The Power and Dangers of Q&A

This is the last in the over-the-shoulder (OTS) series, and it is the last thing I will go through with speakers and founders. Q&A is not something that we use with TEDx speakers, but it is critical to an effective pitch and many other presentations.

In this issue, I will explain why ending your presentation with Q&A is a big mistake and show you the surprising power that Q&A has to significantly boost your authority. Q&A is the ultimate leverage; it can raise you up or drop you down further than anything we have covered thus far.

But it is at the top of the pyramid for a reason. If you don’t have the foundational elements beneath them, then the structure will collapse, and leverage will not be possible.

The Dangers of Q&A

Let’s start with the potential damage Q&A can cause to your credibility and authority. While I believe the potential for good far outweighs the dangers, it is important to know the dangers and give due respect so that you don’t fall victim to them.

The first and most obvious danger is getting an awkward question, either a reasonable question you are not prepared for or a question that has a slant that works against you - a ‘gotcha’ question. The problem is that while this could be handled easily on a one-on-one basis, when it is in front of an audience, the impact can be devastating. Handling an answer poorly is a hit on your credibility.

Another danger is losing momentum at the end of your talk or presentation. Too many people end their talk with an unstructured Q&A, which may start off well but inevitably declines into a snooze-fest that drains all the momentum from your talk. This doesn’t sound so bad, but the reality is that this can have more of an impact than a bad question.

Often, an awkward question will impact just a portion of the audience, but building your talk up to a crescendo only to lose the momentum to a pathetic question will impact the whole audience. The difference is a slowly deflating balloon rather than a burst one, but the result is a limp pile of rubber all the same. The unstructured Q&A can rob your presentation of the outcome you sought.

Prepping for Q&A

The antidote to awkward questions is to be prepared and have a scripted answer. This seems obvious, but unfortunately, it is often done haphazardly, if at all. When coaching startup founders who are looking to pitch for investment, we would get the whole team into a brainstorming session to brainstorm the sorts of questions the founder might get.

It helped to have some catalysts for the questions, so I might put a few headings on the whiteboard to put post-its on: industry questions, competitor questions, regulatory questions, business model questions, market questions, talent questions, IP questions, and left-field questions.

30-45 minutes of frantically adding questions to the board will use a surprising amount of post-its. It looks daunting, but the next step is to group them, and you will soon realise that you can create one answer for an entire group of questions. In most cases, you don’t need a scripted answer; the mere exercise of discussing the questions and potential answers will prepare you for most of the questions coming your way.

However, you also need to prepare some responses to unanswerable questions. Have something in your pocket that you can pull out for any reason. Those you don’t know the answer to, or you cannot answer, or it is an attack by question. The key here is not to make up an answer on the spot. If in doubt, you are always safer admitting that you don’t have a definitive answer right now. You can look into it and return with a definitive answer. You may share your thoughts with a properly worded caveat, but only if you feel comfortable doing so.

Structuring your Q&A

The most common mistake when including Q&A with your talk is that a speaker will finish their talk and then launch straight into Q&A. The first few questions are great, but they slowly get thinner and less relevant. Your stirring finish loses momentum, and your message is lost and forgotten in a mire of banality.

There are better ways to structure this, but it does depend on the event format. Many investment pitches have a set amount of time for a pitch and a separate set time for Q&A. This limits your options in terms of what you can do, but the fundamentals I explain here can still be applied.

In most talks, what you want to do is a false finish, come to a conclusion, close your loops, and then advise the audience that you will take some questions before closing up. Then, you can take a few questions until the quality starts diminishing or, as time allows, before moving back to your prepared close building to a compelling climax that will leave the audience engaged.

In a similar manner, when faced with a structured event with a set question time, I suggest that you have a very short, compelling passage that you can deliver at the end of your question time to push a call to action through. The degree to which you can push that close at the end depends on the venue, the event, the specific pitch, and how the audience is reacting.

Bonus: How Q&A Can Boost Your Authority

Showcasing your knowledge from the stage is a great way to build your authority and credibility with the audience. However, the way to accelerate your reputation is to set up a question with a well-prepared answer that makes you look good.

Psychologically, the impact on your authority is more profound coming as part of an answer than it is as part of what is considered your prepared talk. The answer should be well rehearsed and delivered seemingly off the cuff to be most impactful. When this is done right in response to their question, it shows them that you respect their input enough to take it seriously with a thoughtful answer, and the more comprehensive your answer, the more impressive you appear.

The key to doing this effectively is a two-part process. You must create and prepare an impactful answer, but you also need to seed the question so it will likely be asked. Sometimes, the answer can be given to a question that doesn’t quite match by answering it and segueing to the prepared answer.

Conclusion

Q&A is an advanced aspect of compelling communication that can significantly leverage your efforts to communicate and build your credibility and authority. Like any leveraged activity, it offers both increased rewards and increased risks. These can be managed if you know what you are doing but ignore the basics at your own peril.

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Unpacking Wisdom is a weekly section in which I explore a famous (or not-so-famous) quote and how it applies to the Compelling Communicator.

I believe that whenever you are offered the opportunity to speak from the stage, you have the opportunity to define yourself, as Robert Frost states in his quote. The challenge we all face when confronted with this opportunity is that we tend to be our own bullies; it is ourselves who are often the first to silence our own voices.

So my take on this quote in terms of speaking from the stage is to be careful to ensure you are not making yourself into a victim, you are not bullying yourself, and you are not limiting yourself through how you define yourself.

But also note anyone who is trying to define you when talking about you presenting from the stage. It is your responsibility and privilege to define yourself. Not just once but every time you take the stage and share your message with an audience.

What I am up to this week…

Professionally:

I have a live virtual event and the end of this week, and I am finishing my workbook and intro seminar for a new TEDx event.

Recreationally:

I went to Fieldays last week and interviewed some random cool people for The Chris and Sam Podcast.

What I am reading:

Still working through Elements of Eloquence by Mark Forsyth.

What I am watching:

Re-watching The Wire, it stands up, although the technology is definitely old.