Before you start speaking decide whether you want to take question and answer session through out your speech. It is better to assign a specific timing for question and answer session. Here are the tips for making an effective Q&A session.
Repeat the question always:
If somebody asks you question, ask them to repeat the question once again. Doing so,
You ensure that you could understand the question
You assure that all your audience heard the question.
You take enough time to give proper answer.
It's common to make mistakes. So verify the question before you answer it. Once you have understood the question ask the audience whether they understood or heard the question.
Don't be ashamed of saying that you don't know the answer:
One of the great mistakes that every speaker commit is that they will answer the questions that they are unaware. They think as an expert they must answer to every question then only they get appreciation from the audience. But make sure that you will not follow this type of approach with all questions. Tell your audience that you don't have the required information right now and will come up with right answer latter.Otherwise you can say now you don not remember the answer. You can give some excuses instead of giving wrong answer as it spoils the beliefs in your audience.
Dealing with difficult question:
Some one will ask questions for a less than honorable reason. The reasons may be:
The person ask question only to show off their knowledge.
The person argues with you and proves that you are wrong.
The person may be angry and chose to take it out on you.
The person show interest only in their own matters and never care that are some people trying to learn .You can say polity that you need some time to gather the information and you can discuss with them latter. Don’t be harsh or rude, but be flexible. While handling a Q&A session in your speech there are lots of things to keep in your mind. Prepare well so that you can give the answer with more confidence. Ask to repeat the question once more to make sure that you heard it properly and the audience too. Don’t be ashamed to tell that you need some time to gather the required information. Try to treat all the questions with respect and solve their queries in a better way. Q&A session in your speech will help you to make a good rapport with your audience.
