{"id":1161,"date":"2019-10-07T18:41:08","date_gmt":"2019-10-07T22:41:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maniactive.com\/blog\/?p=1161"},"modified":"2019-10-07T18:41:08","modified_gmt":"2019-10-07T22:41:08","slug":"answering-qa-questions-and-the-path-to-wisdom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maniactive.com\/blog\/answering-qa-questions-and-the-path-to-wisdom\/1161","title":{"rendered":"Answering Q&A questions and the path to wisdom…"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ah, Q&A. The “question and answer” portion of your presentation, where anything can happen! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead of dealing with a Q&A hog<\/a>, let\u2019s say someone in your audience asks you a brilliant question. It\u2019s timely and topical! It\u2019s directly related to your content! At this point, your answer can fall into three categories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Hey, I know all about that!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. I don\u2019t know, but I can find out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\nEach category comes with its own set of challenges. Let\u2019s explore each.\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. I know all about that!<\/strong> On its face, this category seems easy to answer, but it\u2019s not. In a Q&A, you\u2019ll need to be brief. You must curb any tendency to give a comprehensive, long-winded answer. Being brief can be difficult when you know something thoroughly. Deliver a concise and concrete answer, then move on to the next question.
    <\/li>
  2. I don’t know, but I can find out.<\/strong> Category two is a little easier. Your answer can be something like, \u201cI don\u2019t know, but I know I can find out. Give me your contact information, and I can get the answer to you after the presentation.\u201d Move to the next question or closing, then follow up with the questioner when you said you would.
    <\/li>
  3. I don’t know.<\/strong> Category three should be the easiest of all. It contains 3 of the 4 short statements that lead to wisdom. You can say one to three of them, as appropriate. Practice saying this out loud, every day.

    \u201cI’m sorry. I don\u2019t know. Does anyone else know?\u201d <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    But why is \u201cI’m sorry. I don\u2019t know. Does anyone else know?\u201d<\/strong> so difficult for so many presenters to say? I suspect it’s because they feel because if they are leading a discussion, they simply MUST know everything about it., or at least appear to. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    But remember, you’re only leading the discussion. You’re not monopolizing it. You’re not expected to know everything. And no one likes a know-it-all. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Consider the four statements that lead to wisdom:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. \u201cI don\u2019t know\u201d is one of the four statements that leads to wisdom. Practice saying it every day. It can help ease any discomfort you may feel when tempted to pontificate on a subject you know nothing about. Audiences will appreciate your honesty and simplicity. It’s refreshing.
      <\/li>
    2. \u201cI need help\u201d is the second statement that leads to wisdom. Ask for help when you need it. \u201cDoes anybody else know?\u201d might yield a helpful response from your audience or allies. If no one else answers, you might feel inspired to smile and say, \u201cIt looks like I\u2019m not alone in not knowing the answer to your question!\u201d
      <\/li>
    3. \u201cI\u2019m sorry\u201d is the third statement that leads to wisdom. You may or may not feel inclined to preface your \u201cI don\u2019t know\u201d with \u201cI\u2019m sorry\u201d. If you’re not sorry, don’t say you are. If you are, do so.
      <\/li>
    4. Fittingly, \u201cI was wrong\u201d is the fourth statement that leads to wisdom. And it\u2019s the one statement you won\u2019t have to say during your presentation if you answer difficult questions truthfully and concisely.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      Outside of Q&A, practice saying the four statements that lead to wisdom:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      1. I don’t know.<\/li>
      2. I’m sorry.<\/li>
      3. I was wrong.<\/li>
      4. I need help.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

        Get comfortable saying these phrases. If you want to be happy and wise, you’ll be saying them a lot in a lifetime! Beyond wisdom, you’ll gain empathy and understanding through regularly saying these phrases. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Good luck on your next Q&A! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \n\n\n\n

        For your consideration: I go over responding to difficult questions in more detail in my Crisis Communications course at LinkedIn Learning. It’s under the section: “Developing Statements”. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Check it out here: https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/learning\/crisis-communication\/<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Ah, Q&A. The “question and answer” portion of your presentation, where anything can happen! Instead of dealing with a Q&A hog, let\u2019s say someone in your audience asks you a brilliant question. It\u2019s timely and topical! It\u2019s directly related to your content! At this point, your answer can fall into three categories. 1. Hey, I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1162,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,35,23,29],"tags":[60,30,59],"class_list":["post-1161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-image","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-coaching","category-communication","category-crisis","category-public-speaking","tag-crisis-communication","tag-public-speaking","tag-publicspeaking","post_format-post-format-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maniactive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maniactive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maniactive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maniactive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maniactive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1161"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/maniactive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1161\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1163,"href":"https:\/\/maniactive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1161\/revisions\/1163"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maniactive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maniactive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maniactive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maniactive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}