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seven strategies for answering difficult questions
Posted Date: 19 May 2008 Resource Type: Articles/Knowledge Sharing Category: Jobs & Interviews
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Posted By: Aparanjitha Member Level: Gold
Rating:  Points: 1
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1. Reflection
Repeat the question and toss it back to your audience, “Does anyone here have any experience with that?” When you allow the audience to help you, they will save you without ever realizing it. In fact, the audience will revere you because adults love to be involved and share their knowledge.
2. I'll get back to you!
This is an old standard and it works well if you do three things.
First, write the question down. Be conspicuous. Make sure everyone knows you are writing the question down. I go so far as to tell the audience, “I am writing this question down.”
Second, tell the questioner exactly when you will get back to them. Be honest. Then do it. Can you get back to them by the end of the day? If it is an all-day program, can you get back to them after lunch?
Third, be sure to get the questioner’s contact information if you don’t have it.
3. Defer to the expert
This is a more sophisticated version of the Reflection technique. Sometimes a question is legitimately outside of your area of expertise. You may be a marketing expert and someone asks a question about the engineering aspects of a product. This is a question that requires an engineer.
4. Compliment the questioner
For this to be effective, the compliment must be sincere. Sometimes I get lulled into thinking I have seen and heard it all on a particular topic. It never fails though that someone comes out of left field with a question I have never thought of.
I say: "That’s a great question. I’ve never thought about it that way. Does anyone here have any ideas on that?” (I have just combined two techniques.)
When I use this strategy it is usually not a conscious decision. It’s a reaction. That’s how sincere it needs to sound. It always works when it’s sincere because audience’s love to be complimented. I might also combine this technique with "I’ll Get Back to You."
5. Answer a question with a question
Sometimes questions are too narrow or too general to answer. Reserve the right, as the expert, to open a question up or close it down by asking a question in response.
Once upon a time I was a software trainer. One day a woman asked me a very specific question, “What does that button do?” I had no idea, but I didn’t confess, “I don’t know.” Instead I asked her a question, “What is your goal in pushing that button?” She elaborated for me and explained what she wanted to accomplish.
I knew a way to help her and it didn’t involve pushing that button. She was happy. I was honest, credible, helpful, and very happy.
6. Parallel answer
If you don’t know the bull’s eye answer to a question, offer what you do know quickly to demonstrate some credibility and then combine with a previous technique.
When I was a software trainer I used to be an expert in the Lotus spreadsheet package. However Microsoft’s Excel began to gain popularity and I had to learn it so I could teach it. In the beginning I was on a learning curve.
7. Set the rules
You can avoid many difficult questions simply by setting rules for questions in the beginning. Whenever you present to a group, you are the leader. You are accountable for everything - so lead. My experience is that if you set rules and follow them, the audience respects you. If you make rules up as you go along, you lose credibility.
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