My colleague was nervous. She had to deliver a 20-minute presentation about a sensitive topic, and she was worried that one of her coworkers would ask a tough question she didn't know how to answer.
So she played it safe. Stuck to the script, reading the bullets on the slides. Spoke in a style that was unassuming, factual and unemotional. And when she got to the slide that read, "Questions?", she looked around quickly and, when no one said anything, thanked everyone for their attention. Meeting over!
But although my colleague escaped the firepit of tough questions, she wasn't satisfied. She knew the presentation lacked energy. She suspected that her colleagues didn't really buy in to her content. And now she had a new concern: Would unanswered questions bubble up later and cause problems.
Don't let tough questions make you sweat. Instead, proactively manage the meeting to embrace questions instead of avoiding them. Here's how:
  1. Prepare for the most likely questions. Celebrities and politicians both know that the best defense is a good . . . defense. That's why they spend a few days before the debate or press conference brainstorming difficult questions, then working with their team on the best possible answers. Unless you're appearing on national TV, you don't have to spend quite as much time. But an hour or two of preparation will not only get you ready, it will also ease your mind.
  2. Develop a strategy for dealing with unexpected questions. No matter how much you prepare, it's likely that someone will surprise you with a question so zany and out there that you won't know how to answer it. No worries, as long as you've mapped out a strategy for what to do when that moment occurs. My favorite response: Acknowledge that the question is unexpected, write it on a flipchart and commit to respond within a certain time period.
  3. Embrace questions. I'm with St. Augustine on this one: I may hate the question, but I love the questioner. In fact, I've found that the more I try to solicit questions and create an interactive experience, the more engaged participants become--and the more everyone feels like we're all in this together. So I give people sticky notes and markers, and ask them to write questions as I present. Or I create a breakout session after my presentation and ask people in small groups to generate questions (and sometimes answers).
My biggest breakthrough in managing questions was when I realized that the more meeting participants talk, the smarter I seem. Questions are simply part of the sharing process. And when you're ready for them, questions can help you be successful.