How Taking Questions From An Audience Helps Close A Speech

In almost any speech it's not only appropriate to take questions, but it's advisable. Taking questions ensures that your audience genuinely receives your messages, with no lingering misunderstandings or confusions and is a key technique when learning how to close a speech.

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This article examines the various ways of taking questions from an audience.

However much time you're given to deliver your speech, allow at least 5 minutes at the end (more, depending on the length and complexity of your speech) for taking questions from au audience. Plan it into the writing and preparing stages so that you're not pressured on the spot to rush through all you have to say or cut yourself short in order to compensate for the questions that will inevitably arise regardless of whether you've planned and allowed for them or not.

It's a good idea to let your audience know from the outset that you intend to leave plenty of time at the end of the speech to answer any questions they may have. This lets them know from the beginning that any and all their concerns will be given their due time and consideration at a some point in the presentation which in turn compels them to give you the same quality of respect and consideration you're giving them. It also goes a long way to preventing interruptions of your speech from people eager to get something cleared up or off their chests.

When the time comes for taking questions, do not be alarmed if it takes a while for the first question to be asked. This is normal. Oftentimes when the focus of a presentation shifts from the speaker to the audience, it takes several minutes for the audience to adjust to being the focus of the attention. Invariably someone (or several someone's) will have questions and may just be in the process of imminently overcoming their shyness in getting up and asking them. And invariably, after the first one or two people have taken the initiative to get the question-answer session going, more will join in much quicker succession.

Each time a question is asked, repeat that question back to the audience before answering it. This is because not everyone will be able to hear what the questioner is asking. You want to include everyone in the group in the exchange, not just the questioner. Chances are several other people in the audience will have the same question in mind. And even those who don't have the same question still want to be engaged in the experience. In leaving them out of the communication entirely by speaking directly and solely with the questioner you run the risk of creating pockets of distraction, boredom, and inattention in your audience. In public speaking you want to create a cohesive and symbiotic sort of collective attention. Putting your attention on only one segment of the audience encourages the other segments to splinter off.

Repeating each question asked will also allow you to be sure you heard it right, and provide the questioner with the opportunity to correct you if it turns out you did not understand the question.

In answering the question, see if you can find a way to tie the question back into the content of your speech. Often this will occur naturally, as many questions will be directly related to the material you just presented. But in the occasional instances where it's not, do your best to find a way to make that question relevant to the essential message and purpose of your speech.

If you don't know the answer to the question, don't pretend you do. Don't make up an answer so as not to look stupid. You do yourself and your audience a great disservice this way, and should you get found out you lose major credibility for any future speeches.

It's far better to simply and humbly admit you don't know the answer and ask if anyone else in the audience does. If so, allow them to answer and, in so doing, you facilitate a fantastic, organic exchange of information. If not, consider offering to research an answer to that question and get back to them somehow in the near future.

Lastly, if someone uses a question as an opportunity to be adversarial, take the higher ground. This is not the time to get into a heated argument or debate. Allow the person a reasonable amount of time to pose their question (provided it really is a question), then reclaim the floor and move forward accordingly. You can always acknowledge a disagreement of ideas and promise to meet up with the antagonistic individual afterwards for further discussion if they (and you) so wish. But don't let a disruptive force break the flow of your speech in the guise of taking questions from an audience.