Delivery notes part 1: Vocal and personal qualities; dealing with stage fright

4. Things to Consider when Organizing a Question-and-answer session

Generally, it is up to you if you want to include the question-and-answer session at the end of your presentation. If you decide to do it, be in command. Be polite and firm, do not let people dominate the whole session with their questions or speeches. Keep the answers short and to the point. If a question surprises you, you may want to repeat it first (to make sure that you and everybody else understood it correctly.) That will give you some time to prepare your answer. Sometimes there may be people in the audience who will disrupt your speech with aggressive remarks or questions. The way to deal with them is to stay calm and offer to talk after your presentation. If you do not have time to answer all the questions from the audience, you may consider giving them your email address to answer questions later.

Things to remember about the question-and-answer session:

• When preparing your speech, anticipate the questions you may hear.
• Listen carefully to the speaker so that you answer the actual question asked. (ALC Book 34, DLIELC)
• Don’t fidget or nod during the question (it might signal your answer).
• Treat all questions equally, but: repeat positive questions so that everybody can hear them, paraphrase negative questions so you stay in control of the tone, do not repeat inaccurate questions, just correct them and move on.
• Respond directly and honestly. If you do not know the answer, say so, but promise to find out and later get back to the person with the answer.
• Connect your answer to the general topic of your presentation.
• Keep eye contact with the person questioning and the audience.