I get asked regularly by Speak With Impact clients for tips to help them navigate a successful Question and Answer sessions – whether in person or online.
It is one part of presenting that many people fear.
Here is one simple tip to give you a boost and banish those fears.
The ‘On Mute’ technique.
I learned this tip by chance during Covid times and have adapted it since then.
It is based on improving your active listening before answering the question.
On a Zoom or Teams call, some speakers keep their microphone on for the duration of the Q&A session.
Other speakers, however, ‘mute’ their microphone while the question is asked and only ‘unmute’ when it is time to answer.
People in the second category did this initially to protect the sound quality overall.
However, a by-product of this was that there was a small gap between the question and answer.
This meant they appeared to give greater thought to their answers.
It also gave the impression they listened more closely and were less desperate to ‘rush in’ to answer.
I invite you to draw two lessons from this observation.
Lesson One
- If you are running a Q&A online
- ‘Mute’ your microphone while the question is asked
- Obviously be clear on how to ‘unmute’ quickly when the time is right
Lesson Two
- If you are in the room
- Imagine that you are ‘on mute’ while the question is asked
- Listen closely to what is actually asked – take a few seconds gap before launching in to the answer
Try out the ‘On Mute’ technique next time around and you will notice a difference.
For more helpful tips and guidance to help you when presenting – either in person or online – why not check out the following article…
