how to ask for questions at end of presentation

100+ Questions to Ask After a Presentation

After a presentation, asking the right questions is key. It can help clarify what was shared, spark more discussion, and ensure everyone’s on the same page. Whether you’re the presenter or an audience member, knowing what to ask can make a big difference.

But how do you know which questions are worth asking? Not all questions are helpful or relevant, and you don’t want to miss out on a chance to gain more insight. So, what are the best questions to ask?

Don’t worry, though. I’ve got some simple yet powerful questions you can ask that will leave a great impression.

Table of Contents

If You Are the Presenter

If you are an audience member, frequently asked questions, final thoughts, questions to build audience connection.

• Which part of the presentation resonated with you the most?
• Did anything in the presentation inspire you to take action?
• How do you feel this information could benefit you personally?
• Were there any parts that reminded you of your own experiences?
• Did you find any particular section especially interesting or relatable?
• What emotions did the presentation evoke for you?
• How do you see this information fitting into your daily life?
• Did anything surprise you about the presentation’s content?
• How did the information challenge your existing knowledge or beliefs?
• What was your favorite takeaway from today’s presentation?
• Is there a topic you’d like me to explore further in the future?
• Did you feel the presentation style encouraged interaction?
• What question do you think I should have asked the audience during the presentation?
• How did the content align with your expectations of the topic?
• Was there a specific part that you felt connected to on a personal level?

Questions to Address Uncertainties

• Was there any part of the presentation that you didn’t fully understand?
• Are there any terms I used that need further explanation?
• Did the data or statistics seem clear, or would more context help?
• Were there any concepts that felt too complex or confusing?
• Should I go over any part of the presentation again to clarify?
• Was there enough background information for you to grasp the topic?
• Did any section feel rushed, making it hard to follow?
• Is there anything I can explain in more detail to make it clearer?
• Were the examples I used helpful, or should I include different ones?
• Is there anything you were hoping to learn that I didn’t cover?
• Would you like me to break down any specific points further?
• Were there any moments where you lost track of the main idea?
• Did any slide or visual aid need more explanation?
• Were there any conflicting ideas in the presentation that needed clearing up?
• Do you feel confident about the main takeaways, or should I revisit them?

Understanding and Retention Questions

• Can someone summarize the key points I made today?
• What is the one takeaway you’ll remember most from this presentation?
• How would you explain the main concept of this presentation to someone else?
• What are the three most important things you learned today?
• If I were to ask you about this topic in a week, what would you still remember?
• What part of the presentation do you think will stick with you the longest?
• Can you recall the first major point I made?
• How does the information I presented align with your current understanding of the topic?
• What new idea or concept did you learn that you didn’t know before?
• How would you apply the information presented to a real-life situation?
• Can someone point out the main takeaway from the second section of the presentation?
• What question do you think I should ask to test people’s understanding of the content?
• Can someone recall an example I used to explain a key concept?
• Which part of the presentation helped reinforce what you already knew?
• What information do you think you’ll need to review to grasp the content fully?

Questions for Self-Improvement

• What part of the presentation did you find least engaging?
• Were the visuals helpful or distracting?
• Did I pace the presentation well, or was it too fast/slow?
• Was there enough detail to make the content clear?
• Did the presentation feel too long or just right?
• How could I make the content more relatable?
• Was my tone appropriate for the topic?
• Did I make the main points clear and easy to follow?
• Were the transitions between topics smooth enough?
• How could I improve my delivery in future presentations?
• Was there anything in the presentation that felt unnecessary?
• Did the examples I used help explain the concepts?
• How could I make the presentation more engaging for the audience?
• Was my body language effective in keeping your attention?
• What suggestions do you have for improving this presentation?

Follow-Up Questions to the Topic

• Can you explain more about the key points you mentioned?
• Could you provide more examples to clarify your ideas?
• How does this information compare to other views on the subject?
• Could you expand on the background of this topic?
• What research or sources support your presentation?
• How does your perspective differ from other common approaches?
• Could you explain your thought process behind these conclusions?
• Can you talk more about how this information applies in broader contexts?
• What are some challenges in applying this concept?
• Could you provide more context regarding some of the data presented?
• How did you decide which aspects of the topic to focus on?
• Could you explore further how this impacts different fields or industries?
• How has this subject evolved over time?
• What additional resources would you recommend for further understanding?
• How do you see this topic developing in the future?

Challenging Questions for Critical Thinking

• What are the limitations of this approach?
• Have you considered alternative viewpoints or methods?
• What would critics of this approach say?
• Is there evidence that challenges your conclusions?
• How do you address situations where this idea doesn’t work as expected?
• What risks could arise if this idea is applied incorrectly?
• What factors might limit the success of this approach?
• Are there any ethical concerns related to this?
• What if the opposite of what you suggest is true?
• How would you adapt this idea to different scenarios?
• Are there exceptions where this concept wouldn’t apply?
• What external factors could influence the success of this idea?
• How does this fit into the larger conversation about this topic?
• If you had to critique your own ideas, what would you say?
• What should we consider before fully accepting this concept?

Application and Practicality Questions

• How can I apply what you’ve shared in practical situations?
• What are some first steps to putting this into action?
• Can you provide real-life examples of this being applied successfully?
• What should we consider when trying to implement this?
• What obstacles might arise when applying this information?
• How does this concept apply in different situations?
• How can this information be useful in everyday life?
• What tools or resources would help in applying these ideas?
• How do you recommend starting to use this information?
• How does this work for teams or individuals?
• Can you give an example of this working well in challenging conditions?
• How long does it usually take to see results from applying this?
• What are common mistakes to avoid when using this information?
• Are there real-world examples that show the success of this approach?
• What should someone know before trying to apply these ideas?

Should you end a presentation with any questions?

Yes, ending a presentation with a Q&A segment is a common and effective practice. It allows the audience to clarify any doubts and provides a chance for interaction. It shows that you are open to feedback and willing to engage further, which can strengthen your connection with the audience.

How do you start a Q&A session after a presentation?

Transition smoothly by inviting the audience to ask their questions. You can say something like , “Thank you for listening. Now, I’d be happy to take any questions you have.” Make eye contact, stay relaxed, and give the audience time to formulate their questions before jumping in to answer.

What should you avoid when asking questions after a presentation?

Avoid overly personal questions or those that might seem confrontational. The goal is to enhance understanding and discussion, not to challenge the presenter in a negative way.

How should a presenter handle questions they cannot answer?

It’s important for presenters to be honest if they don’t have an answer. They can offer to find the information and follow up or suggest resources where the audience might find the answer themselves.

Is there a limit to how many questions one should ask after a presentation?

While there is no set limit, it’s respectful to be mindful of time and the number of other audience members who might also have questions. Asking one or two thoughtful questions is generally appropriate.

Asking the right questions after a presentation can open the door to better understanding and stronger connections. Whether you’re presenting or listening, thoughtful questions help everyone learn more and keep the conversation going.

So, next time you’re in a presentation, don’t hesitate to speak up. Your questions could make all the difference in how well the message is understood and remembered.

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Bea Mariel Saulo

Bea is an editor and writer with a passion for literature and self-improvement. Her ability to combine these two interests enables her to write informative and thought-provoking articles that positively impact society. She enjoys reading stories and listening to music in her spare time.

30 Examples: How to Conclude a Presentation (Effective Closing Techniques)

By Status.net Editorial Team on March 4, 2024 — 9 minutes to read

Ending a presentation on a high note is a skill that can set you apart from the rest. It’s the final chance to leave an impact on your audience, ensuring they walk away with the key messages embedded in their minds. This moment is about driving your points home and making sure they resonate. Crafting a memorable closing isn’t just about summarizing key points, though that’s part of it, but also about providing value that sticks with your listeners long after they’ve left the room.

Crafting Your Core Message

To leave a lasting impression, your presentation’s conclusion should clearly reflect your core message. This is your chance to reinforce the takeaways and leave the audience thinking about your presentation long after it ends.

Identifying Key Points

Start by recognizing what you want your audience to remember. Think about the main ideas that shaped your talk. Make a list like this:

• The problem your presentation addresses.
• The evidence that supports your argument.
• The solution you propose or the action you want the audience to take.

These key points become the pillars of your core message.

Contextualizing the Presentation

Provide context by briefly relating back to the content of the whole presentation. For example:

• Reference a statistic you shared in the opening, and how it ties into the conclusion.
• Mention a case study that underlines the importance of your message.

Connecting these elements gives your message cohesion and makes your conclusion resonate with the framework of your presentation.

30 Example Phrases: How to Conclude a Presentation

• 1. “In summary, let’s revisit the key takeaways from today’s presentation.”
• 2. “Thank you for your attention. Let’s move forward together.”
• 3. “That brings us to the end. I’m open to any questions you may have.”
• 4. “I’ll leave you with this final thought to ponder as we conclude.”
• 5. “Let’s recap the main points before we wrap up.”
• 6. “I appreciate your engagement. Now, let’s turn these ideas into action.”
• 7. “We’ve covered a lot today. To conclude, remember these crucial points.”
• 8. “As we reach the end, I’d like to emphasize our call to action.”
• 9. “Before we close, let’s quickly review what we’ve learned.”
• 10. “Thank you for joining me on this journey. I look forward to our next steps.”
• 11. “In closing, I’d like to thank everyone for their participation.”
• 12. “Let’s conclude with a reminder of the impact we can make together.”
• 13. “To wrap up our session, here’s a brief summary of our discussion.”
• 14. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to present to you. Any final thoughts?”
• 15. “And that’s a wrap. I welcome any final questions or comments.”
• 16. “As we conclude, let’s remember the objectives we’ve set today.”
• 17. “Thank you for your time. Let’s apply these insights to achieve success.”
• 18. “In conclusion, your feedback is valuable, and I’m here to listen.”
• 19. “Before we part, let’s take a moment to reflect on our key messages.”
• 20. “I’ll end with an invitation for all of us to take the next step.”
• 21. “As we close, let’s commit to the goals we’ve outlined today.”
• 22. “Thank you for your attention. Let’s keep the conversation going.”
• 23. “In conclusion, let’s make a difference, starting now.”
• 24. “I’ll leave you with these final words to consider as we end our time together.”
• 25. “Before we conclude, remember that change starts with our actions today.”
• 26. “Thank you for the lively discussion. Let’s continue to build on these ideas.”
• 27. “As we wrap up, I encourage you to reach out with any further questions.”
• 28. “In closing, I’d like to express my gratitude for your valuable input.”
• 29. “Let’s conclude on a high note and take these learnings forward.”
• 30. “Thank you for your time today. Let’s end with a commitment to progress.”

Summarizing the Main Points

When you reach the end of your presentation, summarizing the main points helps your audience retain the important information you’ve shared. Crafting a memorable summary enables your listeners to walk away with a clear understanding of your message.

Effective Methods of Summarization

To effectively summarize your presentation, you need to distill complex information into concise, digestible pieces. Start by revisiting the overarching theme of your talk and then narrow down to the core messages. Use plain language and imagery to make the enduring ideas stick. Here are some examples of how to do this:

• Use analogies that relate to common experiences to recap complex concepts.
• Incorporate visuals or gestures that reinforce your main arguments.

The Rule of Three

The Rule of Three is a classic writing and communication principle. It means presenting ideas in a trio, which is a pattern that’s easy for people to understand and remember. For instance, you might say, “Our plan will save time, cut costs, and improve quality.” This structure has a pleasing rhythm and makes the content more memorable. Some examples include:

• “This software is fast, user-friendly, and secure.”
• Pointing out a product’s “durability, affordability, and eco-friendliness.”

Reiterating the Main Points

Finally, you want to circle back to the key takeaways of your presentation. Rephrase your main points without introducing new information. This reinforcement supports your audience’s memory and understanding of the material. You might summarize key takeaways like this:

• Mention the problem you addressed, the solution you propose, and the benefits of this solution.
• Highlighting the outcomes of adopting your strategy: higher efficiency, greater satisfaction, and increased revenue.

Creating a Strong Conclusion

The final moments of your presentation are your chance to leave your audience with a powerful lasting impression. A strong conclusion is more than just summarizing—it’s your opportunity to invoke thought, inspire action, and make your message memorable.

Incorporating a Call to Action

A call to action is your parting request to your audience. You want to inspire them to take a specific action or think differently as a result of what they’ve heard. To do this effectively:

• Be clear about what you’re asking.
• Explain why their action is needed.
• Make it as simple as possible for them to take the next steps.

Example Phrases:

• “Start making a difference today by…”
• “Join us in this effort by…”
• “Take the leap and commit to…”

Leaving a Lasting Impression

End your presentation with something memorable. This can be a powerful quote, an inspirational statement, or a compelling story that underscores your main points. The goal here is to resonate with your audience on an emotional level so that your message sticks with them long after they leave.

• “In the words of [Influential Person], ‘…'”
• “Imagine a world where…”
• “This is more than just [Topic]; it’s about…”

Enhancing Audience Engagement

To hold your audience’s attention and ensure they leave with a lasting impression of your presentation, fostering interaction is key.

Q&A Sessions

It’s important to integrate a Q&A session because it allows for direct communication between you and your audience. This interactive segment helps clarify any uncertainties and encourages active participation. Plan for this by designating a time slot towards the end of your presentation and invite questions that promote discussion.

• “I’d love to hear your thoughts; what questions do you have?”
• “Let’s dive into any questions you might have. Who would like to start?”
• “Feel free to ask any questions, whether they’re clarifications or deeper inquiries about the topic.”

Encouraging Audience Participation

Getting your audience involved can transform a good presentation into a great one. Use open-ended questions that provoke thought and allow audience members to reflect on how your content relates to them. Additionally, inviting volunteers to participate in a demonstration or share their experiences keeps everyone engaged and adds a personal touch to your talk.

• “Could someone give me an example of how you’ve encountered this in your work?”
• “I’d appreciate a volunteer to help demonstrate this concept. Who’s interested?”
• “How do you see this information impacting your daily tasks? Let’s discuss!”

Delivering a Persuasive Ending

At the end of your presentation, you have the power to leave a lasting impact on your audience. A persuasive ending can drive home your key message and encourage action.

Sales and Persuasion Tactics

When you’re concluding a presentation with the goal of selling a product or idea, employ carefully chosen sales and persuasion tactics. One method is to summarize the key benefits of your offering, reminding your audience why it’s important to act. For example, if you’ve just presented a new software tool, recap how it will save time and increase productivity. Another tactic is the ‘call to action’, which should be clear and direct, such as “Start your free trial today to experience the benefits first-hand!” Furthermore, using a touch of urgency, like “Offer expires soon!”, can nudge your audience to act promptly.

Final Impressions and Professionalism

Your closing statement is a chance to solidify your professional image and leave a positive impression. It’s important to display confidence and poise. Consider thanking your audience for their time and offering to answer any questions. Make sure to end on a high note by summarizing your message in a concise and memorable way. If your topic was on renewable energy, you might conclude by saying, “Let’s take a leap towards a greener future by adopting these solutions today.” This reinforces your main points and encourages your listeners to think or act differently when they leave.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are some creative strategies for ending a presentation memorably.

To end your presentation in a memorable way, consider incorporating a call to action that engages your audience to take the next step. Another strategy is to finish with a thought-provoking question or a surprising fact that resonates with your listeners.

Can you suggest some powerful quotes suitable for concluding a presentation?

Yes, using a quote can be very effective. For example, Maya Angelou’s “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel,” can reinforce the emotional impact of your presentation.

What is an effective way to write a conclusion that summarizes a presentation?

An effective conclusion should recap the main points succinctly, highlighting what you want your audience to remember. A good way to conclude is by restating your thesis and then briefly summarizing the supporting points you made.

As a student, how can I leave a strong impression with my presentation’s closing remarks?

To leave a strong impression, consider sharing a personal anecdote related to your topic that demonstrates passion and conviction. This helps humanize your content and makes the message more relatable to your audience.

How can I appropriately thank my audience at the close of my presentation?

A simple and sincere expression of gratitude is always appropriate. You might say, “Thank you for your attention and engagement today,” to convey appreciation while also acknowledging their participation.

What are some examples of a compelling closing sentence in a presentation?

A compelling closing sentence could be something like, “Together, let’s take the leap towards a greener future,” if you’re presenting on sustainability. This sentence is impactful, calls for united action, and leaves your audience with a clear message.

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90 Questions to Ask After a Presentation

Have you ever found yourself mulling over a presentation, wishing you had a treasure trove of questions to uncover the speaker’s insights and wisdom fully?

The right question isn’t just a follow-up; it’s a key that unlocks a deeper connection with the topic. This guide is designed to arm you with a curated collection of inquiries that will enhance your understanding, invite valuable discourse, and help you to apply what you’ve learned.

Let’s dive into the art of the post-presentation conversation and transform every ending slide into an opportunity for continued learning and engagement.

Table of Contents

Clarifying Understanding

• Could you elaborate on the main thesis of your presentation?
• What inspired the topic of your presentation?
• Can you summarize the key points you’d like us to take away?
• Is there an aspect of your presentation you think deserves deeper understanding?
• How does your presentation relate to current trends or issues in the field?
• Were there any counterarguments or challenges to your points that you didn’t mention?
• In what way does your presentation build on or differ from existing research?
• Could you clarify the methodology behind your study or findings?
• How would you explain the significance of your findings to a layman?
• Is there a particular slide or section you can revisit for further clarification?
• Could you give an example that illustrates your point about [specific detail]?
• What were the assumptions underlying your analysis or argument?
• How do definitions used in your presentation compare to industry-standard ones?
• Can you clarify the statistical significance of your data?
• Where might we find more information on this topic if we wish to understand it better?

Digging Deeper into Content

• Can you expand on how your findings compare to similar studies?
• How might emerging technologies impact the relevance of your findings in the future?
• Are there ethical considerations linked to your presentation topic?
• What are the limitations of your research, and how can they be addressed in the future?
• How can your research be applied in other fields or industries?
• In what ways do your findings challenge conventional wisdom?
• Could you walk us through the process of how you collected your data?
• How would different theoretical frameworks affect the interpretation of your results?
• What unanswered questions remain after your presentation?
• How do you expect the discussion on this topic to evolve in the next five years?
• What are the implications of your findings for policy or practice?
• How does cultural context play into the outcomes of your research?
• Can you discuss any relevant case studies that connect to your presentation?
• What follow-up research would you recommend based on your work?
• In your research, what was the most surprising discovery you made?

Gathering Practical Applications

• How can we apply your research findings in our everyday work?
• What steps can organizations take to implement your recommendations?
• Can you suggest tools or resources for applying the insights from your presentation?
• How might your research influence day-to-day decision-making?
• Could you provide a real-world example where your findings have been put into practice?
• What are the short-term and long-term benefits of applying your findings?
• Who stands to benefit most from the practical applications of your research?
• Are there certain industries or sectors where your findings are particularly relevant?
• How will applying your findings change existing systems or processes?
• What are some common obstacles to implementing your research, and how can they be overcome?
• How do you recommend staying up-to-date on applications in your research area?
• Can you suggest partner organizations or groups that are working on applying these concepts?
• What measures can be put in place to evaluate the efficacy of applying your research?
• How do you foresee your findings impacting future innovations?
• What action can individuals take to support the practical application of your research?

Providing Constructive Feedback

• I found [specific point] very compelling; have you considered expanding on this?
• Your presentation makes a strong case for [topic]; how could it be enhanced with additional data?
• I noticed [aspect] during your presentation; could this be a point for further refinement?
• The visual aids were helpful; have you thought about using more interactive elements?
• The section on [specific area] was very informative; how can it be made more accessible for beginners in the field?
• In terms of delivery, would you be open to exploring other formats for your presentation?
• Your research draws important conclusions; how else might you support them?
• The pacing of your presentation was effective; could you use a similar approach to emphasize other key points?
• Given the complexity of your topic, have you considered a follow-up session or workshop?
• What additional resources or readings would you recommend to enhance our understanding of your topic?
• Your narrative was engaging; might there be a way to incorporate more storytelling?
• How might audience participation be facilitated in future presentations to enhance understanding?
• Were there alternative viewpoints you debated including in your presentation?
• How did you decide on the structure of your presentation, and what could be changed to improve it?
• Is there a component of your research that you feel requires more visibility or discussion?

Fostering Engagement and Discussion

• What questions do you have for the audience that might help further the discussion?
• How can the audience keep the conversation going outside of this presentation?
• Are there forums or networks where this topic is actively discussed?
• Could you propose a thought experiment or hypothetical scenario for us to consider?
• How can we encourage more interdisciplinary dialogue on this subject?
• What common misconceptions should we address to clear up understanding?
• In your opinion, what are the most controversial aspects of your topic?
• How can we contribute to the body of research or thought around this subject?
• What role can non-experts play in the discussion of these findings?
• Can you suggest a way to create a community or collective around this area of research?
• How would you like to see this information shared or disseminated?
• What would be an ideal outcome of the discussions that stem from this presentation?
• Are there collaborative projects or initiatives we could start as a result of your findings?
• Would you be interested in hosting a series of discussions to delve deeper into certain aspects?
• How do you suggest we handle differing opinions or debates that arise from your topic?

Exploring Next Steps and Actions

• Based on your research, what should be our immediate action?
• What are the first steps to be taken for those who want to delve deeper into this topic?
• Who should be contacted or involved in further development of this topic?
• Are there upcoming events or conferences where this topic will be featured?
• What can we do as individuals to further the research or findings you presented?
• How can we best track the progress and development in this area?
• What practical steps would you recommend for a follow-up study or project?
• Could you outline potential obstacles we might face in advancing this topic and how to overcome them?
• Are there policy changes or advocacy needed to move this conversation forward?
• How can the general public be engaged in the action steps related to your findings?
• What are the most critical areas for immediate exploration or action?
• Is there a need for collaboration with other disciplines to advance this topic?
• How can educators integrate your findings into their curriculum or teaching?
• What funding opportunities should be looked into to support further research?
• How can we measure the impact of the actions taken as a result of your presentation?

Frequently Asked Questions

Can i provide feedback on the presentation style as well as the content.

Yes, but always aim to be constructive and polite. Feedback on presentation style can be as valuable as feedback on content.

What should I do if my question isn’t answered during the Q&A session?

If time runs out, try approaching the presenter afterward or sending a follow-up email with your question.

How can I encourage a discussion rather than just a Q&A session?

Ask open-ended questions that invite the presenter or audience members to share thoughts and perspectives, thus fostering a more interactive dialogue.

Final Thoughts

And there you have it—a comprehensive guide to quenching your intellectual curiosity and contributing valuable insights after a presentation. From uncovering the nuances of presented content to setting the stage for future collaboration, asking these questions ensures that no stone is left unturned.

Remember, the journey of understanding and exploration doesn’t end with the closing slide; it’s merely the beginning. Now, go forth and turn those questions into conversations that matter!

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How to Nail the Q&A After Your Presentation

• Caroline Webb

You can’t rehearse it, but you can be prepared.

When preparing to give a presentation, most professionals focus their energy on the main portion of their talk — their key messages, slides, and takeaways. And far too few people think through how you’ll answer questions at the end of the presentation can be a big mistake. If you’re worried about how to hand the Q&A, there are several things you can do. Change your mindset. Rather than dreading this part of the talk, develop an appreciation for the conversation. It’s a good thing that people have follow-up questions and want to further engage with your content. Beforehand, think through the types of questions audience members might ask. Put yourself in your shoes and ask yourself what concerns they might have about how your message impacts their job. Then, when you’re asked a question, especially one that might be contentious, start your answer by focusing on where you and the person asking it agree. This makes the person feel seen and connected to you. And if you’re asked a question out of left field, be curious. Ask follow-up questions that help you understand what they’re getting at and where they’re coming from.

If you’re not a huge fan of public speaking , you’re in good company. It’s such a widely shared source of anxiety that when psychologists want to induce unpleasant stress in a person for experimental purposes, they often use a public speaking task called the Trier Social Stress Test . The test requires people to give a talk and do sums in front of a panel of impassive listeners, and it reliably generates stress markers such as a faster heart rate, raised cortisol levels, and “enhanced skin conductance,” which is the polite way of saying sweaty palms.

• Caroline Webb is the author of How to Have a Good Day: Harness the Power of Behavioral Science to Transform Your Working Life . She is also CEO of coaching firm Sevenshift , and a senior adviser to McKinsey & Company. Follow her on Facebook or Google + . caroline_webb_

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6 Ways to Close Your Presentation With Style (& Tools to Use)

Written by: Ashish Arora

Picture this: You've just delivered an amazing presentation that had your audience hooked from the start. The excitement in the room is glaring as you reach the final moments of your presentations.

Now, it's time to close with a bang and leave a lasting impression.

The way you conclude your presentation holds immense power. That’s the defining moment that cements your message in the minds of your audience.

So how do you wrap up your presentation in a memorable way and leave your audience feeling inspired? That’s why we created this article to teach you how to end a presentation.

In this article, we're going to explore six awesome ways to close your presentation with style. These techniques will help you leave a lasting impact and make your audience go "Wow!"

Get ready to level up your presentation skills and charm your audience with these proven closing techniques.

We've covered the best closing tactics for your next presentation in this video.

Table of Contents

6 ways to close your presentation with style, tools to help you create a presentation, key phrases to end a presentation.

• How to Start a Presentation
• Top Presentation Mistakes to Avoid
• How you end your presentation can make all the difference in solidifying your message and leaving your audience with a sense of purpose.
• Level up your presentation skills and charm your audience with these proven closing techniques: include a strong call-to-action (CTA), don't end with a question and answer slide, conclude with a memorable quote, tell a story, summarize your main points and thank the audience.
• Here are some ways you can start your presentation on a strong note: make a bold claim, give them the unexpected, pique curiosity, ask questions and tell a story.
• Avoid these top presentation mistakes: lack of adequate presentation, being robotic, avoiding eye contact, starting and ending weak.
• Visme, Prezi, Slidebean and Google Slides are four stand-out tools you can use to create stunning and effective presentations.
• Visme’s presentation software offers a wide range of templates and extensive features to help you create next-level presentations.

There’s no question that grabbing your audience’s attention at the very beginning of your presentation is important. But how you end it can make all the difference in your presentation’s overall impact.

Here are some ways to ensure you end powerfully:

• Way #1: Include a Strong Call-to-Action (CTA)
• Way #2: Don't End With a Q&A
• Way #3: End With a Memorable Quote
• Way #4: Close With a Story
• Way #5: Drive Your Main Points Home
• Way #6: Thank and Acknowledge

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1. Include a Strong Call-to-Action (CTA)

If you’re a business owner, the primary purpose of your presentation is to inspire the audience to action. Don’t assume they will take it, move them to it.

Use powerful words that are definitive and instructional. Calls-to-action like “Begin the journey” or “Join the fight” are to-the-point and let the audience know what to do.

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2. Don’t End with a Q&A

You’ve just spent 20-30 minutes wowing your audience and now you’re going to let your presentation fizzle out with a Q&A? Beyond the fact that you are never in full control of what questions you will be asked, Q&As are just not memorable.

So how do you end a presentation with a bang? It is better to take questions throughout the presentation. This way the questions asked are relevant to the particular information being shared and you can ensure your audience is keeping up with you.

If you have been forced to structure your presentation so that questions are taken at the end, make sure to allow yourself a minute or two after the Q&A. Use this time to close the presentation with your final takeaways and messages of inspiration.

3. End with a Memorable Quote

Sometimes, if you can’t find the perfect words to end with, use someone else’s words.

“Life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it.”  –Charles Swindoll

“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” –John Lennon

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.” –Steve Jobs

These are pretty powerful words, no? Use quotes like these when you wrap up your presentation, or add them in your final slide to leave a strong impression.

4. Close with a Story

If opening with a compelling story works, there’s a very good chance that closing with one will as well. While a story at the beginning was an effective lead-in to your message, a story at the end can creatively sum up the information you have shared.

A word of caution: don’t end with a case study . Many business owners do this. Case studies are great for the middle of your presentation. But for the conclusion, you want a meaningful story that affects your audience emotionally and causes them to remember your message for a long, long time.

5. Drive Your Main Points Home

Your audience will appreciate some form of summation at the end that will act as a linear representation of what they’ve just heard.  There is a simple summary formula that many professional speakers use in the ending slide:

• Tell them what you are going to tell them.
• Then, tell them what you told them.

You can simply say something like, “Before I leave you with my final thoughts about XYZ, let me briefly restate my main takeaways…” Don’t just list your key points but show the audience how each links to the other points.

Giving a successful presentation takes a lot of work and commitment. By creating a powerful opening and closing, you will ensure that your message is not only fully received but impactful as well.

6.  Thank and Acknowledge

If you're finding it hard to signal to your audience that your presentation has ended and it's time to applaud, thanking them can be a great way to do so. Including an end slide or thank you slide can make things easier.

At the end of your presentation, you can also acknowledge any companies or people who helped you put together your presentation, such as a website you used as a data source.

Now that you know how to end a presentation effectively, let's find out how you can create one that speaks for itself.

A well-designed slide deck can not only help you better convey your message, but it can also make you feel more confident about your presentation.

Here are four tools you can use to create stunning and effective presentations.

Visme is a robust visual content creation tool and presentation software that transforms how users create and deliver captivating presentations. With a wide range of customizable templates, an extensive asset library and an intuitive drag-and-drop editor, you can level up your presentation and captivate your audience like never before.

Here are some of the standard features of Visme's presentation software.

• Generate a set of branded templates tailored to your brand using Visme's AI-powered brand design tool .
• Easily record projects and presentations for your audience to view on their own time and pace with Visme Presenter studio .
• Create beautiful data visualizations , charts , graphs , and infographics that will effectively communicate your information.
• Transform boring presentation slides into enriching experiences that keep your audience engaged with interactive features using pop ups, hover effects, slide transitions, interactive charts, maps, quizzes and videos.
•  Generate high-quality content,  proofread or create an outline for your presentation using Visme's AI text generator .
• Take your presentation to a whole new level with our comprehensive library of royalty-free images, icons, illustrations, graphics, and pre-designed content blocks.
• Unleash your creativity with the help of Visme’s AI image generator . All you need to do is input your prompt and you can generate unique photos, paintings, pencil drawings, 3D graphics, icons, abstract art, and more.
• Drive seamless collaboration with Visme's collaborative features make teamwork a breeze. You can collaborate with colleagues and clients in real-time, leave comments, and make edits together, ensuring a smooth and efficient workflow. Say goodbye to email attachments and enjoy seamless collaboration all in one place.
• When you’re sold on your final presentation design , you can download it in multiple formats, including PPTX, PDF, PDF or as a shareable link . You can present directly from Visme, embed your presentation on websites, or download it for offline use.

If you're racing against the clock, use Visme's AI presentation maker to create stunning presentations in seconds. Just explain what you want to create, provide more context, select your preferred designs and watch the tool unleash its magic.

Get started with our Starter plan and enjoy full access to templates and assets. Or upgrade to a Pro plan to access team collaboration and brand management features. Our Visme for Teams plans offer enterprise-level features like custom sub-domains, team collaboration, custom integrations and more.

The master of non-linear presentations, Prezi, lets you create slide decks that are bound to stand out from others.

While the learning curve of Prezi can be steep for some people, it's worth it if you're looking to get creative with your presentations.

3. Slidebean

If the most important thing to you when making a presentation is saving time, Slidebean might be a great fit.

The best thing about this tool is it uses artificial intelligence (AI) to help you create stunning layouts for your content.

Slidebean is ideal if you're not looking for extensive customizability, just ease of use and time-saving features like templates and content blocks.

4. Google Slides

Sometimes, the most basic tools are enough for creating a great presentation, especially if the industry you're operating in requires simplicity and seriousness.

The best part about Google Slides is that you can use it from anywhere and from any device. For example, you can create your entire presentation on your phone using the mobile application.

Presentations made in Google Slides can also be opened with Microsoft PowerPoint and Keynote, which makes it quite a versatile tool.

if you're wondering how to close your presentation, here are some key phrases you can use:

Appreciate your listeners

• Thank you for your time and attention.
• I appreciate your presence here today.
• Thank you for being such an engaged audience.

Express gratitude for the opportunity

• I'm grateful for the chance to share...
• I want to express my gratitude to...
• Thank you once again for the opportunity.

Summarize the main points

• In summary...
• To sum up...
• In conclusion...

Use a call to action

• I encourage each of you to...
• Let's work together to...
• Take the next step by...

Inspire or motivate your audience

• Remember that...
• As we move forward, let's keep in mind...
• Let this be a reminder that..."

Leave your closing thoughts

• In closing...
• As a final thought...
• To wrap things up...

Encourage your audience to ask questions or share their thoughts

• I'm now open to any questions you may have.
• I'd love to hear your thoughts on...
• Feel free to reach out if you have any further questions.

Reiterate the main points

• Just to recap...
• To reiterate the key points...
• In essence, we covered...

Use closing quotes

• To quote [relevant figure]...
• In the words of [author]...
• As [famous person] once said...

Express optimism about the future

• Looking ahead...
• The future holds great opportunities for...
• I'm excited about the possibilities that lie ahead.

Remember, these fun ways to end a presentation aren't one-size-fits-all. You need to tailor these phrases to fit the specific context and tone of your presentation.

Bonus 1: How to Start a Presentation

Now you know how to conclude a presentation. We’ve also discussed ​​what to say at the end of a presentation.

Let’s discuss how to begin a presentation.

According to bestselling author, Malcolm Gladwell, in  Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking , "Snap judgments are ... enormously quick: they rely on the thinnest slices of experience."

In other words: first impressions are real, and they happen really quickly. Think about those presentations you have sat in the audience for.

How quickly did you sum a presenter up when they took the stage? Did you judge them on their posture? What they were wearing? How they addressed the audience? What their voice sounded like?

Most likely, you took all of these factors into account and quickly decided whether you were going to give them your full attention or think about what you should make for dinner.

As a presenter, you must understand that your audience members will make a snap decision about you within the first few moments after taking that stage. Your job at the very beginning of your presentation is to grab their attention.

Here are some ways you can start your presentation strong.

1. Make a Bold Claim

Imagine being in the audience when a presenter opens his mouth and the first words out are, “When I’ve finished here today, you will have the knowledge to increase your revenue by 200% this year.” Um… would you sit forward in your chair and listen to every single word? You bet you would!

You have been asked to speak because you are an expert in your field and have valuable information to share. So why be shy about it? Start your presentation with a bold claim, and then overdeliver.

2. Give Them the Unexpected

Another powerful way to grab attention right up top is to contradict audience expectations. Some people refer to this as "applied unpredictability principle."

Giving people what they expect is not very exciting. Imagine a roller coaster that had no sudden drops or turns. It wouldn’t thrill you. Well the same can be said for presentations. The unexpected hooks the audience instantly.

Here’s an example. Pamela Meyer, author of Liespotting , starts off her presentation by scanning the audience and then saying, “Okay, I don’t want to alarm anybody in this room, but it’s just come to my attention that the person to your right is a liar! Also the person to your left is a liar.”

Well, the audience laughs, getting her intended joke, but you can tell that this unexpected statement has hooked them, and they are ready to give their full attention.

3. Pique Curiosity

Humans like to have their curiosity piqued. We love the feeling of being presented with information that makes us curious and wonder about something.  Research actually shows that curiosity prepares our brain to learn something new. How does it do this?

Well, when we are curious about something, we give that something our full attention. We look for clues and assess situations. This is how we operate and it’s how our ancestors stayed alive.

If you want to grab the audience’s attention right off the bat, ask a question or pose an idea that piques their curiosity. You’ll see many Ted Talk presenters do this by “confessing” they have to share a secret or an apology.

Speaker Dan Pink does this in his famous  T e d Talk  when he says:

“I need to make a confession, at the outset here. A little over 20 years ago, I did something that I regret. Something that I am not particularly proud of. Something that in many ways I wished no one would ever know, but that here I feel kind of obliged to reveal. In the late 1980s, in a moment of youthful indiscretion, I went to law school.”

The minute someone says they have something to confess, we HAVE to know what it is, and so we are forced to pay attention.

RELATED: 29 Killer Presentation Tips to Wow Your Audience

4. Ask Questions

This technique is an oldie but a goodie. By posing a thoughtful question to your audience, their brain is forced to THINK about the answer. You have engaged them from second one. The key is to make the question one that cannot be answered with a simple yes or no, but rather one that plants the seed of an idea.

“What scares you the most?”

“How do human beings constantly reach goals we all believe can never be reached?”

“When was the last time you allowed yourself to feel powerful?”

5. Tell a Story

“When I was nine, I met a homeless man who said he could see my entire future. He told me that when I turned 12, I would die. And I did.”

Okay, I am FULLY listening.

Stories are powerful. The human brain seems to have been wired to listen to stories. No matter how old we get, when someone starts to tell us a story, we instantly become 5-years-old, wide-eyed, ready to go on an adventure.

The story you tell can be personal or professional, just make sure it ties into your overall message.

Bonus 2: Top Presentation Mistakes to Avoid

If we’re going to discuss a presentation success formula, we’ve got to first tackle some of the biggest public speaking mistakes that guarantee your presentation is unsuccessful. Are you guilty of any of these?

1. Not Being Prepared

We’ve all seen those presenters who make it look so effortless. Steve Jobs was like that. He seemed to glide onto the stage, open his mouth and instantly captivate everyone.

But the truth is, even Steve Jobs had to prepare.

Thoughtful preparation is essential for any level of public speaking. Doing the work ahead of time will not only help you feel and sound more confident, it will ensure you deliver the right message to the right audience.

2. Being Robotic

Beyond being comfortable with your material, you must be comfortable in your own body. Have you seen presenters who just stand in one spot and barely move at all? While they’re not very good at exciting their audience, they do have a keen knack for lulling listeners to sleep.

Granted, there may be those rare situations where, because of a lack of robust technology, you have no choice but to stand behind a podium. But even then, be sure to use gestures to punctuate your message. Gestures communicate on a level that words don’t. Don’t be flamboyant but try and use natural gestures as much as you can – you’ll seem human instead of machine-like.

And, when technology does allow you free movement, by all means, move around that stage. Steve Jobs was great at using movement purposefully during his presentations.

If you have a presentation coming up and want to avoid sounding robotic, this video explains 8 ways to memorize your presentation.

3. Avoiding Eye Contact

We can’t talk about body language and not mention one of the biggest mistakes that many speakers make, and that is avoiding eye contact. How many presentations have you seen where the speaker spent the entire time staring at her notes or PowerPoint presentation? How did you feel? Perhaps invisible?

Meeting a person’s gaze establishes a real connection and keeps listeners engaged. If your audience is small enough, try to make eye contact with everyone at least once. If the audience is too large, do your best to scan each section of the audience, landing on a few people. This will give everyone a general impression that you are doing your best to connect.

4. Starting and Ending Weak

If there is one no-no a presenter can make, this is it.

You should think of your presentation as a delicious meal you have painstakingly prepared for your guests. What do you remember most about a great meal? If you’re like most people, you remember the appetizers and the dessert – everything in between is kind of a good-tasting blur.

When you begin and end your presentation strong, you gain the audience’s attention quickly and leave a positive and lasting impression. These are two skills that cannot be emphasized enough.

Let’s look at some of the ways you can ensure you start your presentation strong:

Ready to Level-Up Your Presentation?

Whether it's a business presentation or a motivational speech, knowing how to give a closing statement and ending your talk on a high note is important.

The last thing you say in front of a crowd can help you leave a memorable impression, whether it's a recap of your presentation content or a rhetorical question.

If you're ready to take your presentations to the next level, use Visme's presentation software  to put together engaging and interactive slides.

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About the Author

Ashish Arora is the Co-Founder of SketchBubble.com , a leading provider of result-driven, professionally built presentation templates. Travelling the world to gather new creative ideas, he has been working in the digital marketing space since 2007 and has a passion for designing presentations. You can also find him on  Twitter or  LinkedIn .

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How to End Your Presentation with a Bang

So you’ve spent days (maybe weeks) putting together a killer presentation. Now, you stand up with confidence, present every bullet point with poise, and then you get all the way to the end… and the presentation just fizzles.

It’s like a marathon runner who trains for months (maybe years), then just a half mile before the finish line, starts to cramps and can’t finish the race.

The last thing that you tell your audience will most likely be what they remember. So, you want to end your presentation with a bang!

In this post, we will cover three things that you should absolutely avoid when you close your presentation. In addition, we will also cover 6 killer ways to end on a positive note.

Want to beat stage fright, articulate with poise, and land your dream job? Take the 2-minute public speaking assessment and get the Fearless Presenter’s Playbook for FREE!

Eliminate these “Show Stoppers” from Your Presentation Conclusion

Avoid Ending Your Presentation with a Question & Answer Period.

One of the things that drives me up the wall is ending a fantastic presentation with a Q & A session that has a high propensity to just flop.

It reminds me of some sage advice from my jr high school football coach. He was an old-school running game type of coach. He’d say,

“In football, when you pass the ball, only three things can happen and two of them are bad.”

I kind of feel the same way about Question & Answer periods. There are only three ways that Q & A sessions can end, and two of them are bad .

Yes, If your audience asks you great questions, you can end your presentation on a high note. However, if your audience asks you odd questions or uninteresting questions, you can end on a low note. Even worse than getting crappy questions, though is getting no questions. Now, the ending will just seem odd.

When I present, I encourage people to ask questions DURING my presentation . That way, I can use a more dynamic way to end my presentation with a bang.

Don’t End by Thanking the Audience for Their Time.

When you stand up to speak, you should have the attitude that your audience is there to hear from you because you have important information that they need. When you thank your audience for their time, you are conceding that their time is more important than your time.

Also Avoid an Abrupt Ending with No Conclusion.

This happened to me early in my career. The first time that I really bombed a speech, I made two really big mistakes. The first was that I sped through the information so quickly that I finished in less than half of the allotted time. Then, I just ran out of things to say, so I sat down. The people in the audience were confused. I had more time and the ending was so abrupt, that they weren’t sure if I was finished.

So, spend time preparing your conclusion. Practice it a few times, and you will end on a high note.

Bonus Tip: Warn Your Audience Ahead of Time that Your Speech is Coming to a Close.

Our brains are wired to look for structure in things. That’s why people get frustrated with cliffhangers in movies. Only in movies, there’s a sequel. In speeches and presentations, the end is the end.

Give a hint that you are nearing a close a couple of slides or paragraphs before you actually do. Saying something like, “So let’s review what we’ve discussed so far”, “As I wrap up this presentation” or “In conclusion”.

Signaling the close prepares your audience for the ending. Ironically, it also makes the ending more memorable.

Secrets to a Powerful Presentation Ending – 6 Ways to End Your Presentation with a Bang

Not that we have covered what NOT to do, let’s focus on a few, turnkey ways to end your presentation with a bang.

(1) End Your Presentation with a Brief Summary You Key Points.

This technique works really well because it allows you to repeat your key points a few times. This repetition helps your audience remember the content better.

An Example of Using a Summary to End Your Presentation with a Bang!

A couple of months ago, I had a class member that used this technique really well. She worked for a local TV station that was trying to attract new viewers. Here is the presentation outline that she created:

We Can Increase the Number of Young Viewers by Focusing More on Our Social Media Platforms Teens get most news from social media. Increase coverage w/ teens increases interest in station. Making social media selective will make us stand out against competition.

[Introduction] “My topic today is about how we can increase the number of young viewers by focusing more on social media. The things that we are going to cover are, how teens get most of their news from social media, that if we increase our coverage with teens there will also be a corresponding increase in interest in our TV station, and how making our social media selective will allow us to stand out from the competition.”

After the introduction, the speaker would then cover the “meat” of the presentation by going through each point with specific examples and evidence about how each of those points is true.

At the conclusion, the speaker could just recap by saying, “So in conclusion, since teens get most of their news via social media, if we increase our coverage with teens, we will also increase interest in our station, and if we make our social media selective we will stand out from the crowd, I believe that we can increase the number of young viewers by focusing more on social media.”

The summary technique is a very easy way to conclude your speech, and it will also increase the retention of your audience.

For additional examples, see How to Write a Speech in Just a few Steps .

(2) End with an Example, Story, or Anecdote.

I spoke for another 45 minutes, and then I finished the presentation by describing the success story of one of my class members. He had implemented the very content that I had just delivered to that breakout session group. However, he was delivering a very data-intense presentation for the Center for Disease Control. (So his content was even more boring than the type of content the audience had to deliver.) The story showed the group how a speaker can take even boring, data-filled material and deliver it well.

Those contrasting stories — the one at the start of my presentation, and the one at the end, work really well together. They bookend the entire presentation.

An Easy Way to Find a Funny Anecdote to End Your Presentation.

Sometimes a good anecdote or funny story can be a good way to end on a positive as well. A good place to get funny anecdotes is from Reader’s Digest . (RD has a great book published that has just funny work-related stories. You can purchase it here: Laughter the Best Medicine @ Work: America’s Funniest Jokes, Quotes, and Cartoons )

This is kind of an embarrassing incident, but it shows that if you get a little creative, any type of story can be a great ending.

I was training an instructor years ago, and I had her just pick a random funny anecdote from Reader’s Digest. I told her that, no matter what the story was about, I’d find some way to insert the funny story into our class. Here is the story that she picked…

A woman went to her boss saying that she was going to go home early because she was feeling sick. The boss, having just gotten over a cold said that he hoped it wasn’t something that he had given to her. A coworker overhearing the conversation said, ‘I hope not. She has morning sickness.'”

(Obviously, this instructor-in-training also had a sense of humor, as well.) I thought about it a while, and I just ended the session with, “So, in summary, one of the most important parts of the presentation design process is knowing your audience. In fact, that reminds me of a story…” I then just added the anecdote word-for-word, and I got a big laugh.

I created a whole series of posts on storytelling starting with Storytelling in Public Speaking .

(3) Finish Your Speech by Telling the End of an Earlier Story.

Then, I finished the presentation by telling how, just a year later, after a little outside training, I had to stand in front of over 400 people to give an acceptance speech for an award. This time, I was calm, and I used my humor to win over the audience, and I killed it. By continuing the story and providing a positive result at the end, it makes for a pretty nice presentation ending.

So start with a story where you had a challenge and end with a success story about how you overcame that challenge.

(4) End Your Presentation with an Open-Ended Question.

That’s why people are drawn to thought-provoking questions. So a great way to end your speech is with a well-designed, thought-provoking question.

When I teach a class, I use this technique before almost every break. For instance, if I teach an hour-long session, it will be easy for the audience to forget a lot of the content if it isn’t reinforced right away. So, by asking a thought-provoking question about the content, it stimulates the content in the minds of the audience.

When you ask questions, though, avoid easy questions where the answer is an obvious “yes” or “no.” Instead, ask open-ended questions. The easiest way to do this is to ask for the audience members’ opinions.

For instance, if my title is “Starting with a 3-Point Outline Will Help You Save Time When You Design Presentations,” I could end the speech with a question like, “Based on what we’ve talked about today, how can you see starting with a three-point outline helping you save time?”

Any answers that the audience provides will help me prove my point. The more the better.

(5) Give the Audience a Call-to-Action at the End of Your Speech.

Just as an FYI, here, though, if you ask them to do a single thing, they are more likely to do it. If you ask them to do a second thing, they are more likely to do neither. Sp, to prevent that and to inspire your audience, challenge them to do one specific thing from your speech.

If your presentation is about why your company should invest in advertising, make your call to action very specific. “So, my suggestion is that we increase our advertising budget by 10% and use that budget for additional re-targeting ads.”

The thing to keep in mind here is that the more calls to action that you have, the less likely they will do anything. So, make your call to action just a single item. And make the item easy to implement.

(6) The Echo Close Is an Inspirational Way to End Your Speech with a Bang.

A wise man once said, “The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled.” So, when you present, kindle the fire of knowledge. Kindle the fire of enthusiasm. Kindle the fire of humor. Kindle the fire of empathy. And you will kindle the fire of learning from your audience.

Another example might be.

So, in conclusion, brevity in public speaking is pretty important. In fact, George Orwell once said, “If it is possible to cut a word out of your speech, always cut it out.” So, when you create a presentation, cut the fluff. Cut the repetitive bullets. Cut the platitudes. And when you do, you will cut the confusion from your audience.

It is an easy technique if you prepare the ending and practice it a few times.

So that concludes the six ways that you can end your presentation with a bang. However… There is…

“One More Thing”

Steve Jobs was famous for concluding his keynotes with “One more thing…” then following it up with a surprising fact, feature, or innovation.

Why is this effective? Because it leaves people talking.

Regardless of how you choose to end your presentation, spend a little time on the ending. Make it flawless, and you will leave your audience wanting more! If you do, you will end your presentation with a bang!

Choose the Best Presentation Ending for Your Presentation Purpose

With all of the great choices, how do we know which presentation ending to use? Luckily, we have created a free handout to help you pick the best presentation ending. Although many of the tips above will work in many different types of speeches, the handout will help you identify which ending will accomplish specific purposes for your specific presentation.

For instance, if your goal is to help your audience retain the content, then summarizing your key points is a great choice. If your purpose is to inspire the audience, you might try the Call to Action or Echo technique instead. Just complete the form below for instant access!

Download the Free “How to End Your Presentation” Handout!

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10 Tips for Handling Questions after a Presentation

In this article, we’ll provide 10 tips for handling questions effectively, from being prepared to staying calm and concise. By following these tips, you can feel confident and prepared to handle any questions that come your way.

As a presenter, handling questions post-presentation can be stressful. However, it’s a crucial part of engaging with your audience and showing your expertise. 

1. Listen Carefully

2. repeat the question, 3. don’t interrupt, 4. encourage dialogue, 5. be respectful, 6. be honest, 7. keep it brief, 8. repeat key points, 9. don’t overpromise, 10. be prepared.

When someone asks you a question, listen carefully. This helps you understand better and gives you time to collect your thoughts and form an appropriate response.

Repeat the question aloud before answering to ensure you’ve understood it correctly and give the audience a chance to hear it. It helps clarify any ambiguity and ensures you’re addressing the right question.

Let the person finish speaking before you respond. Interrupting can seem rude and may make your audience uncomfortable. Wait until they’re done to reply.

Encourage dialogue by asking follow-up questions and inviting the audience to share their thoughts or opinions. This creates a more engaging and interactive experience for everyone.

It’s crucial to be respectful and professional when answering questions, even if the inquirer is difficult or confrontational. Respond calmly and avoid getting defensive or argumentative.

If you don’t know the answer to a question, be honest about it. Admit you don’t have the information at hand. Offer to follow up later or direct the person to someone who can help more effectively.

When answering questions, be concise and focused. Avoid rambling or straying off-topic, as this can confuse or bore the audience. Stick to the main point and provide a clear response.

When answering questions, repeat key points from your presentation. This reinforces information and helps the audience understand better. It also contextualizes the answer within your presentation’s larger framework.

Be honest and realistic when answering questions. Don’t overpromise or make claims you can’t back up. If you don’t know the answer, admit it and offer to follow up later.

Before giving a presentation, you should anticipate your audience’s questions. This preparation boosts your confidence and ensures you’re ready with the right answers. Research your topic well, focusing on areas that might cause confusion or trigger interest.

Related Posts:

The Art of Question & Answer: Handling Audience Questions Like a Pro

Hrideep barot.

• Presentation , Public Speaking

If you have ever given a presentation , you might know how witty and challenging a question-and-answer session can get. Not knowing the answer to a question can be quite unnerving and leave a bad impression even after a fabulous presentation. This blog will help you bridge that gap before your next presentation. We will talk about how to maintain your composure as you deal with questions and also the different types of difficult questions one can face.

Why should I have a Question-and-answer session?

Having a Question and Answer (Q&A) session serves multiple valuable purposes. It transforms one-sided communication into a two-way exchange, turning lectures or speeches into engaging discussions. This interaction not only enhances audience engagement but also promotes collaboration and the collective building of knowledge. Historically, great questions have driven innovation and change, such as Isaac Newton’s curiosity about gravity. During a Q&A , encouraging audience participation by inviting questions and making eye contact with various attendees creates a sense of connection and keeps the session lively, much like a talk show host engaging their audience. 

Including a question and answer (Q&A) session after your presentation holds numerous advantages and is a pivotal aspect of engaging with your audience effectively.

Let’s delve into these reasons:

1. audience engagement and participation: .

Inviting questions at the end of your presentation allows your audience to actively participate, transforming your session into an interactive experience. As Albert Einstein aptly put it, “The important thing is not to stop questioning.”

2. Addressing Confusion and Skepticism:

 Your presentation might leave some audience members perplexed or unconvinced. Before you begin, it’s vital to gauge your audience’s understanding. As Aristotle noted, “Rhetoric may be defined as the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion.” Q&A provides an excellent opportunity to clarify doubts and bolster your argument.

3. Expanding on Your Message: 

Often, time constraints force you to condense crucial information during your presentation. Q&A, however, empowers you to elaborate on your points, share practical examples, and address any opposition, creating a more comprehensive understanding. This aligns with Robert Frost’s sentiment: “Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence.”

4. Fostering Natural Interaction: 

Effective public speaking thrives on interaction. Audiences seek speakers who communicate openly and naturally. Q&A brings a conversational and relatable dimension to your presentation. As Maya Angelou wisely said, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

5. Challenging Your Expertise: 

The unpredictability of Q&A keeps you on your toes. You must be well-prepared and nimble to handle a variety of questions and objections. Eleanor Roosevelt’s words resonate: “You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you stop to look fear in the face.”

How do you answer Questions effectively?

Handling a question-and-answer session effectively requires preparation, communication skills, and adaptability. Whether you’re conducting a Q&A session as a speaker, presenter, or moderator, here are some tips to help you manage it effectively:

1. Preparation is Key:

Know your audience: Research your audience’s demographics, interests, and knowledge level. Tailor your responses to their needs and expectations. Imagine you’re hosting a Q&A session about pets. Knowing your audience means finding out if they’re mostly cat lovers, dog enthusiasts, or perhaps reptile fans. This helps you tailor your answers to their specific interests, like offering dog training tips for dog lovers and habitat ideas for reptile enthusiasts.

Anticipate questions: Develop a list of potential questions that might arise during the session. This can help you prepare concise and informative answers. If you’re giving a presentation about a superhero movie, anticipate questions like “Who’s the main villain?” or “What are the special powers of the hero?” Prepare concise answers to these common questions to keep the audience engaged.

Review your material: Revisit your presentation or discussion content before the Q&A session. This will help you recall key points and examples that may be relevant to questions. For Ex: You’re a teacher conducting a Q&A after a science class. Before the session, review your notes on the periodic table. This ensures that when a student asks, “What are the noble gases?” you can confidently explain their properties.

2. Set Expectations:

Clearly explain how the Q&A session will be structured. For example, inform the audience whether questions will be taken throughout the session or only at the end. Mention any time constraints.

Let the audience know if you have topics you’d like to cover or all questions are welcome. 

For example: Think of a cooking class where you’re the instructor. Before starting, inform your students that they can ask questions anytime during the class. This sets the expectation that it’s an interactive learning experience.

3. Active Listening:

Give the questioner your full attention. Make eye contact, nod to acknowledge understanding, and avoid interrupting.

Repeat or rephrase the question if needed to ensure clarity and show that you are actively engaged with the questioner.

Imagine you’re a detective in a mystery novel. When a witness asks, “Did you see the suspect?”, listen attentively, nod to acknowledge, and ask follow-up questions to gather all the details. This demonstrates active listening.

4. Take a pause

Before answering any question there is a key aspect that makes you look smart and composed- “The Pause.” The Pause is where you gather your thoughts and prepare your answer in a gist. You decide how to answer the question and tackle it swiftly. If you perhaps don’t know the answer, what is the best way to say you will get back with an answer, and so on? You can get a firm grip on your audience as they wait for you to speak and then speak with utmost clarity, that is the power of Pauses. 

5. Be Concise and Clear:

Answer each question briefly and directly. Avoid going off on tangents or providing excessive background information.

Use plain language and avoid jargon that might confuse the audience. Suppose you’re explaining how to play a video game. Instead of going into a lengthy backstory, say, “To win, you must collect all the magical crystals and defeat the dragon boss.” This clear and concise explanation keeps players engaged.

6. Stay Calm and Confident:

If you don’t know the answer to a question, admit it gracefully. Offer to research or follow up later, and don’t try to bluff your way through.

Maintain a calm and composed demeanor even in the face of challenging or critical questions. Focus on addressing the question, not the tone.

This is also where your preparation becomes your backbone and provides you the confidence to deal with your audience. 

Also, I want you to remember that knowledge is very vast- The more you gain knowledge the more you realize how little you know! Do not worry about admitting that you don’t know an answer, you can provide whatever information you have and later get back to them when you do find one.

7. Manage Time:

Allocate a specific amount of time for the Q&A session and communicate this at the outset. Stick to the schedule to ensure you cover all planned topics. If necessary, prioritize questions based on relevance or importance.

Think of a soccer coach during a practice session. Allocate specific time for different drills and stick to the schedule. This ensures that all aspects of the game are covered within the session.

8. Field Diverse Questions:

Encourage a wide range of questions, including those that challenge your viewpoint or prompt discussion. This diversity can lead to more engaging and informative sessions.

For Example: In a book club discussion, encourage members to ask questions about various aspects of the book, from plot details to character motivations. This diversity of questions leads to a more engaging conversation.

9. Moderate Effectively:

As someone who has to give direction to the discussion, try to maintain control of the session and ensure questions are relevant to the topic and audience. Politely redirect or filter out off-topic or inappropriate questions.

Give everyone a chance to ask questions, and manage time to allow for a variety of voices to be heard.

Pretend you’re a radio DJ taking calls from listeners. If someone goes off-topic, gently steer the conversation back to the music or topic of the show to maintain a cohesive experience.

10. Encourage Feedback:

After the Q&A, ask the audience for feedback on the session’s effectiveness. This can help you improve future sessions and tailor them to the audience’s needs. 

Example: After a group art project, ask each participant what they liked and what could be improved. This feedback helps everyone learn from the experience and create better art in the future.

11. Follow-Up:

If you promised to provide additional information or research an answer, do so promptly after the session. This demonstrates your commitment to addressing the audience’s needs.

12. Reflect and Improve:

After each session, take time to analyze what went well and what could be improved. Consider seeking feedback from colleagues or mentors to refine your Q&A skills for future engagements.

Can I answer a Question with a Question?

Many a time we think is it disrespectful to answer a question with a question, or perhaps even condescending? However, answering a question with a question can be an effective communication technique when used thoughtfully, but it’s essential to be mindful of the context and tone to avoid coming across as disrespectful or condescending. 

Consider, for instance, a scenario where someone asks, “Do you know where my keys are?” Responding with, “Have you checked your coat pocket?” instead of a direct “yes” or “no” can be helpful. However, if someone in a team meeting asks, “How do we solve this problem?” replying with, “Well, what solutions have you considered?” can encourage collaborative problem-solving. So, while answering a question with a question can be a valuable tool for prompting critical thinking or guiding discussions, it’s crucial to gauge the situation and intent to ensure it’s used appropriately.

Types of Difficult Questions:

Often times in presentations we don’t get softball questions that are easy to handle but rather some sort of pushback. The audience tries to gauge your authenticity or simply disagrees with you. These are what we call Difficult questions. They are inquiries that pose challenges beyond their surface. They require careful consideration, provoke thought, or test one’s knowledge, often demanding more than a simple yes or no answer. Handling difficult questions effectively is a skill that involves not only providing accurate responses but also managing the dynamics of the discussion and the emotions of those asking. In this exploration, we’ll delve deeper into these challenging types of questions, dissect their nuances, and offer strategies for responding adeptly and constructively.

1. When You Don’t Know the Answer:

• Challenge: It’s common to face questions to which you don’t have an immediate answer, especially in complex or unfamiliar topics.
• Example: In a technical presentation, someone asks a highly technical question beyond your expertise.
• Admit it gracefully: Acknowledge that you don’t have the answer, but express your willingness to find it.
• Offer a partial answer: Share what you do know or suggest possible resources or experts to consult.
• Follow up: Make a commitment to research and provide a comprehensive response after the session.

2. Too Many Questions at the Same Time (Machine Gun Questioning):

• Challenge: Some audience members may bombard you with multiple questions all at once, making it difficult to respond coherently.
• Example: An audience member asks, “How does this technology work, and what are its applications? Can you explain its impact on the industry?”
• Politely request clarification: Ask the person to specify which question they’d like you to address first.
• Address one question at a time: Break down the multiple questions into individual responses to maintain clarity.
• Control the pace: Politely request that questions be asked one at a time to facilitate a more organized discussion.

3. Audience Member Makes a Statement and Tries to Take Over:

• Challenge: Some individuals may attempt to dominate the Q&A session by making lengthy statements or challenging your expertise.
• Example: An audience member insists on sharing their own knowledge and experience, seemingly to undermine your credibility.
• Acknowledge their input: Politely thank them for their perspective and acknowledge their knowledge.
• Redirect the focus: Gently guide the conversation back to the topic or the question at hand.
• Set boundaries: Establish ground rules for the Q&A session at the beginning, emphasizing that questions should be concise and relevant.

4. Emotional Questions Driven by Anger:

• Challenge: Emotionally charged questions, often stemming from anger or frustration, can be challenging to handle without escalating tension.
• Example: An audience member confronts you with anger about a controversial topic you’re discussing.
• Stay calm and empathetic: Maintain composure, listen attentively, and acknowledge the person’s emotions.
• Avoid confrontation: Refrain from responding with defensiveness or aggression, as it can escalate the situation.
• Reframe the question: Politely ask the person to rephrase their question in a more constructive and specific manner.

5. Off-Topic Questions:

• Challenge: Sometimes, audience members ask questions that are unrelated to the topic of your presentation or discussion.
• Example: In a business presentation on marketing strategies, someone asks about your personal hobbies.
• Politely redirect: Acknowledge the question but gently steer the conversation back to the main topic.
• Offer to discuss later: Suggest discussing off-topic questions after the session to avoid derailing the current discussion.

6. Provocative Questions:

• Challenge: These questions are designed to provoke a reaction or create controversy.
• Example: During a political debate, someone asks a loaded question aimed at stirring up emotions rather than seeking a constructive answer.
• Stay composed: Maintain a calm and respectful demeanor when responding, regardless of the provocation.
• Address the core issue: Focus on the underlying topic or concern within the provocative question rather than getting drawn into the emotional aspect.

7. Incomprehensible Questions:

• Challenge: Some questions are poorly phrased or unclear, making it challenging to discern the intent behind them.
• Example: An audience member asks a question with convoluted language and vague references.
• Seek clarification: Politely ask the person to rephrase or clarify their question to ensure you understand it correctly.
• Paraphrase and respond: Restate what you believe the question is about, and answer based on your interpretation. The person can then confirm or correct your understanding.

8. Condescending Questions:

• Challenge: These questions are posed in a belittling or patronizing manner, often implying that the person asking believes they know better.
• Example: An audience member asks, “Do you even understand the basics of this topic?”
• Maintain professionalism: Respond with professionalism and confidence, avoiding any temptation to match the condescension.
• Address the question’s substance: Focus on providing a well-informed and concise response to demonstrate your expertise.

9. Overly Technical Questions:

• Challenge: In technical or specialized discussions, questions may become overly complex, making it challenging for a broader audience to follow.
• Example: A highly technical question filled with industry-specific jargon is asked in a general audience setting.
• Simplify the response: Offer a simplified explanation or analogy to make the answer accessible to a broader audience.
• Offer follow-up resources: Suggest additional reading or resources for those interested in delving deeper into the technical details.

Handling these challenging question scenarios effectively requires a combination of good communication skills, patience, and tact. Remember that the goal is to maintain a productive and respectful dialogue with your audience while addressing their concerns and inquiries.

People Also Ask:

Why is it important to know how to take the audience’s questions when you are presenting.

It is crucial to know how to handle audience questions when presenting for several reasons. Firstly, audience questions signify engagement and interest in your topic, making it an opportunity to further connect with your audience and demonstrate your expertise. Secondly, addressing questions allows you to clarify any misunderstandings or provide additional context, ensuring that your message is well-received and understood. Moreover, handling questions effectively helps you maintain control over the presentation’s flow, ensuring that it stays on track and doesn’t deviate too far from your intended message. Lastly, audience questions can provide valuable feedback, enabling you to gauge the audience’s comprehension and adapt your presentation in real time if necessary, leading to a more successful and impactful presentation overall.

Who is responsible for answering questions from the audience at the time of the presentation?

The responsibility for answering questions from the audience during a presentation primarily falls on the presenter (most likely You). You’re the one who’s been preparing and practicing your presentation for weeks, months, or maybe even years. You’re the guru on the stage, the oracle of information. When those curious souls in the audience raise their hands or type away with their burning questions, it’s your time to shine. You get to flex your brain muscles and give them answers that will make their heads spin (in a good way, of course). It’s your duty to facilitate a productive Q&A session by actively listening to each question, providing thoughtful and accurate responses, and ensuring that the discussion remains relevant to the topic at hand. However, in some cases, especially during larger presentations or panel discussions, a moderator or facilitator may assist in managing the question-and-answer

In conclusion, mastering the art of Q&A, and handling audience questions like a pro, is a skill that can transform any presentation, discussion, or public speaking engagement. By understanding the diverse types of questions that may arise and adopting effective strategies to address them, you can create an interactive and engaging dialogue with your audience. From riddles that stimulate creativity to emotionally charged inquiries that demand empathy, each question offers a unique opportunity to connect, educate, and inspire. 

Remember, the key to success lies in active listening, clear communication, and maintaining composure, even in the face of challenging questions. Whether you’re a speaker, presenter, moderator, or simply someone engaged in a meaningful conversation, the ability to navigate difficult questions with finesse not only enhances your credibility but also fosters a more enriching and enlightening exchange of ideas. So, embrace the art of Q&A, and with practice and patience, you’ll continue to refine this valuable skill, ensuring that your interactions with your audience are both memorable and impactful.

To learn more about how to conduct presentations and improve your communication skills in the workplace you can try our coaching program here .

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How to Answer Questions After A Presentation – 11 Tips

August 12, 2022

How do you answer questions after your presentation? For many people, handling presentation questions is the scariest part of presenting.

Answering questions becomes much easier if you prepare properly. so how do the best presenters answer challenging questions effectively, answering presentation questions is a real skill.  and it’s a skill you can learn.  over the last 15 years we’ve coached thousands of people to be brilliant at presentation questions and answers. , do please call us and we’ll tell you about our presentation coaching – it’s fast and good value., having coached executives for critical presentations for nearly 15 years, we recently asked our team of experts for their top tips., whether you are a business executive or from the c-suite or just want to improve how you present, these ten tips will help you shine when you answer questions:, ten steps for answering questions after a presentation..

Let’s review each tip in turn:

To Answer Questions Tip #1. Listen to the question!

Take a mental step back when you hear a question.

• What’s really being asked?
• What’s behind the query?
• Is there a hidden agenda?

Don’t be tempted to think of the answer as soon as you hear the start of the question. Instead be an active listener. You may need to clarify the question before answering. If you are not certain what you are being asked, you may answer the question you want, rather than the question they asked. And as you listen, you will learn something . Most questioners are looking for something specific.

How to clarify the question you are asked If you are not 100% sure what you are being asked, then use one of these question clarification techniques. 1. Repeat the question back and rephrase – then check that’s what they want to hear 2. Ask a question 3. Ask them to repeat the question. 4. Apologies, and say you did not understand, could they please repeat.

Answer Presentation Questions Confidently Tip #2. Have the mind-set of a teacher

A question is not an exam test . If you are asked a question, its because someone wants to know something. Your job is to help them understand. Whatever is on their mind, how can you help them?

So, put yourself in the role of a teacher. You have presented on a subject you understand, and you have a someone who wants to know more. Your can inform, educate and perhaps even entertain. If you do it right, you will look good in the eyes of the questioner and in the eyes of the audience. Enjoy the prospect of helping people when you answer questions.

Answering Questions Tip #3. Every question is different

We can never know what’s going on in the minds of the audience. That means each person in the audience will see you differently. For some, it will be about protecting their own interests, for others it may be about gathering more information.

And people have their own style – from super soft to nail hard . You’ll have to assess where they are coming from, what they re looking for and how they think. The best way to answer questions is to listen and learn from the comments they make and the questions they ask.

How we can help – schedule a free consultation now

Answering Presentation Questions Tip #4. There’s no such thing as a stupid question

It may sound stupid to you, but every audience question is aimed at understanding something. Don’t assume that you know what the person really wants. Perhaps they don’t understand – or perhaps they are testing how you react (yes, some people do this!). So treat every question with respect, consideration and then use it as an opportunity to help the audience understand better.

Presentation Questions Tip #5. Every question is an opportunity

If you are properly prepared for your presentation, then you will have key messages to get across. Use your answers to reinforce, restate, or reframe your messages.

Beware of feeling challenged by tough questions . You do not want to look defensive of uncertain. Instead, like a teacher, you want to help your questioner and perhaps help the audience see the world the way you see it. One powerful piece of advice is Show, Don’t Tell. Use stories , examples and illustrations to bring your business to life when answering tough questions.

Answering Questions Tip #6. How you answer questions is as important as what you say

As we said before, your meeting is not an exam. It’s more like a meeting of minds. So work out what the other person believes and is feeling. How can you do this?

You could ask probing questions, such as:

• Does what I’ve just said explain it?
• Do you want to know more?

For more hypothetical questions you could explore what they believe: “And what do you think?” The more it feels like a conversation rather then a quiz, the more likely you’ll be successful.

Give Great Answers Tip #7. You must prepare

We have seen too many people turn up to presentation Q&A sessions unprepared. By contrast, successful presenters and management teams prepare to answer questions with the intensity of an elite athlete.

After all, you want to be seen at your peak when presenting.

There are three best practice techniques for preparing your Q&A:

• List the tough questions you may be asked – especially the ones you don’t want to be asked. Work out answers to these in advance, decide which should be answered before the Q&A by incorporating it into an earlier part of your presentation, and which will wait for the Q&A.
• Select who in your team will respond – You will feel more confident and, if the questions do get asked, you will be properly prepared.
• Bring in a fresh perspective . Get someone outside the organisation to identify new questions you may get asked – and get the outsider to listen to your answers to the tough questions. A neutral third party (like Benjamin Ball Associates ) can give you insight and expose the weaknesses in your arguments and answers.
• Stress-test your answer s. Spend time as a team firing questions back and forth. Then review how you answer these. Keep at this until you have got it right. The more you prepare, the more natural you will sound.

For important presenting events, we frequently spend many hours preparing teams with tough questions, video review and rehearsals. Just like elite athletes, you only build muscle strength with practice.

Answering Questions Tip #8. Don’t try and answer impossible questions

There are some audience questions you cannot answer. If you learn our approach of Question Triage (a technique for classifying questions up front) you can spot these a mile off. Then you can use proven techniques to get yourself back to safe ground and onto a topic that you can talk about with confidence.

Presentation Question Answering Tip #9. Finish strong

Audience question sessions often end flat. Frequently, people feel pressured to finish quickly, especially if time is short. This is a mistake.

Never miss this opportunity to reinforce your important messages while also showing that you have listened to what the other person has said. Even a strong 30-second summary at the end will show that you have listened. This can also highlight what they need to hear.

Tough Question Tip #10. Beware the last question trap

AKA the Columbo moment. If you are a child of the ‘70s you may remember the TV series Columbo .

The bumbling detective always finished his interview with a suspect and, as he walked away, would say “Just, one more thing….’  With that one line he caught the suspect off guard and got the information he needed.

How to answer questions confidently

Top tips for answering questions confidently

What To Do Next to Better Answer Presentation Questions

I f you’d like to improve how you handle tough questions, please give us a call.

We’d be happy to discuss ways we can help you. For example, we run extensive Q&A rehearsals to build skills and increase confidence. You’ll find that working with our experts is a small investment that can deliver amazingly high returns. We offer short, intensive coaching sessions.

To discuss how you can improve your next presentation question session, please call Louise Angus on 020 7018 0922 or email [email protected] .

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For 15+ years we’ve been the trusted choice of leading businesses and executives throughout the UK, Europe and the Middle East to improve corporate presentations through presentation coaching, public speaking training and expert advice on pitching to investors.

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How To Navigate Your Presentation Q and A Session Like A Pro

Table of contents.

Presentations are a pivotal part of professional life, an opportunity to share knowledge, influence decisions, and showcase expertise . But what truly separates the pros from the rest of the pack is not just the delivery of content but also their ability to master the art of the post-presentation Q&A session.

In this article, we’ll delve into strategies, tips, and insights that will empower you to confidently face any audience, tackle tough questions, and leave a lasting impression as a presentation maestro.

Is A Q & A Session At The End Of A Presentation Required?

A Q&A session at the end of a presentation is a common practice in many professional settings, including business meetings, academic lectures, and conferences. It provides the audience with an opportunity to seek clarification, engage with the speaker, and delve deeper into the topic discussed.

How Important Is Moderation In Your Q & A Session?

Moderation is highly important in a Q&A session, and its role cannot be overstated . Effective moderation ensures that the session runs smoothly, maintains a respectful and productive atmosphere, and maximizes the benefits for both the presenter and the audience.

Here Are A Few Tips On How To Moderate

Give audience members instructions on how to participate.

Encouraging audience participation as a moderator is vital for a successful Q&A session or discussion. Start by c reating a friendly and open atmosphere, setting clear expectations, and using open-ended questions that invite thoughtful responses. Actively engage with participants, ask follow-up questions, and acknowledge their contributions to foster a sense of inclusivity.

Rotate attention among panelists or presenters, promote written questions for larger or online sessions, and be patient, allowing participants time to formulate their thoughts. Summarize key points made by the audience and connect them to the main topic to reinforce the value of their contributions. Seek feedback at the end of the session to continually improve your moderation skills and enhance audience engagement.

Use a Moderating Tool To Improve Efficiency

Utilizing moderating tools is an excellent way to enhance the efficiency of discussions and manage interactions in online or live events. These tools typically offer features like question management, chat monitoring, and participant engagement tracking. To maximize their effectiveness, start by familiarizing yourself with the tool’s interface and capabilities before the event.

During the presentation or discussion, actively monitor incoming questions or comments, addressing them in real-time or queuing them for later. Use features like chat moderation to maintain a respectful and on-topic conversation, ensuring that disruptive or inappropriate content is promptly dealt with. Additionally, track participant engagement metrics to identify trends and areas that may need additional attention. By harnessing the power of moderating tools, you can streamline your role, keep the discussion on track, and create a more efficient and productive environment for all involved.

Prepare To Collect Unanswered Questions

You also need to be prepared to collect unanswered questions that you might not get to during the allotted time you have to present, have a system in place for noting down questions that couldn’t be addressed during the session, either submitted through digital tools or manually written, ensuring they are organized and ready for follow-up or future discussions. Make sure you have a clear and concise call to action in your presentation to achieve this.

Things To Think About Before Running Your Q & A Session

When running a Q&A (Question and Answer) session, there are several key considerations to keep in mind: Preparation, timing, audience engagement, question prioritization, complex questions, and audience diversity . Below, we will get into a few of these.

Let Your Audience Know In Advance When The Session Will Start

It’s essential to communicate the start time of the Q&A session to your audience effectively. By clearly indicating when the Q&A will begin, whether it’s at the end of a presentation or at a specified time during an event, you help attendees anticipate and prepare their questions. This proactive communication ensures that the Q&A session runs smoothly and that participants are ready to engage in meaningful dialogue when the time comes, enhancing the overall event experience.

Briefing Your Audience On The Format

At the beginning of the session, set clear expectations for audience participation. Explain the format, timing, and how questions will be received (e.g., raising hands, using a chat feature, or submitting questions in advance).

Leave Enough Time To Field Questions

Leavin g dedicated time during your presentation for a Q&A session is crucial as it allows for audience engagement, clarifications, and deeper exploration of topics, enhancing the overall impact and effectiveness of your presentation.

Stick To The Time Limit Allotted

Sticking to the time allocated for a Q&A session is of paramount importance as it respects both the audience’s and the presenter’s schedules. It ensures that the event remains organized, preventing sessions from running over and causing inconvenience. Efficient time management in a Q&A also allows for the inclusion of as many questions as possible within the allotted period, maintaining the engagement and interest of the audience. Additionally, adhering to the schedule demonstrates professionalism and consideration for attendees, making the entire event more enjoyable and productive.

Tips On How To Answer Questions In The Session

Navigating a Q&A session effectively is an art that requires both expertise and finesse. It’s not only about providing accurate information but also about engaging with the audience, addressing their queries thoughtfully, and managing the flow of the discussion. In the following tips, we’ll explore strategies for answering questions during a Q&A session that will help you enhance your presentation and foster a constructive and informative exchange with your audience.

Make Eye Contact With The Audience Member Asking The Question

Making eye contact with the audience member who is asking a question is crucial as it conveys attentiveness, respect, and a genuine connection, fostering a more engaging and interactive Q&A session.

Research Suggests Taking A Brief Pause Before You Answer

This momentary pause allows you to gather your thoughts, ensuring that your response is well-considered and accurate. It prevents rushed or impulsive answers, particularly to complex or sensitive queries, and demonstrates a sense of thoughtfulness and confidence to the audience.

Moreover, the pause offers your guests an opportunity to absorb the question fully and mentally prepare for your response. This moment of reflection can enhance clarity and comprehension, making the exchange between you and your audience more meaningful and effective. Ultimately, by incorporating a deliberate pause before answering questions, you not only improve the quality of your responses but also convey professionalism and a genuine commitment to providing valuable information. This article dives even deeper on the importance of a brief pause before answering a question.

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Make Sure You Understand The Question Asked Before Answering

Your confidence and expertise in the subject matter also matter. Check out our article to help guide you in being a better presenter . If you are well-prepared and knowledgeable about your topic you will easily be able to understand the questions being asked.

Additionally, knowing when you are being asked an irrelevant question, or a thoughtful question, is a key tool in helping you move through your Q&A’s. Be sure to hear what your audience is asking, and for any irrelevant questions, keep your answers short and move on to any potential questions that will bring your guests back to your key messaging.

Always Keep Cool, Calm And Collected

Maintaining a sense of calm during a Q&A is essential as it allows you to think clearly, respond confidently, and manage unexpected challenges or difficult questions effectively. It also helps create a positive and reassuring atmosphere, which can enhance your credibility and the overall experience.

If You Don't Know The Answer, Be Honest!

Being honest when you don’t know the answer to a question during a Q&A session is vital because it builds trust with the audience, maintains your credibility, and opens the door for future opportunities to provide accurate information.

Feeling Like You've Got Your Presentation Q and A Covered? Awesome!

You are now fully equipped to run a Q&A and moderate effectively! You’ve learned the importance of clear communication, timing, creating a welcoming atmosphere, and using pauses for thoughtful responses . You understand the value of being honest when unsure of an answer and the role of audience engagement and moderating tools. These skills will enable you to confidently navigate Q&A sessions for productive and engaging interactions with your audience.

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Guide for Handling Questions after a Presentation

October 19, 2017 - Dom Barnard

The questions at the end of a presentation can be terrifying for many speakers as they can’t be controlled and are hard to prepare for. However, questions form an important part of the presentation for the whole audience as they allow for clarification and consolidation of learning.

The presenter can enhance the usefulness of the question and answer session by treating it as a formal part of the presentation that requires as much careful planning and control as the delivery of the core material.

Identify possible questions and scope in your preparation

The background work that you undertook whilst planning your presentation is the key to handling questions effectively and understanding what  type of audience  you’ll be faced with. If you have defined a focus for your presentation and have explored this thoroughly in your research and planning, you are more likely to be able to confidently respond to questions.

When planning your presentation, you will need to prepare prompts for questions that are open and straightforward, for example saying “That’s the end of my presentation. I’ll be taking questions for the next 10 minutes”.

You might also want to define topics for discussion before taking questions, by stating the areas you’re willing to field questions in. Your preparation will help you identify topics you are not confident with and want to avoid in the questioning.

Set some rules for asking questions

At the start of your presentation, make it clear when you would prefer to deal with questions – as you go along or at the end of the presentation.

Some speakers prefer questions to be raised as they arise during the presentation. The advantage of this approach is that any misunderstandings can be dealt with immediately. However, there is also a danger that the question will disrupt or distract the speaker, or that questions are raised that would have been covered later in the presentation.

If you leave questions until the end, plan to leave plenty of time for questions so that the audience doesn’t feel rushed.

Framework for responding to questions

Answering questions under pressure can make you say things you shouldn’t have – the nerves can force you to give an inappropriate response. In your panic you might have misinterpreted the question or given away company information that was sensitive. Use the following framework to help you respond effectively to your audience.

Practice answering AI-generated questions on your speech or presentation with  VirtualSpeech .

1. Listen to the whole question

You don’t have to answer a question immediately. Pause for a few seconds,  actively listen  to all parts of the question and think about the best way to answer.

Frequently questions can change direction at the last moment, particularly if the questioner is thinking on their feet. This can throw you if you have already started to prepare an answer. Remember that questioners will frequently try to make a point whilst asking their question – it’s therefore important to both hear the content of the question and try to decipher the questioner’s intention.

2. Understand the context

If you are worried that you haven’t understood a question, ask them to clarify what they mean. Check for confirmation by paraphrasing the question back to the questioner – “You want me to list the improvements of X?”.

3. Involve the whole audience

It is important to remember that even though you are taking a question from one member of the audience, you are still responsible for the interest of the other audience members. This is particularly important in large groups as the audience will become bored if the presentation descends into a series of one-to-one discussions.

To involve the rest of the audience, make sure the whole audience has heard and understood the question by repeating it or paraphrasing it to the audience.

4. Respond concisely

When you reply to a question, direct your answer to both the questioner and other members of the audience. Try to keep your responses as focused as possible, leaving space for other questions. To avoid going into too much detail, check back with the questioner to see if you have answered their query – “Does that answer your question in enough detail?”.

We’ll cover different ways to respond in a later section.

5. Allow follow-up questions via email

You can also encourage your audience to ask questions after the event has finished by providing your email address. This shows a high level of respect for your audience and implies that the topic still has much further scope for enquiry.

Two good resources for handling questions

• What’s the art of answering a tricky question?
• Dodging the Question

Practice Answering Questions

Practice answering questions after your presentation using a 4 step process. Learn More

Options for answering the question

There are five possible choices depending on how well you understand and can answer the question. It’s okay to say that you don’t know the answer to something. This can add to your credibility instead of trying to waffle through an answer you don’t really know.

If you have a good answer for the question from the audience, go ahead and answer it in a short and clear message.

Ask a question back the audience member, such as “Can you clarify what you mean by that”. You can also attack the question if it is not related to the issue, factually inaccurate, personal or based on false assumptions. Be careful with this method.

Ask the question back to the audience or pass it to another panel member if possible. If suitable, another technique is to imply the question has been asked already, with you stating you don’t want to cover old ground.

Tell the audience member you will talk to them after the event. This gives you more time to think of a good answer and there is less pressure to give a perfect answer.

Or mention that that point is coming up in a slide.

This involves answering the question but changing the subject. You can also give a partial answer or give a negative answer, saying that something else will happen instead.

Avoid answering questions that fall outside of the remit of your talk: “I’m afraid that really falls outside of my objectives for today’s presentation. Perhaps we can resume discussion of that particular point later?”

Diagram Explained : Once you receive a question, you’ll have a few moments to think about it and reframe it in a way that makes sense to you. This will give you five choices on how to react – you can answer, reflect, deflect, defer or change the scope of the question. Once you’ve answered concisely, you can then follow up to check if the person asking the question is satisfied and then continue with the presentation.

Strategies to use when struggling to answer

Here are some strategies to use when you are struggling to answer the question posed to you. For more information, read this article on  Dodging the Question .

• Acknowledge the question without answering it – “That’s a good question, let’s consider the impact by looking at…”
• The question fails to tackle the important issue.
• The question is based on a false assumption.
• The question is factually inaccurate.
• The question is too personal or objectionable.
• Decline to answer. Refuse to answer on the basis that it is not your area of responsibility or it is sensitive company information – “You will have to ask [name] because I wasn’t involved in that particular project.”
• Partial answer
• Start to answer but change the subject
• Negative answer. You state what won’t happen instead of what will happen
• Answer a similar question
• State or imply the question has already been answered – “We’ve already covered that topic”

Things to avoid

When handling questions and answers, you will still need to be as professional as you have been for the main delivery of your presentation. There are some common dangers to avoid.

Answering the question you wished you’d been asked

A common trick played by politicians, this strategy ignores the precise nature of the question and uses a predetermined answer to the broad topic area. If handled poorly, this technique is very obvious to the audience and frustrating to the questioner.

Giving a lengthy response

This is the process whereby you make a lengthy response, including all the information you’d left out in planning the main presentation. Your unplanned response will be unstructured and rambling, so keep things focused and brief. If you find yourself rambling, ask them to talk to you after.

Passing the blame

Passing the blame to others comes across as weak and evasive. If an idea from the audience is a good one, acknowledge its value. If it isn’t, make a polite rebuttal and move on.

Defensive answers

Occasionally, questions can really put you on the spot, but it is important to remain calm and in control. An aggressive or defensive reply will be seen as weakness on your part and will spoil the effect of an otherwise successful presentation.

Handling difficult questions

It is important not to start responding to a difficult question before you have thought about the answer. Repeating the question and asking for clarification will help create some space for your thoughts.

Sometimes you will need to think about a question for a moment before responding. You may be able to buy a little bit of thinking time to help focus your response. Useful strategies include searching for an appropriate visual aid to help focus your response or simply pausing for a moment or two to think. For even more time, suggest that you’ll come back to the topic later (but don’t forget to do this).

7 myths when answering tough questions during presentations

Sometimes questions are too difficult to answer. Don’t worry about admitting that you don’t know something or haven’t considered an alternative approach. An enthusiastic “That’s an interesting idea, I’d not thought of that” is much more positive than a mumbled “I don’t know ”. Remember that a presentation is a two-way process and it is important to show that you are learning from your audience as well.

Finally, you can come across a questioner who disagrees strongly with your argument. Although this can feel very awkward, remember that you are still responsible for the whole audience and that you cannot allocate all of your question time to one individual.

If you feel that you have answered the initial question, announce that you will move on and suggest that you might continue discussion after the presentation. If the questioner persists, assert your position calmly by saying “I’m afraid I need to move on”.

You can read more on this topic here:  Responding to questions effectively (PDF)

• Effective Presentation Skills Tutorial
• Handling Questions and Answers

At the end of your presentation, if it is appropriate for the type of presentation, solicit questions from the audience.

Responding to Audience Questions

When someone is asking a question, make eye contact with that person, listen positively, and acknowledge by saying "thank you for that question," or say "that is an excellent question" or "that is an important question".

If the audience is in a large room and cannot hear each other's questions, repeat the question loudly for everyone to hear, before answering it.

If you know the answer to the question, respond appropriately and briefly so you can take more questions and not spend too much time on one question.

Effective Response to Question

This video clip is an example of a presenter effectively responding to an audience member's question .

Ineffective Response to Question

This video clip is an example of a presenter ineffectively responding to an audience member's question .

If the question is not relevant to the presentation, say something like, "I am really sorry that question is outside the scope of this presentation, but I will be happy to stay after the presentation and discuss it with you."

Effective Response to Off-topic Question

This video clip is an example of a presenter effectively responding to an off-topic question or one in which he or she does not know the answer .

Inappropriate Response to Off-topic Question

This video clip is an example of a presenter inappropriately responding to an off-topic question or one in which he or she does not know the answer .

If time is running out for answering all of the questions, say, "I am sorry. I am running out of time, but I will take one last question, and then I will be available at the end to answer any remaining questions."

If you do not know the answer to a question say, "That is an interesting question, and I will have to get back to you later on that" or ask the audience "Can someone help me with this?" or be gracious and acknowledge you do not know the answer at that time.

If an audience member criticizes or attacks what you had covered in your presentation, do not attack back, but separate the valid criticism from the personal attack, and respond to the criticism appropriately.

Some things not to do during the question and answer period:

• Shuffling papers or technology and not making eye contact with the questioner
• Belittling the questioner
• Calling those who want to ask questions by their physical characteristics
• Not taking questions in the sequence they are asked, but focusing on certain people or a side of the room

Asking Good Questions

If you are in the audience, know also how to ask good questions to indicate that you are following the presentation.

You can ask some general questions about any topic, and you may be genuinely curious about some things presented.

• What were the most challenging aspects, or what surprised you the most, in conducting this project?
• Why did you choose this particular methodology or argument instead of another one?
• How did you collect the data? Were there any problems in collecting data? What was the sample size?
• How did you validate your work? Did you validate with a real problem or situation?
• What are some of the limitations of your work?
• What recommendations do you have for further exploration in this project?

Learning to ask good questions at the end of a presentation demonstrates your active participation.

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7+ Tips for Handling a Q&A Session in 2024

You've prepared your presentation and delivered it flawlessly. But there's one more hurdle to get through before you can declare the event a success: the presentation questions and answers session, or Q&A. 

It's the time when your audience gets to ask questions, and sometimes you've got no idea what they're going to ask. So, how can you wrap up your presentation in style? In this guide, I'll share tips and expert advice on responding to questions after a presentation, so you can nail the Q&A session.

Why People Worry About the Q&A

Even seasoned public speakers can be terrified by the thought of the question and answer session in a presentation. You may believe that your audience should be a part of your presentation but still be worried when it's time to invite questions from the audience. One reason for this is the lack of control. After all, as the presenter, you've got no idea what audience members are going to ask. 

The tutorial below will help you overcome other fears about public speaking you may have:

Another concern about taking questions in presentations is that you won't know the answers. If you're new to public speaking, taking questions can be even more nerve-wracking. Some presenters feel they're not good at improvising and will be floored by unexpected questions. Overall, presenters worry about looking silly in front of the audience. There are tips for handling all those issues in this guide. 

Why You Should Include a Q & A Section in Your Presentation

So, why is it important to include a Q&A session? There are several benefits to inviting questions from the audience at the end of your presentation. For a start, your audience should be a part of your presentation if you want to make your session more interesting and engaging. Taking feedback questions for a presentation is one way to do this. 

A Q&A session is a great chance to connect more with your audience and complete the process that you've started with the presentation. Most presentations are concise, and don't cover everything to avoid boring the audience. So, responding to questions gives you another chance to showcase your expertise by expanding on points made in the main presentations. 

Another great thing is that a lively question and answer session in a presentation tells you that people are interested in what you've got to tell them and engaged with your topic. 

Public Speaking Trainer  Gary Genard says:

"Too often, speeches have the feeling of a monologue, delivered through a one-way dynamic to a polite but anesthetized crowd of onlookers. The back-and-forth of Q & A should feel more comfortable to you AND your listeners. Best of all, when you’re conversing about a topic you truly care about, all of your best qualities as a speaker will emerge."

The Q&A is excellent feedback for a presenter and gives you the confidence you need for future presentations on your topic. And a good Q&A shows your expertise.

Wondering how to invite questions at the end of a presentation? Use a questions image for your presentation and leave it up when you've finished presenting the main content. 

I'll talk more about creating your Q&A slide later in this article, but the following guide is a good starting point:

How to Prepare for Questions After a Presentation

Presentation questions don't have to take you by surprise. As a presenter, there are several tasks you can do in advance, so you're ready for anything your audience throws at you. Here are some tips to help you handle presentation questions:

1. Know Your Topic

One of the best preparations is to know your topic inside out. If you're an expert on the subject you're presenting on, there's little that can faze you.

2. Know Your Audience

When preparing to invite questions from the audience, research is key. If you know who you're presenting to, tailor the information to their interests. This same research will also help you figure out what might be coming up in the Q&A.

3. Hold Back Some Information

Your presentation question session will be easier if you've got some new information left to share. If your presentation is concise, you'll have useful data that didn't make the final cut. Some of this can help you answer your audience's questions.

4. Prepare for the Most Likely Questions

Responding to questions with a little preparation. Go through your presentation and try to see where audience members might want clarification or extra insight. Do a little more research so you've got supporting statistics on hand. Check to see if there's a related topic that might follow naturally from something you present.

Content Strategist and Founder of Write Minds, Jacob McMillen  says:

"My biggest fear heading into my first Q&A was that the audience might not ask interesting followup questions, so I could keep the discussion moving. I overcame this fear by spending a bit more time than was probably necessary preparing for the session and thinking through what I'd say if it was left to me to fill dead space."

5. Lead Your Audience 

Related to that, you can subtly invite questions from the audience by giving them a teaser. This encourages them to ask a question about information you've already prepared. For example, if you use a surprising or interesting fact, it's almost certain someone will ask for more information.

6. Decide When to Respond to Questions

There's no set time frame for responding to questions. As the presenter, it's completely up to you when to run a question and answer session for your presentation. There are two options:  

• Let people ask questions throughout your presentation.
• take all questions at the end. 

Each method has pros and cons.

If you go with interactive questions for your presentation, and take them throughout, it's easy to tell when your audience is engaged. That's affirming, and you also won't have to remember to come back to a topic later. But taking questions throughout can also interrupt both the flow of the presentation and your train of thought. That can make it harder to follow for your audience.

If you take presentation questions at the end, then you can focus on delivering the best presentation you can, without worrying about interruptions. That makes it less interactive during the presentation itself. But it means both you and your audience can easily follow the issue you're presenting.

Amma Marfo , Professional Writer, Speaker and Trainer, says:  

"If the topic is one where understanding is needed to move forward (e.g. if I've shared a framework or am building layers of knowledge), I'll take questions throughout. If it's less essential that all points are understood to move forward, I'll hold until the end.

I find myself asking for questions throughout more and more on digital/virtual events, because it's a means to ensure that participants are engaged. These questions can take the form of "what questions do you have?" (preferred to "any questions?" because someone might hedge if they think no one else has questions), or can show up in the form of polls, thumbscales (thumbs up if you feel good about this, thumbs down if you feel bad), or even share an emoji if I feel confident that the audience will universally know how to do so on their device :)"

A good middle ground, especially for a longer presentation, is to take questions at specific times. For example, if you're making several main points, you could have a brief Q&A after each of them. 

Whichever you choose, you can signal your audience that it's time for questions by adding a Q&A slide to your presentation. Include:

• the presentation title
• the word "questions"

Many premium presentation themes include a well-designed questions image for your presentation.

7 Tips on Responding to Questions

Ready to invite questions at the end of your  presentation? Here are some tips on handling your Q&A session:

1. Listen to the Presentation Questions

Handling questions in presentations starts with listening. Listen to make sure you understand what the audience member is asking.  Don't be afraid to ask the person to repeat the question if you think you've missed something. This is also a good way to get more thinking time.

2.  Acknowledge the Questioner

Acknowledge the questioner, even if it's simply by saying: " that's a good question. " This makes your audience member feel good and buys you a little time to think about your response.

3. Empathize With the Audience

Audience members want to know you empathize with their concerns. If you know your topic, you'll understand WHY they're asking a particular question, and can use that as a lead in to your response.

4. Promise to Follow Up

Every now and then you get a question you really can't answer on the spot. There's no need for terror. Simply let the questioner know that you'll follow up afterwards and do it as soon as possible after the presentation. That may even be a good time for some self-deprecating humor, as experts recommend in the following article:

5. Get Some Help

You don't have to answer all questions in presentations yourself. If there's an expert in the audience who's likely to have relevant information, call on that person. Even better, if you know the list of attendees, give that expert some advance warning. Either way, it'll make your Q&A even more useful for your audience.

6. Stay in Control

If an audience member starts to ramble, don't be afraid to rein them in. Gently interrupt and clarify to keep the session relevant, interesting, and on-topic for the rest of your audience. Jacob McMillen says:

"Staying on topic is really just about spending more time on the things you feel are "on topic" and less time on that things that aren't. If the audience member tries to dive into something that I don't want to take about, I just give a relatively brief answer that communicates I'd prefer to move on, and then when I'm answering something I do want to talk about, I really dive in and take some time to give a comprehensive answer."

7. Have Someone Monitor the Chat

If you're presenting online, then taking questions can be slightly more complex. Often, people use a chat function to post questions during the presentation. It's essential to have someone monitor the chat so you don't miss anything

There are more tips on virtual presentations in our remote meetings guide:

Finally, summarize your presentation at the end of the Q&A. This lets you leave your audience with the core message you want to get across.

How to Respond When People Disagree

Interactive questions for presentation sessions are all well and good, but what happens if an audience member strongly - and vocally - disagrees with what you're saying. A good way to handle disagreement is to:

• Acknowledge the question.
• Clarify to make sure you understand the questioner's perspective.
• Identify where you agree (hopefully you'll agree on some points).
• Explain why your perspective is different - and why - on issues where there's disagreement.

Amma Marfo has this to say about handling disagreements:

"For me, it depends on if the disagreement is grounded in information or ideals. If it's an informational dispute, I try to cite sources and encourage others who may know of additional information to share it. Those tend to be easier because there's a theoretical right answer.

The challenge is if the dispute is ideological (or, ideological masquerading as informational). When those kinds of disputes arise, I state my position and try to hold there. If it escalates to where I can tell the person wants to be heard or "heard out," *and the argument is a good faith one*, I refer them to another way to get in touch. Let's continue this over email, or perhaps a phone call.

I don't entertain bad faith arguments, especially if they're grounded in denying the humanity of people - racism, sexism, -phobias or bigotry - and will typically move the conversation along for the sake of time."

How to Create a Winning Presentation

To create a presentation that gets attention, consider using a premium presentation template from Envato Elements. Premium templates are well-designed and well-supported. They can also save you time when creating presentations, and help you achieve a great look even if you don't have strong design skills. 

If you want a great-looking template for your next presentation, Envato Elements has an offer you won't want to miss. Download as many presentation templates as you want, all for one low price. If you only need a single presentation questions template , consider the options at GraphicRiver, where you can get attractive presentation templates for a questions and answer session for one-off use.

Here are some cool templates to use the next time you're taking presentation questions:

Learn More About PowerPoint Presentations

To learn more about using PowerPoint for presentations, check out the following guides:

Prep for Your Presentation Q&A Session Today

As we've seen, the Q&A session doesn't have to be a nightmare. With the right preparation you can handle presentation questions efficiently and respectfully while still coming across as the expert. Don't forget that you can create an eye-catching presentation with premium templates from Envato Elements. You can also get appealing presentation templates for one-off use from GraphicRiver. Start creating your next presentation today!

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Best Ways to Conclude a Presentation

Last Updated: October 4, 2023 Fact Checked

Strategies for Wrapping up a Presentation

Other best practice presentation tips, public speaking advice, how should you end a presentation.

This article was co-authored by Patrick Muñoz and by wikiHow staff writer, Ali Garbacz, B.A. . Patrick is an internationally recognized Voice & Speech Coach, focusing on public speaking, vocal power, accent and dialects, accent reduction, voiceover, acting and speech therapy. He has worked with clients such as Penelope Cruz, Eva Longoria, and Roselyn Sanchez. He was voted LA's Favorite Voice and Dialect Coach by BACKSTAGE, is the voice and speech coach for Disney and Turner Classic Movies, and is a member of Voice and Speech Trainers Association. There are 7 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 6,575 times.

You’ve just spent the last hour or so preparing a super thorough and detailed presentation. Now it’s time to add the finishing touches and come up with an attention-grabbing and memorable closer. What strategies can you use to make sure that people really remember what you've said? Keep reading to learn all the most effective methods you can use to conclude your presentation in a way that’ll really stick with your audience. We'll cover different strategies you can mix and match to end your presentation with a bang, then follow up with public speaking tips. Let's dive in!

Things You Should Know

• Bring your presentation to a close by first giving a clear indication that you’ll be wrapping up, followed by a short summary of your main ideas.
• Grab your audience’s attention with a strong call to action and an explanation of what good things will happen when they listen to your message.
• Make your presentation memorable by embellishing it with a powerful quote, a story, or a surprising statistic or fact.
• Get your audience involved by running a poll or survey at the end of your presentation.

• “In conclusion…”
• “In summary…”
• “As I conclude my presentation, let me ask you a question.”
• “This brings me to the end of my presentation today.”
• “In respect of time, allow me to wrap up my last comments.”

• “That brings me to the conclusion of my presentation. If you’re to take anything away from my presentation today, let it be the three Cs of credit that we talked about: character, capacity, and capital.”
• "Above all else, remember the acronym RAM: redesign, application, and management."

• “When you volunteer for this program, you will build your skills and gain valuable experiences.”
• “You will participate in the increased profitability of our company by joining this new program.”
• “Make this company a more inclusive and healthy place to work by taking just a few minutes out of your day to do these small actions.”

• “As the Greek historian Plutarch once said, ‘The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled.’ Let’s kindle the fire within our minds and make the changes we want to see.”
• “I’ll leave you today with a quote from Theodore Roosevelt: ‘Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.’”
• “Work hard to inspire not only those around you, but yourself as well.”

• Pair this statistic or fact with a memorable visual, such as an illustrated graph, a video, or a picture. The more visual your presentation is, the more memorable it will be to your audience.

• Another way to go about telling a story is to start it in your presentation’s intro and end it during the conclusion. Your audience will be curious to know how the story ends.

• “What do you think the word ‘success’ means?”
• “How can we make an impact every day through the work we do?”
• “Why do you think people are so afraid of change and questioning the way things have always been done?”
• Asking a question at the beginning of your presentation and answering it during the conclusion is another strategy to consider. Just be sure that you don’t forget to answer this question and accidentally leave your audience hanging.

• “What’s your usual mood during the workday?”
• “Have you ever presented your supervisor with a new idea or suggestion?”
• “Do you see yourself participating in this new program?”

• What they liked and disliked about the presentation
• What improvements could be made
• One memorable thing they took away from your presentation

• Before your presentation, go and talk with some of the audience members. This will give them a chance to warm up to you and can help you feel more relaxed once you get up and start presenting.

• Using hand gestures also shows the audience that you’re in control of the space around you, and makes you appear much more confident and at ease.

Expert Q&A

• Keep in mind that your presentation gives you the chance to be a messenger. Give your audience something meaningful to walk with at the end of your speech. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://www.businessinsider.com/worst-ways-to-end-a-presentation-2014-7
• ↑ https://www.washington.edu/doit/presentation-tips-0
• ↑ https://www.wilmu.edu/edtech/documents/the-science-of-effective-presenations---prezi-vs-powerpoint.pdf
• ↑ https://www.mentimeter.com/blog/awesome-presentations/ways-to-end-a-presentation-and-tools
• ↑ https://www.niu.edu/presentations/organize/index.shtml
• ↑ https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2017/11/02/15-methods-of-every-effective-public-speaker/?sh=3a911bdd3047
• ↑ https://youtu.be/VRJzvJ5XPQI?t=11

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8 tips for encouraging questions in your presentation

by Olivia Mitchell | 8 comments

Most of us would like people in the audience to ask questions. A lively Q&A session is stimulating and engaging for the audience. But sometimes you ask for questions, and you’re just met with blank gazes back from your audience. It’s a let-down and your presentation ends on a sour note.

Questions from the audience are like young fragile seedlings – they need nurturing. Consider when you’re in the audience – what stages do you have to mentally go through in order to ask a question? It might go something like this:

So as the presenter, you need to nurture your audience’s questions through these four stages. Here are 8 tips to help make them through:

1. Pitch your presentation at the right level for your audience

The first stage of questions is birth – they have to be born in your audience’s mind. If your presentation is too simple for the level of knowledge in your audience – it’s all material they’ve covered before – they won’t have any questions. Conversly, if it’s too complicated for them, they’ll turn off rather than risk asking a question which might make them look stupid.

2. Don’t cover every aspect of your topic in the presentation

If you cover everything there is to know on the topic – you won’t leave room for questions. So don’t be exhaustive in your coverage.

3. Let your audience know you would like questions and when to ask them

Near the beginning of your presentation let your audience know that you welcome questions. Then let them know when to ask them. There are a number of options:

Take questions throughout your presentation

Tell people they can interrupt you throughout the presentation to ask questions as they come to mind. This has several benefits:

• people won’t have to remember their question till later
• if they’re uncertain about something they can get that clarified at the time
• questions on a particular issue are dealt with at the same time that you’re discussing that issue.

The downside to this strategy is that it can take you off track if people ask irrelevant questions or questions that you’re going to cover later in the presentation. If you find it tricky to get back into the flow of your presentation after an interruption it may not be the best strategy for you. Finally, it can throw the timing of your presentation if people ask a lot of questions on a particular issue. This strategy is best used in longer presentations and training courses where timing is less critical.

Take questions at defined points of your presentation

Tell people you will have an opportunity for questions after you’ve finished each part of your presentation. This option is a useful halfway point between having questions throughout and leaving them till the end of the presentation. You can also decide how long to take questions for during each break in your presentation, and so control the timing better.

4. Let them ask a question as soon as they have one

If you’re serious about ensuring that people get their questions answered, invite people to interrupt you and ask their question. It’s the only way to ensure this. That’s when the question is burning for them. The longer you make people wait, the less likely they are to remember it. Once you’ve moved onto a new topic, their question will seem less relevant. Joey Asher from Talking Points blog says:

Questions aren’t to be feared. They’re to be embraced.  There’s no better way to connect with an audience than to allow them free rein to ask as many questions as they want.

5. Invite people to write down their questions as they think of them

If you don’t want to take questions throughout, you can help people remember their questions by suggesting that they write them down.

6. Validate every question

It takes courage to ask a question. It’s public speaking – just not from the front of the room. People are held back by wondering if their question is stupid or did they miss something and you already answered it. So you need to do your bit to make it a safe environment for people to ask questions. Do that by responding warmly to all questions that are asked – even if the question is stupid or you had already covered it. I don’t recommend saying “Good question”. It’s become a cliche which is often used when the presenter can’t immediately think of the answer.

7. Have people discuss in pairs any questions they may have

If your audience seems a little shy, give them an opportunity to discuss their questions with one other person before they ask them in front of the whole of the audience. Here’s how do do this:

“I’m going to ask for questions in a moment. Please turn to the person next to you and discuss together any questions you have. Then I’ll answer those questions.”

This has several benefits:

• It gives people the opportunity to try out their question in front of one person before risking humiliation in front of the whole audience.
• Any questions that are answered by material you’ve already covered can be answered by their partner.
• It gives people the opportunity to rehearse and fine-tune their question so that it will be shorter and clearer when they ask you.

8. Answer questions clearly and succinctly

If you answer every question with a long-winded and incoherent ramble, people are going to be reluctant to ask you another one. They’ll conclude they’re unlikely to get a useful answer from you. Nor do they want to subject the rest of the audience to another ramble.

More resources on other blogs

Five ways to make presentations Q&A friendly from Joey Asher at Talking Points. He also recommends validating every question:

Smiling at the questioner is like rewarding a dog for sitting on command.  Once rewarded, the chances are the audience will ask more.

John Windsor has a useful post Making the most of a Q&A session . He stresses anticipating the questions that might be asked. And also advises that you recap and conclude your presentation after the Q&A session. That provides a stronger ending to your presentation than just lettting questions peter out.

Andrew Dlugan discusses Leading the perfect Q&A . This covers all elements of the Q&A session from both the audience’s point of view and the presenters.

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Hi again Olivia – just seen this following someone else’s link. It’s something I blogged about myself a while ago – and in retrospect I probably over-stated my case: http://www.curved-vision.co.uk/presentation-skills-blog/2008/03/29/questions-or-not/

To me, it’s important to differentiate between two types of question. Firstly, you’ve got questions of fact (“Did you say 200%?”) which seem to me to be necessary at any point because otherwise people won’t be able to make much of anything you say after that.

Secondly though, there are questions of “application” for lack of a better term. Things like “So in my position, would it make sense to….?”. I love these questions as it shows the audience has bitten what I’ve said and is running with it. My instinct is that these questions should only surface at the end (in fact if the presentation is well structured this is probably the only place it CAN surface!).

And, for the “during the presentation so askers don’t forget”, I’ve also seen Twitter used effectively – either as a displayed backchannel – so that the whole audience can see, or just visible to those who have the necessary hardware. Quite often, small questions can be answered by someone else in the audience (like whispering to the person next to you – only there are lots of people next to you!), or the presenter/room host can skim them at the end & answer the key ones.

Hi Emma Yes, that’s a great use of the backchannel. Thank you for adding it to this post. Olivia

You actually make it seem really easy with your presentation however I to find this topic to be actually one thing which I believe I might never understand. It seems too complex and very wide for me. I am taking a look forward to your next publish, I will attempt to get the dangle of it!

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• 15 ways to improve your presentations in 2009 : Speaking about Presenting - [...] When you’re just starting out presenting, it makes sense to take questions near the end of your presentation. It’s…
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Stop Ending Your Speeches With 'Any Questions' and End With This Instead

Don't let your audience decide how you're going to end your presentation.

You have a big presentation to make to your client, your funders, or your boss . You've spent hours developing a deck that's concise, crisp, and visually stunning. You've practiced the delivery so that you speak with clarity, calm, and confidence . You've tested to make sure your tech is glitch-free, proofread the printed materials, and developed an opening statement that's sure to capture the hearts and minds of your listeners.

You got this...

Until the end.

If you're planning to wrap up your presentation with a half-hearted call for "any questions?" followed by a "thank you" and a quick exit, then you haven't planned your whole presentation.

In fact, you're missing out on a critical opportunity to reinforce your key message, offer a final appeal to gate keepers or decision makers, and make yourself and your pitch memorable.

The principle of recency states that people remember most what they learned most recently. In other words, your audience is likely going to recall how you ended your presentation more than they will remember how you started, or even much of the content in the middle. And if they're going to remember the end, you need a finish that's bigger than "any questions?"

Too many people end their presentations with a call for questions, which is a mistake. Why? Because it leaves the audience in charge of your ending, when, in fact, you want to be the one who decides the last words the audience hears. Think about it--what if the last question someone asks is irrelevant or hostile or bizarre ? What if there are no questions at all? Is that what you want your audience to be thinking about when they make their decisions about whether to invest in your offering, move your agenda forward, or advance your career?

Here's one more possibility to consider: What if the question that someone asks is so helpful and insightful that it actually changes your planned conclusion?

So, you may be asking yourself, "If I don't end with Q&A, how do I end?" (Great question!)

If you're not planning to take questions throughout your presentation, here are the final four steps you need to end your presentation memorably (in a good way):

1. Recap your main points

After you've covered your content, sum it up for the audience so that they remember what you've just told them. (Remember the old saying, "Tell them what you're going to tell them, then tell them, then tell them what you told them"? This is the "tell them what you told them" part.) No matter how compelling you were, you still need to assume that people's attention spans are short. A quick review of your main points will help your listeners lock in what they've learned.

2. Invite questions (and mean it!)

While you may wish you could avoid this section at all costs, you need to give people an opportunity to clarify anything they didn't understand, seek additional information, and even challenge your proposal. You might even find that an audience member's question brings up a novel idea or thoughtful approach you hadn't considered, leading you to draw an updated conclusion.

3. Share your conclusion

Don't get complex or fancy. It can be a simple restatement of your objective, with a few observations thrown in that you collected during the Q&A. Or, if the Q&A didn't yield any new insights, you can skip the observations. The point is to remind your audience of the key message you want to reinforce. (This is also a useful technique if you're dealing with a hostile audience, because the person who summarizes the discussion, no matter how tense the discussion may have become, stays in control by having the last word.) 

4. Close memorably and meaningfully

Perhaps no section of a presentation is as important as the closing, since that's the last thing your audience will hear. And because it's so critical, your closing must be prepared and practiced. What are you preparing and practicing? A powerful quotation from a business leader, a relevant song lyric or movie line, a rousing call to action, a concise story, a rhetorical question, or (for bonus points) a link back to your opening statement. 

You never get a second chance to make a last--and lasting--impression. Make sure that your presentations end positively, memorably, and with you in the driver's seat.

A refreshed look at leadership from the desk of CEO and chief content officer Stephanie Mehta

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• Presentation Tips 9: How to deal with audience questions
• Presentation Skills

Most presentations end with time for questions from the audience. This is something that can strike fear into the heart of the presenter, for at least two reasons. The first is the prospect of being met with a stony silence when you ask, ‘Does anyone have any questions? ’ The second is being put on the spot and faced with tricky or controversial questions that you don’t know how to handle.

In this post I will outline some ways to encourage your audience to ask questions, as well as some tips on how to deal with questions effectively.

How to encourage your audience to ask questions

Inviting questions at the very end of your presentation can often lead to the dreaded stony silence, which can feel uncomfortable for everyone. If the success of your presentation depends on getting interaction and ‘buy in’ from your audience, then here are some strategies to take you beyond the awkward silence.

• Warn your audience when you are coming towards the end of your presentation and tell them you’ll be inviting them to ask questions. First, recap your main points and then invite questions. This gives your audience some thinking time and the chance to refocus their attention.
• Pose a question yourself and provide the answer. You can introduce your question by saying, ‘This is something people often ask me…………. ’ By choosing your question carefully, you can highlight a particular aspect of your presentation or use it subtly as a call to action.
• If your audience is large, people are likely to feel inhibited about speaking out. Consider having a ‘plant’ in the audience – a friend or colleague who asks the first question. Often this is all it takes to set the ball rolling and further questions will follow.
• Make sure you come across as approachable, friendly and interested in your audience. No-one wants to risk asking a question and appearing foolish in front of the ‘world leading expert’!

Tips for answering audience questions

Remember to make it clear at the start of your presentation whether you want or expect questions, and when you would prefer to take them i.e. at the end or as you go along. If you are an inexperienced presenter or if your timescale is very short, then it’s generally best to take questions at the end.

Most audience questions are fairly predictable, so you should have thought of them when preparing your presentation and figured out some good answers, especially to the tricky ones. Of course you won’t be able to predict every question, but you can develop and use a range of techniques for handling them effectively.

• Welcome every question and acknowledge that you have received it.
• If you are faced with a tricky question, don’t change your manner or respond defensively in words or body language.
• Repeat the question if the room is large, or if the questioner has a quiet voice.
• If the question is unclear, ask the questioner what they mean or rephrase it tactfully and check if you have understood correctly.
• Keep your answer brief and clear.
• Answer the question mainly to the questioner. If the answer is fairly long, make eye contact briefly with the rest of the audience so that they feel included.
• Check that the questioner is satisfied with your answer.
• Admit it if you don’t know the answer and don’t waffle. If appropriate, say that you will find out and get back to them.
• Refer the question to someone else in the audience – but only if they are expecting you to do so.
• In some circumstances you may open up the question to the whole audience.
• Don’t let one person dominate question time. Break eye contact with that individual and invite questions from other parts of the audience.
• Don’t engage in a long dialogue with one person. You risk the remainder of your audience becoming bored or restless. Say to the individual that you’ll be happy to discuss further after the presentation – if that’s the case!
• Never get drawn into an argument. You could undo all the good work you put into your presentation.
• When time is running out, warn the audience that you will take only two more questions.

Question time can be the most productive element of your presentation. Follow the tips outlined above and you will find yourself not only handling questions effectively but even enjoying the process too!

Click here to read one of my previous posts on  How to use visual aids.

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• 7 Tips to Encourage Audience Questions in Your Presentation Q&A

September 19, 2017

Ever seen a presenter ask “Any questions?” at the end of their presentation, and heard only crickets from the audience?

In my work as a professional emcee and trade show presenter , I see it often, and it always makes me cringe because it’s so awkward, and so completely avoidable.

Asking for questions and getting none kills a presentation’s momentum. It usually goes like this:

• The presenter, having run out of content, asks “Any questions?”
• The audience, having no questions, freezes in place.
• Everyone thinks they hear crickets, though there are none in the room.
• The presenter, getting no questions, says, “OK, I guess I’m done.”

OUCH. How’d that happen?

Chances are, you caught your audience by surprise. They didn’t know you’d take questions, so they didn’t think of any. When you asked, you caught them off guard.

I want your next presentation to end with a bang, not a whimper. So try these tips to encourage questions:

1. PREPPING YOUR Q&A: PRIME YOUR AUDIENCE

> TIP THEM OFF EARLY:  As you start your presentation, tell your audience: “I’ll take all your questions at the end, so write down your questions as you think of them along the way.”  That’ll get them active thinking of questions throughout your presentation.

> REMIND THEM:  A few minutes before you take questions, say: “I’ve got one more slide to cover, then I’ll take your questions.” That’ll remind them to think of some questions if they haven’t yet.

2. STARTING YOUR Q&A: GIVE THEM A NUDGE

> LEAVE ROOM: Starting a Q&A with little or no time left discourages questions; your audience wants to leave on time too! Instead, carve out 5-10 minutes or more for questions (and cut some content to make room if needed; your audience prioritizes the information they want to get over the information you want to share).

> USE A PLANT: Have a “plant” in the audience who’ll ask the first question (one you’re comfortable answering), which encourages other audience members to ask (and saves them the awkwardness of going first) and gives them time to think of something to ask.

> CHANGE YOUR PHRASING: Your audience may interpret the phrase “Any questions?” as a sign that you don’t expect or even want questions, which discourages them from asking. Instead, encourage questions by phrasing your question with a more upbeat, expectant tone:  “Who’s got a question?” or  “Who’d like to go first?”

> ASK IT YOURSELF: Ask yourself a common question:  “One question I get often is…” Then answer it. Again, this encourages the audience to follow suit, and gives them more time to think of a question.

3. ENDING YOUR Q&A: ADD THAT BANG!

Q&A or not, ending your presentation by saying you’re ending your presentation (“OK, I guess I’m done”) will end your presentation with a whimper. You can easily replace that whimper with a “bang” by restating your main takeaway and thanking your audience:

“Folks, I hope my presentation has shown you that when it’s raining and you want to stay dry outside, use an umbrella! You won’t regret it. Thanks so much for your time.”

And thank you so much for your time!

by Andy Saks

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Read all Presentation FAQ Spark's Client Success Stories Emcee tips: How Spark’s master of ceremonies made AT&T’s awards dinner fun Trade show booth ideas: How to get the most value from your presenter Trade show booth ideas: Recycle your presentation script Read all Spark Success Stories Spark Presentations Andy Saks, Owner & Lead Speaker 781-454-7600 | Email | Contact page Don't miss exclusive Spark deals! Sign up for your Spark e-newsletter today. Presentation Skills Introduction Storytelling Presentation Outlines Writing a Presentation Script Tools for Creating Presentations Creating Interactive Presentations Designing Presentation Slides Finding & Citing Media Citing Your Sources on Slides Preparing & Testing Technology Recording Your Presentation Handling Audience Questions Presentation Anxiety Group Presentations Online Presentations Feedback Form AI Survey for Students Co-Curricular Recognition Form Faculty Resources The Question & Answer (or Q&A) session happens at the end of your presentation—audience members are free to ask you questions about your content and your ideas, and you have the chance to show how well you know your research. But what happens if someone asks a tough question? In this section, we'll look at how to handle audience questions so you can feel more in control of the situation. Tips for Answering Questions in a Presentation Make sure you understand the question and that you've heard everything the person wants to learn. Re-state the question in your own words and have the person confirm that you've heard and understood their question. For example, you could say, "Are you asking…?" or "Did you mean…?" before rephrasing the person's question. Be direct and honest. If you don't know the answer, that's okay too, but you should try your best to respond in a way that will satisfy the person who asked you the question. Use a story that is relatable to the audience to build a better connection with your audience. If someone asks you a difficult question, don't get rattled! Make sure you're polite, professional, and courteous. Be prepared for your presentation—think about what people might ask you during your presentation and either include the content in your session or leave it for the Q&A. How to Handle Different Types of Questions Handling questions from audience members can be one of the most difficult aspects of presenting your work. So, what kinds of questions might come up during your Q&A session? Check the boxes below to learn more about a few different types of questions and how to handle them. Direct Questions Direct questions are the typical questions we use when we want information. Direct questions require direct answers. You want to be clear and concise with your response, and you'll likely only need one sentence to answer the question. There are three types of direct questions: True/False (Yes/No) : You either confirm or deny what the questioner has asked you. Multiple Choice : You state which option is true based on two or more choices included in the question. Fill in the Blank : Your answer will provide missing information for the questioner. Hostile Questions Hostile questions are often designed to challenge the narrative, structure, and conclusions of your presentation. These types of questions can range from annoying comments or rude interruptions to mild differences of opinion to highly charged challenges. It's important to handle these kinds of disagreeable questions without getting hostile back. Remember: You have the power to control and optimize these difficult situations. Types of Hostile Questions Four common types of hostile questions include: Example: "Your conclusion here is unrealistic, don't you think so?" With these types of questions, you can respond with a simple “No,” immediately followed by a recap of the issue under consideration. For example: "No, my conclusion is based on… and…" In this case, long answers can be effective for diffusing the hostility. Maintain a neutral expression, and maintain eye contact with the questioner. Focus on the issue at hand and use this time to reinforce your ideas. Don’t let your emotions dictate your response. Example: "How can you suggest such a flawed idea to solve this issue?" What's essential about your response here is that you do not repeat the inflammatory word (in this case, it would be "flawed"). Keep a cool head, and summarize the issue without repeating the word that the questioner used. For example: You might start your response saying, “The issue at hand is what impact this solution will have on our user group going forward… ” You can then use this time to provide more information about how you came to this solution for this particular user group. Respond on your terms, not the terms of the questioner. Example: "What kinds of sources did you look at to come to your conclusion?" This type of hostile question is difficult to convey in a written form because they will sound similar to a direct question. The question is not using any inflammatory words or asking you to agree with a negative, but the question may still be hostile depending on the tone In these situations, ignore the tone and respond as if the question was asked in a completely straightforward way–as difficult as that may be. Stay calm and give the questioner the information in a simple, direct way. Example: "Given your background and limited knowledge on this subject, why did you even choose this topic for your presentation?" Negative preconditions refer to the inclusion of negative assumptions or statements about the presenter or their work before the question is even asked. By framing the question in a negative way first, the presenter is then put into a defensive position, which makes it harder to provide a confident or satisfactory answer. Similar to inflammatory trigger words, try to ignore the negative preconditions and focus exclusively on the issue at hand. For example: "During this project I learned… which has a major impact on… As I stated earlier in the presentation, I was drawn to this topic because of… and… which has helped me…" It's important to note that these kinds of negative preconditions are not constructive or helpful in the classroom—ideally, your professor will confront the person who asked a question like this! Multi-Part Questions Multi-part questions are questions that have multiple distinct parts or sub-questions. Instead of asking a single, straightforward question, the questioner will weave together different inquires in the same question. For example: "I appreciated that your project focused on renewable energy sources—I was curious about a few things: What are the advantages of those sources in Ontario? Are they more expensive than our current energy solutions? What's their potential for widespread adoption here?" As a presenter, it can be difficult to keep track of all these different questions—in most cases, the questioner genuinely wants more information, but they know you'll only have time to call on them once during the Q&A session. You can approach this situation by answering each part separately. It can help to pretend a different questioner asked each question. Make sure that you're concise with your answers so that other audience members can ask their questions as well. If you're having trouble remembering each part of the multi-part question, you can ask: "Could you remind me of your next question?" There's nothing wrong with briefly asking the questioner to repeat a part of their question—it shows that you care about providing a complete answer for your audience. Long-winded 'Questions' Long-winded 'questions' are more of an experience than a question. In this situation, an audience member will flood you with their opinions or personal stories and there may or may not be a question tacked on to the end of their speech—but you're still expected to respond to them. For example: "This is more of a comment, but your presentation reminded me of a project I worked on where I had to… It's refreshing to see someone else explore this topic, I only just learned about it last term when we… I was hoping to learn more about… I added something similar in my presentation for… … …" A simple way to handle this situation is to acknowledge the higher-level, big picture ideas in what the person has said, and to then talk to the central idea of their 'question'. You don't need to address all the smaller opinions or ideas the person has shared—just stay focused on the key ideas or arguments from your presentation. You could start by saying, "Clearly, there are a lot of issues going on here. Overall, I would say…" and then either answer the question or summarize your key ideas in about 2-3 sentences. Then you can move on to the next questioner. Watch the video below to learn about the tone you should use during your Q&A session. You'll also learn specific phrases you can use to clarify questions or communicate when you're not sure about an answer. Tips to Run a Successful Q&A Session Successful presenters prepare for the Q&A session with the same focus and detail as their presentations—this is a chance for you share extra details, clarify any confusion, and make a great last impression on your audience. Check the boxes below to learn what you should do before and during your presentation to create a smooth, successful Q&A! Before Your Presentation You might not know exactly which questions you'll be asked during your Q&A session, but there are still ways you can prepare yourself. Try the following three techniques before your next presentation: Work out the answers to these questions as you're working on your presentation—these questions can help you figure out where you might need to do more research. Decide which questions you'll incorporate into your presentation, and which ones you'll leave to the Q&A session. Test out your presentation with a friend, a family member, or a tutor at Sheridan's Tutoring Centre . Ideally, you want to test your presentation on someone with little to no knowledge about your topic—they can help point out areas that aren't clear so you can add more detail. You can book a free tutoring appointment on TutorOcean . Spend time practicing your answers by speaking them out loud. The more you prepare, the more natural you will sound during your Q&A session! During Your Q&A Session Use an open-ended question (e.g., "Who has the first question?" "What topic should we start discussing?") rather than a 'yes/no' question (e.g., "Are there any questions?" to get the conversation started. If you've waited about 30 seconds and no one is asking a question, you could start the Q&A by talking about something that interested you in you research. For example, "When I started my research, I had a lot of questions about 'X'. A key part of 'X' is…" Repeating questions serves two main functions: First, it allows you to clarify what the questioner has asked; second, it helps to make sure your audience has heard the question. You don't need a quick answer for everything—give yourself the chance to think about what the questioner has asked, what you know about the topic, and what information might help the questioner. Aim for 2-3 sentences in your answer. If you feel like your answer needs to be longer, offer a summary of your ideas in 2-3 sentences and then offer to either talk to the questioner after your presentation or to e-mail the questioner (or the class) with a longer response. It's better to say, "I don't know, but let me look that up and I'll send a note to the class" than it is to make up an inaccurate or misleading answer. If someone asks you a difficult question, respond calmly and politely. Help the questioner feel heard by briefly acknowledging their concern or point or question, and then offer to follow up with them after the Q&A session is over. End your Q&A session by thanking everyone for their thought-provoking questions. Make sure that you return the favour by engaging with your classmates during the Q&A session of their presentations too! Last Updated: Sep 12, 2024 3:49 PM URL: https://sheridancollege.libguides.com/presentationskills Connect with us Product Updates Polling l Q&A l Quiz Tips Higher Education Employee Training Internal Comms 6 questioning tactics to use in your next presentation that maximise audience engagement The famous scientific philosopher Thomas Kuhn said, “the answers you get depend on the questions you ask,” so if you’re not getting the answers, or audience engagement you want, maybe it’s time to take a look at the questions you’re asking. The art of asking the right questions helps you to gain deep insights, support informed decision making and develop effective solutions to any challenges or plug information gaps. You might ask questions for data collection, tests or research, but it’s important to note that the questions you ask can have a huge impact on the results you get. When it comes to asking your audience questions with a view to increasing engagement, there's several questioning tactics and question styles you can use, and we’ve detailed some below. Build rapport and warm up with Icebreakers Icebreakers should be easy questions that don't require too much thinking capacity. They might not be important from an informational point of view, but they have an important function for engagement. Our brain is highly social and thrives on interaction. By starting a formalised meeting with light-hearted questioning, dopamine is released which lights up the sense of reward in the brain, encouraging this positive behaviour. Using a live polling tool to ask your icebreaker ramps up the interaction and excitement, increasing audience engagement even further. Kick things off with:   Who will win the match at the weekend? What is your favourite movie? How did you get here today? Why not download our ready to use PowerPoint icebreakers to poll your audience with? Ask open questions Questioning, with a view to increasing engagement, becomes even more effective when you use open questions - especially good if you’re using a word cloud polling tool . Open questions prompt your audience to consider their personal opinions and beliefs in their response, bringing them closer to the subject matter and naturally increasing interest and audience engagement. Get your audience to open up by asking: What has been your most memorable part of the day/session? What will you do differently as a result of this session? Describe your feelings about the proposed changes in one word...  Try the 5 W's Basic though they may be, asking questions that begin with one of the five ‘W's will almost guarantee you an answer that isn't too taxing for the audience to come up with, perfect if you’re looking for data. Combine one of the 'W's with one of these other techniques and you'll amplify the effectiveness. Why not try... Who, do you find inspirational? What, is your biggest challenge? When, do you feel most productive? Where, should we hold the next event? Why do you think (this resource/product/book/technique) is so popular? You don't need to get too deep and meaningful with your audience but prompting them to reflect can be a powerful engagement tool for both you and them. Often, we all spend so much time looking forward, that we can forget to take a look back to find lessons or inspiration to help us acknowledge, grow, progress and continue to engage. Ask your audience to ponder on these...   What has held you back? Who has helped you the most with this project? What would you tell your younger self? How would you approach this differently now you have experience? Make a statement, provoke a reaction Rhetorical questions are often used by coaches or public speakers for effect, to get the audience thinking. Why do they work? Typically, rhetorical questions can be blunt or provocative, they can stop the audience in their tracks and prompt them to pay attention or re-engage if asked midway through a presentation or speech. Rhetorical questions can also resonate strongly, as each audience member ponders the question in the context of their own reality, increasing the poignancy of the question. How about asking...   Why does this even matter? How do we overcome this? What does this say about who we are? Where do we go next? Democratic decision making  We're huge fans of democracy (current politics aside) and nothing engages an audience more than the knowledge that their contribution affects the outcome. Whether you're hunting answers from your audience for the sake of data, to gauge opinion, or to actually make a real-life decision, the use of live-polling will get the crowds engaging. Multi-choice polling is really effective and increases engagement by giving your audience a sense of autonomy over the decision at hand by providing them with the answers to choose between.   Poll the audience with… How often should we hold these sessions? Weekly, monthly, annually? Where should we go for our next social outing? Pub/restaurant, mini golf, bowling? How is the room temperature? Too hot, Too cold, Just right? So, now you’ve got 6 question types to try out and engage with your next audience. As a last piece of advice, an engaged audience is a natural bi-product if the information you’re sharing is interesting, relevant and the audience can learn something from you, or about themselves. Related articles From the blog. Vevox Product Update September 2024 The “DILF” dialogue: 6 ways to avoid Q&A blunders Vevox recognized as a top 10 education software Stack Overflow for Teams Where developers & technologists share private knowledge with coworkers Advertising & Talent Reach devs & technologists worldwide about your product, service or employer brand OverflowAI GenAI features for Teams OverflowAPI Train & fine-tune LLMs Labs The future of collective knowledge sharing About the company Visit the blog Collectives™ on Stack Overflow Find centralized, trusted content and collaborate around the technologies you use most. Q&A for work Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. Get early access and see previews of new features. How to detect end of @Async method in Spring Boot and run some code I'm writing a Spring Boot app that I want to run some multi-threaded calculations in background. At one time there can be from just a few up to several thousand calculations in queue so I don't want to rely solely on ThreadPoolTaskExecutor s queueCapacity. What is the best way to tackle this problem. I thought about calling calculate method recursively at the end but as far as I know it is not good idea (correct me if I'm wrong). This is how my app looks like now: AsyncConfig.java CalculationContext.java spring-boot multithreading Async methods are mostly fire-and-forget. You call it but you don't know when it's executed, or when it's finished. Fortunately, Creating Asynchronous Methods shows how to do it in its GitHubLookupService class - return a CompletableFuture<Void> instead of Void : Now you can define what to do next when you call it: How about adding before/after aspect? I am not sure will that work? –  silentsudo Commented yesterday That would probably work, but only if the before/after part would always be the same. With CompletableFuture you can add different code before (just by adding it before the method call) and after (by using thenRun ), depending on where the method is called. –  Rob Spoor Commented yesterday Your Answer Reminder: Answers generated by artificial intelligence tools are not allowed on Stack Overflow. Learn more Sign up or log in Post as a guest. Required, but never shown By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy . Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged java spring-boot multithreading or ask your own question . The Overflow Blog Where developers feel AI coding tools are working—and where they’re missing... He sold his first company for billions. Now he’s building a better developer... 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It can help clarify what was shared, spark more discussion, and ensure everyone's on the same page. Whether you're the presenter or an audience member, knowing what to ask can make a big difference. But how do you know which questions are ... 30 Examples: How to Conclude a Presentation (Effective Closing Techniques) 30 Example Phrases: How to Conclude a Presentation. 1. "In summary, let's revisit the key takeaways from today's presentation.". 2. "Thank you for your attention. Let's move forward together.". 3. "That brings us to the end. I'm open to any questions you may have.". 90 Questions to Ask After a Presentation Ask open-ended questions that invite the presenter or audience members to share thoughts and perspectives, thus fostering a more interactive dialogue. Final Thoughts And there you have it—a comprehensive guide to quenching your intellectual curiosity and contributing valuable insights after a presentation. How to Nail the Q&A After Your Presentation Beforehand, think through the types of questions audience members might ask. Put yourself in your shoes and ask yourself what concerns they might have about how your message impacts their job ... 6 Ways to Close Your Presentation With Style (& Tools to Use) But how you end it can make all the difference in your presentation's overall impact. Here are some ways to ensure you end powerfully: Way #1: Include a Strong Call-to-Action (CTA) Way #2: Don't End With a Q&A. Way #3: End With a Memorable Quote. Way #4: Close With a Story. Way #5: Drive Your Main Points Home. How To Answer Questions After a Presentation (With Tips) 2. Ask others what they might ask after your presentation. A beneficial way to determine the questions your audience might have is to ask individuals you know who are similar to your expected audience what their questions are about your topic. Consider discussing potential questions with people you know who work in a similar field or position. Tips and Tricks to End Your Presentation with a Bang So, by asking a thought-provoking question about the content, it stimulates the content in the minds of the audience. When you ask questions, though, avoid easy questions where the answer is an obvious "yes" or "no." Instead, ask open-ended questions. The easiest way to do this is to ask for the audience members' opinions. 10 Tips for Handling Questions after a Presentation 7. Keep it Brief. When answering questions, be concise and focused. Avoid rambling or straying off-topic, as this can confuse or bore the audience. Stick to the main point and provide a clear response. 8. Repeat Key Points. When answering questions, repeat key points from your presentation. The Art of Question & Answer: Handling Audience Questions Like a Pro Audience Engagement and Participation: Inviting questions at the end of your presentation allows your audience to actively participate, transforming your session into an interactive experience. As Albert Einstein aptly put it, "The important thing is not to stop questioning.". 2. Addressing Confusion and Skepticism: How to Answer Questions After A Presentation 2. Ask a question 3. Ask them to repeat the question. 4. Apologies, and say you did not understand, could they please repeat. Answer Presentation Questions Confidently Tip #2. Have the mind-set of a teacher. A question is not an exam test. If you are asked a question, its because someone wants to know something. Your job is to help them understand. How To Navigate Your Presentation Q and A Session Like A Pro Encouraging audience participation as a moderator is vital for a successful Q&A session or discussion. Start by creating a friendly and open atmosphere, setting clear expectations, and using open-ended questions that invite thoughtful responses. Actively engage with participants, ask follow-up questions, and acknowledge their contributions to ... Guide for Handling Questions after a Presentation 1. Listen to the whole question. You don't have to answer a question immediately. Pause for a few seconds, actively listen to all parts of the question and think about the best way to answer. Frequently questions can change direction at the last moment, particularly if the questioner is thinking on their feet. Handling Questions and Answers At the end of your presentation, if it is appropriate for the type of presentation, solicit questions from the audience. Responding to Audience Questions When someone is asking a question, make eye contact with that person, listen positively, and acknowledge by saying "thank you for that question," or say "that is an excellent question" or ... 7+ Tips for Handling a Q&A Session in 2024 With preparation, responding to questions at the end of your presentation is easier than you think. (Image source: Envato Elements) Ready to invite questions at the end of your presentation? Here are some tips on handling your Q&A session: 1. Listen to the Presentation Questions. Handling questions in presentations starts with listening. How to End a Presentation: Most Effective Methods Some things you can say include: [1] "In conclusion…". "In summary…". "As I conclude my presentation, let me ask you a question.". "This brings me to the end of my presentation today.". "In respect of time, allow me to wrap up my last comments.". Provide a quick and concise summary of the presentation's key points. 8 tips for encouraging questions in your presentation Here are 8 tips to help make them through: 1. Pitch your presentation at the right level for your audience. The first stage of questions is birth - they have to be born in your audience's mind. If your presentation is too simple for the level of knowledge in your audience - it's all material they've covered before - they won't ... Stop Ending Your Speeches With 'Any Questions' and End With This If you're not planning to take questions throughout your presentation, here are the final four steps you need to end your presentation memorably (in a good way): 1. Recap your main points. After ... Presentation Tips 9: How to deal with audience questions Warn your audience when you are coming towards the end of your presentation and tell them you'll be inviting them to ask questions. First, recap your main points and then invite questions. This gives your audience some thinking time and the chance to refocus their attention. Pose a question yourself and provide the answer. Tips to encourage audience questions in your presentation Q&A So try these tips to encourage questions: 1. PREPPING YOUR Q&A: > TIP THEM OFF EARLY: As you start your presentation, tell your audience: "I'll take all your questions at the end, so write down your questions as you think of them along the way.". That'll get them active thinking of questions throughout your presentation. All Guides: Presentation Skills: Handling Audience Questions The Question & Answer (or Q&A) session happens at the end of your presentation—audience members are free to ask you questions about your content and your ideas, and you have the chance to show how well you know your research. ... If you've waited about 30 seconds and no one is asking a question, you could start the Q&A by talking about ... 6 questioning tactics to use in your next presentation Ask open questions. Questioning, with a view to increasing engagement, becomes even more effective when you use open questions - especially good if you're using a word cloud polling tool. Open questions prompt your audience to consider their personal opinions and beliefs in their response, bringing them closer to the subject matter and ... How to detect end of @Async method in Spring Boot and run some code Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research! But avoid … Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers. Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience. To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers. assignment essay homework paper phd report resume review speech thesis