Advanced Presentation Skills:

Those of you following our question handling tips will remember we left you with a pause before answering.

When it comes to the answer we suggest a couple of points:

K.I.S.S.- Keep it Short and Simple. When someone asks you a question they actually want a bit of a miracle in that they want an answer and they want it in about 30-45 seconds. What they don’t want is another presentation! (which they often get!).

The more you go on the less convincing you sound. So aim to be as economical as possible and sum up the points using just a few keywords and phrases.

Sequence: Give us the answer to the question first and then back it up with the reasons and supporting points second (most people do the opposite)

You are looking to satisfy the questioner but at the same time leave a few loose ends undone, to provoke more questions. By doing this you recreate two way dynamic much like in normal conversation

As you can see anticipation and planning go a long way to producing a good convincing answer

In our next tip, we will complete our advice on Question Handling by going into more detail about Bridging.