Effective Question Answer Session Guideline to students for Q&A after class presentation or work presentations. By Ali Rehman

1. M. A. Rehman

2. ▪ A question is a statement that asks for a response or answer.
▪ Answering a question provides an opportunity to share meaning and meet
listeners’ needs.
▪ Mostly presentations are followed up with a Question & Answer session (Q&A).
▪ To some people this can be the most exciting part of the presentation, while to
others it can be their worst nightmare.
▪ It is important to remember that the questions are a vital part of the presentation
for the whole audience as they allow for clarification and consolidation of learning.
▪ The presenter can enhance the effectiveness of the Q & A session by treating it as a
formal part of the presentation
▪ The Q & A session requires as much careful planning and control as the delivery of
the core material.

3. ▪ Planning the presentation is key to handling questions effectively.
▪ Having a precise focus on the preparation of presentation and having explored the
thoughts and ideas in your background research and planning, you are more likely
to be able to respond to questions effectively.
▪ Unfocused preparatory work will come across in the way of answering questions.
▪ When Planning your presentation, you will need to:
▪ identify when questions will be invited in your talk and plan to inform your audience of
this.
▪ plan to leave plenty of time for questions so that the audience doesn’t feel rushed
▪ prepare prompts for questions

4. ANTICIPATE QUESTIONS
▪ Think of questions in ADVANCE
▪ Know your Topic well.
▪ Know your Audience.
▪ Anticipate what your audience will want to know about what you tell them.
▪ Make list of questions and answer yourself the important points of your talk.

5. ▪ One of the main problems with Q & A session is that the presenter’s nerves
frequently force an inappropriate response.
▪ Improper listening and mis-interpretation can cause such issues.
▪ The following points will help you respond more effectively to questions from your
audience.
✓ Be at ease (relaxed) and confident
✓ Listen carefully
✓ Understand the question
✓ Take a pause and think (interpret question)
✓ Precise answers

6. ▪ There are Four main steps involved in responding to questions:
1. Listen
2. Understand
3. Communicate and Involve
4. Respond

7. STEP 1: LISTEN
▪ The ability to listen gives you a high success rate in your answering of questions.
▪ It is important to listen complete question before jumping to a premature
conclusion.
▪ Questions can change direction at the last moment, do not assume that you know
the direction the question is going.
▪ Answering a question before it is fully asked may seem disrespectful.
▪ To answer effectively, it is important to hear both, the content and the intention of
the questioner.

8. STEP 2: UNDERSTAND
▪ Before you fall into answering a question, make sure you are clear in your mind
what the question is about.
▪ There is no harm in seeking clarity over what is being asked.
▪ You will communicate better in such an instance than simply blabbing away with no
clarity or understanding.
▪ Ask politely “I am sorry, I do not seem to understand what you are asking, would
you mind rephrasing?”
▪ Check for direct confirmation by paraphrasing the question back to the questioner
“You want me to explain…?” or check that your reply will be heading in the right
direction “Do you mean…?”

9. STEP 3: COMMUNICATE AND INVOLVE
▪ Communicate with and involve whole audience instead starting one-to-one
discussion with the questioner.
▪ Avoid potentially extended dialogue with the questioner.
▪ As a presenter, you are responsible for the interest and engagement of the all the
audience members.
▪ To involve the rest of the audience make sure the whole audience has heard and
understood the question by outlining the area of enquiry.

10. STEP 4: RESPOND
▪ Respond to the question with confidence and positive body language.
▪ Answer to both, the questioner and the audience.
▪ Answer precisely
▪ Avoid going into too much detail.
▪ Avoid answering a question with questions
▪ You may not know the answer to every question. Admitting that you do not know the
answer is not a sign of weakness. It is a sign that you know yourself and would not
want to participate in a guessing game.

11. ▪ When handling questions and answers, you will still need to be as polished and
professional as you have been for the main delivery of your presentation.There are
some common dangers that are useful to avoid.
✓ Answering the question you wished you’d been asked
✓ Making a second ‘mini’ presentation
✓ Passing the blame
✓ Aggressive/Defensive replies
✓ An aggressive or defensive reply will be seen as weakness on your part and will spoil the
effect of an otherwise successful presentation.