When did you last attend a presentation where it seemed clear that the presenters had given very little thought to questions? (By the way, this applies to webinars, too.) The big tip-off is that they leave 10 minutes for questions at the end of a 60-minute preso.
Clearly, presenters ares not evil people. They want to impart useful information, and they’re probably fearful that they won’t have enough time to get it all in. On the other hand, they’re forgetting what business communicator Alison Davis of Davis & Company refers to as the “liveliest, most helpful part … ”
If you’ve got a lot of material to cover or complex content, why would you deliberately encourage questions? After all, they tend to slow things down, don’t they? And, for sure, there will be some stupid ones.
In her Inc. article, Ms. Davis mentions 11 reason that we should welcome questions. Not a waste of time or a slow down, they are remarkably effective in helping leaders and employees get a grip on a business situation.
Here’s why:
- They show you care, because they “signal respect.”
- They create energy, because audience members begin to participate. Questions beget questions, which is all to the good.
- Listening engages only part of the brain. Even if you’re daydreaming about something that seems more compelling, a question puts you into “full problem-solving mode.”
- They make leadership look “humbler and more approachable.” The downside, of course, is that business leaders who don’t really care will soon be unmasked to no one’s ultimate benefit. (My thought.)
- Questions help people deal with change. Change can be really anxiety-provoking. How will the new benefit package affect me and my family? Is the new boss going to clean house? How much more work will this new procedure heap on my already over-loaded plate? “So when a leader addresses all the elephants in the room — even if he or she doesn’t yet know the answers — it helps release tension.”
I want to go back to an earlier point. Of course there’s such a thing as a dumb question. So you need to listen up before you ask it. Make sure the answer didn’t come while you were daydreaming. But if you haven’t heard a real answer — and we’re not talking here about one that makes you happy — ask away.
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