Archive for the ‘Q & A’ Category

How To Deal With Hostile Questions

Thursday, October 11th, 2007

You’ve just finished your speech and, hard to imagine, you weren’t universally loved. In fact, some people in the audience are now firing tough questions at you.

What do you do?

For starters, never say or do anything that suggests you feel it is a tough question. It’s not as simple as the following the cliche of “never let ‘em see you sweat.” But that is a good starting point. If you look at each questioner and each question in a polite and pleasant manner, audience members won’t feel like they got under your skin. (That is often the goal of some questioners)

Presentation Skills: Pressuring Your Audiences to Perform Better

Thursday, June 28th, 2007

Giving a presentation, any presentation, is a type of performance. But if you, the speaker, also happen to be the boss of your audience, if they happen to be employees who report to you, then this changes the dynamic of the relationship. I’m not suggesting that you beat your employees if they don’t laugh at your jokes or give out a standing ovation.

Here’s what I recommend for bosses who must give weekly or monthly status reports or goal presentations to employees:

Speaking Skills: Smaller Audiences are Better

Wednesday, June 13th, 2007

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As a public speaker, I like big audiences, the larger the better. There’s a chance to reach more people and have a bigger impact. But from an audience’s perspective; there will never be anything better than having a monopoly of the speaker’s attention—and that means no one else is in the room.

When you speak to only one person, you can see if they get what you are saying. You can ask that person a question if it seems he/she doesn’t understand.

Debate Skills: Democratic Presidential Debate Highlights

Monday, June 4th, 2007

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Barack Obama had the best “moments” in the June 3, 2007 Democratic Presidential Debate.

In the first episode, Barack Obama responded to John Edward’s charge that Obama had not spoken out forcefully enough against funding the war.Here was Barack’s response, ”

“John, I opposed this war from the start, so you are about 4.5 years late on leadership on this issue”

This comment was a clever response. It showed Barack was tough, able to think on his feet (though surely the response was planned), able to joust with those senior to him, and able to defend himself in a forceful way. He showed just the right about of emotion and annoyance, without seeming petulant.

Highlights from the Republican Presidential Debate

Wednesday, May 16th, 2007

And the big winner was…Fox News. I’ve watched every Presidential debate since 1976 and I don’t remember any one that was conducted as skillfully by the questioners as this one. Brit Hume, Chris Wallace and Wendell Goler were tough, thorough, probing, fair, funny, and light on their feet. Perfectly nuanced, they didn’t showboat but they did interrupt and politely point out when the politicians failed to answer questions.

(FoxNews.com: Recap and Video Clips from the Debate)

Media Case Study: Democratic Presidential Debate – Joe Biden

Monday, April 30th, 2007

From the April 26, 2007 Democratic Presidential Debate

NBC’s Brian Williams: “Senator Biden, words have, in the past, gotten you in trouble, words that were borrowed and words that some found hateful. An editorial in the Los Angeles Times said, ‘In addition to his uncontrolled verbosity, Biden is a gaff machine.’ Can you reassure voters in this country that you would have the discipline you would need on the world stage, Senator?

BIDEN: “Yes.” (LAUGHTER)

WILLIAMS: “Thank you, Senator Biden.”

5 Tips on Working with Reporters and Top News Stories

Wednesday, March 21st, 2007

(And you aren’t the primary subject of the story)

1. Timeliness Is Key.

Pretty good answers NOW are a lot more valuable than perfect answers tomorrow. If the story is breaking and the reporter calls now, you need to react quickly. If you have to take 20 minutes to prepare message points and sound bites, do so. But make sure the reporter knows you will absolutely, positively 100% call back in 20 minutes or less. And then do it. If a reporter from a major national TV network or newspaper calls you for the first time, give them an interview RIGHT THEN. If you let them off the phone for even 5 minutes you might not ever get them back.

Listening Exercises: The Oral Pop Quiz

Thursday, March 8th, 2007

How do you get audience members to pay close attention to every thing you say? I have one extreme technique that is highly effective, but it can only be used by teachers in a classroom setting. Warning, if you are a business person, consultant or professional speaker, this solution will not work for you. In fact it will make you enemies.

If you are a teacher and you have responsibility for students learning and a desire to make them pay close attention, here is one technique you can use: ask students in your class to paraphrase everything you just said in the previous 60 seconds.

Q and A Sessions: Incorporating Substance and Humor

Wednesday, February 21st, 2007

During the question and answer session that many presenters face after their speech, a dilemma often occurs. Do I try to be as substantive as possible and answer the question thoroughly and specifically? Or do I go for laughs and keep it light and short?

Great presenters try to bring in both elements in every answer. Yes, you need to deliver the substance, but don’t go on for so long that you crowd out other questions or bore the audience. Yes, you need to bring a sense of humor to your answers as well. Humor is often easier during a question and answer session because your audience gives you credit for being spontaneous. Since they are asking the questions, they assume you don’t have prepared material. So anything you say during Q&A time seems fresher, more interesting, and more spontaneous, even if it isn’t.

Dominate Interview Answers

Friday, February 9th, 2007

Psychological research has shown that in any meeting between two people, one person often establishes the dominant position while another person assumes the submissive role. The submissive person begins to mimic the dominant person in terms of speaking speed, volume, style, and even breathing patterns. In many situations involving conversations with clients, customers and bosses, this pattern can work well for everyone involved.

But not with the news media!