that
you're asking them to do.
08:26
There are different types of questions we've
talked about many of them.
08:29
For example, the tag question, remember, the
tag question is when you say, badumbadumbadum
, don't you think, badumbadumbadum.
08:36
Right. And we've discussed how in any
presentation, if
it's a dry subject matter, especially if you
simply punctuate different messages with tag
questions and for example, I could say and
doing things like this will
help any speech that you give be more
effective, don't you think?
And this has been a problem for every one of
us, hasn't it?
That's a very simple way to punctuate your
messages and get people involved.
09:00
But if it's possible for you to do so, call
on audience members.
09:05
It's something that you don't see very
often, but when you see it, you will see that
it is used by effective speakers who engage
the entire audience, especially
because the speaking style of today is very
different from how it was 20 years ago.
09:19
We now want to be having a conversation with
our audience and one way to do
that and make everybody feel as though
you're talking with them, whether it's two
people, 200 people or 2000 people, if you
choose people from the audience and call them
by name and ask them questions, it gets the
entire audience engaged.
09:37
For example, as I mentioned before, you may
simply want to say, excuse me, sir, in the
front row in black suit, what's your name?
And you'd be amazed.
09:45
I've asked thousands of people that
question.
09:46
No one has ever drawn a blank and said, Oh,
I don't know.
09:50
But if you say, for example, Hey, man in the
black suit, what's your name?
And then you get a name.
09:55
Charlie, you can always use a simple closed
ended question, by the
way. I say closed ended question because if
you make the mistake of saying something such
as Charlie, can you tell me about a time
where blah, blah, blah and you ask an open
ended question, then you're setting yourself
up for an audience member to say.
10:14
Um, and you've taken the momentum out of your
presentation,
or sometimes even worse.
10:22
They could tell you about something, and it
takes a long time.
10:26
Either way, you distract from your
presentation.
10:28
But if you want to keep in the flow, you
could ask a simple closed ended question.
10:32
Remember, closed ended questions start out
with do you are you do you
think? You can always tell by the beginning
of a question if it's a closed ended
or an open ended one.
10:43
And if I were to say, for example, sir,
what's your name in the black suit?
Charlie. Charlie. Do you know what I mean?
Charlie. Charlie, have you experienced
things like this?
Charlie? Is this something you're concerned
with?
And when you ask simple closed ended
questions, it again puts the audience on
alert. They think, when might it be my turn?
And it appears as if you're having one
conversation with the entire audience.
11:05
Let's talk about the repeat after me.
11:07
Generally speaking, in any presentation that
we give, there are going to be key words or
phrases that we want people to walk away
remembering.
11:16
For example, if I were giving a presentation
on customer service skills, one of the key
things that I would like people to remember
is the PEC It's a catch
phrase. It means the personal emotional
connection.
11:28
It's used a lot in business, and if I want
to use questions which are a great way to get
audience members involved and engaged, I
could say, for example, Charlie.
11:37
Repeat this after me.
11:38
Personal emotional connection.
11:40
Say that Charlie. And then after Charlie
individually says the personal emotional
connection, then we can say, Great,
everybody, repeat after me, everybody.
11:49
The personal emotional connection one more
time.
11:52
The personal, emotional connection.
11:54
And that's a great way to get people
involved.
11:56
And they'll remember the personal emotional
connection.
11:59
You can also say as you go along in your
presentation, especially if it's a dry
subject matter, you could say at the
beginning after a couple of minutes.
12:08
All right, everybody. So you there in the
blue shirt.
12:12
Fred, Fred, what was the point number one in
today's lecture?
And Fred will say and then you can say, all
right, you can go ahead and help him.
12:20
And someone will remember what point number
one was that you taught.
12:23
And they'll say, Fred, it's ABC.
12:27
And then Fred will say, Oh, ABC.
12:29
Then as you move along, do it again.
12:31
All right, everybody. So let's review.
12:33
Mary, Mary, what were steps one and two?
And as you go through your presentation, if
it's a very dry subject matter
that's really informational, it's not so
much a motivational speech.
12:45
You're not trying to engage the audience
members, but you'd like them to pay
attention, stop every few minutes.
12:51
And you could say, Charlie, where are we
now?
Mary what have we learned so far?
Don what are the first three steps now?
All right, everybody, let's all review.
12:59
What are steps number one, two and three, and
you keep reviewing as you move along.
13:03
It lets people know, oh, gosh, it might be
tested as we're going through.
13:07
So I'm going to pay more attention and
they'll retain more information and be
engaged as you speak if they think I keep
getting asked questions about what we're
listening to, so I better pay attention.
13:17
And if you use those types of questions
during your presentation, if keeping audience
members engaged is something that you
struggle with that will help.
13:25
Overnight in this lecture, you'll learn how
to handle audience questions when you're
giving a live presentation, as well as how
to remember where you were and
what you were saying. When you black out
during a presentation and you learned how to
use questions to keep audience members
engaged during your presentation.
13:43
So you should have a lot of new tools that
you can use, both at work and at home.
13:47
We've discussed everything from body
language to vocal skills, verbal skills,
verbal patterns, danger phrases, power
phrases.
13:54
You have a lot to do.
13:56
So please take your tools with you.
13:58
Use your tools, practice every day, and you
will be astonished at the results you can get
by investing just minutes a day in your
communication skills.
14:07
Changing the way you speak doesn't just
change the way you think.
14:10
It changes the way you see the entire world.
14:13
And it will change the way the entire world
sees you.
14:16
This is Daniel Connor.
14:18
Thank you.