If someone comes at you stupidly...
... it's a wonderful opportunity to convince them. Perhaps even the best opportunity you will get in the context of a speech, a presentation, or a conversation. Difficult questions - whether they are stupid or super smart, unfair or far-fetched, arrogant or irrelevant, or even completely justified - are an integral part of a speech, like the proverbial chips when planing. They are the most demanding challenge we face as speakers - and at the same time a very common one.
Therefore, we must not shy away from difficult questions, but rather learn to master them. There are rhetorical strategies that are just as effective as the supposed killer questions themselves. If you master them, no contribution to the discussion will unsettle you anymore.
There are actually no stupid questions
I am often asked how to avoid difficult questions. My answer is always the same: Don't! Answering is a matter of honor when communication is the goal. We can destroy the carefully built rhetorical effect of any speech if we simply avoid or even laugh off annoying questions. Our audience expects to be taken seriously by us. If we do not meet this expectation, we behave inadvertently disrespectfully: A shy smile at the wrong moment can be misinterpreted as a condescending attitude. Therefore, the first and most important basic rule for dealing with difficult questions is:
Take a respectful attitude towards every questioner by taking their question seriously and addressing their concerns.
Know your enemy: Difficult (question) types and how to deal with them
To respond constructively to difficult questions, we must first identify them. It is essential to listen carefully to the questioner - this is also an imperative of respectful communication. Listening correctly means understanding the core of the question, that is, the
actual concern of the questioner and interpreting it correctly. Only then can you strategically decide how to address them.
Irrelevant questions
These seemingly stupid questions may seem harmless, but they can be quite dangerous. You've just spent an hour struggling with a company presentation, and then this: "Why is your company logo slipping off the edge of the brochure?" Unpleasant, I know. But: If you now react with a smug smile or a frown, you suggest to the questioner that you do not consider their question worthy of a serious answer. Your reputation with the audience will plummet in a split second.
If the question seems trivial, give it significance by addressing it and using it to your advantage: "Why do we opt for an unconventional style in our design?" This way, you create an opportunity to explain the well-thought-out corporate design of your company.
Make irrelevant questions useful in your favor by addressing a relevant aspect of the concern and seizing the opportunity to shine.
And if the question simply does not relate to the topic at all: Offer to answer it at a later time, perhaps after the presentation.
Negative questions
Top managers and politicians are often confronted with so-called negative questions in press conferences. A popular question to government representatives, for example, is: "Why are you not fulfilling your election promise to lower taxes?"
Where is the crux of this question? The core concern of the question revolves around "credibility." However, the politician can provide good reasons why tax cuts are not the best solution in the current political situation.
Therefore, he addresses this so-called negative question by paraphrasing it into a positive question: "Why are we prioritizing budget consolidation at this time?" This way, he lays the foundation for an active argument and avoids a passive defense out of distress.
Paraphrase negative questions positively to create a constructive basis for your arguments.
Series of different questions
How can you react when a conversation partner bombards you with several completely different questions? Quite simply: Choose one.
Of course, you should not leave the other questions unanswered. But you can only answer one question at a time anyway. Therefore, it is strategically wise to first choose the question that you can best answer spontaneously. Once you have done that and cleared your mind, address the questioner again and acknowledge that you also want to take their other questions seriously: "You had another question." (stated as a statement, not as a question!) You can then answer them at your leisure - if it is even still necessary. In many cases, the questioner will inform you that it is no longer relevant - because they themselves could not remember what their right brain hemisphere had come up with two minutes ago.
What you must absolutely avoid: Confused probing like "What were the other questions again?" This gives the audience the impression that you were not listening - and you would have fallen into the trap of disrespect.
Answer complex chains of questions question by question and confirm your interest in the questioner's other concerns in between.
Statements instead of questions
Such questions are well suited, for example, after product presentations to test their stability by letting your counterpart corner you: "You have told us a lot about the advantages of your product sensation, but I am skeptical if our customers are even open to such a thing. The market for such items is still new, so the risk seems too high for us."
If you give up now, you arouse suspicion that you are not convinced of your product yourself. Take the concern of the conversation partner seriously here as well, but turn the destructive statement into a question to which you have a constructive answer: "What benefits it would have for you to immediately include our product in your range?" Then you can explain in a focused manner why making a deal now would be beneficial for the customer.
Do not fall for destructive statement questions. Turn such conversation stoppers into a constructive opportunity by transforming them into a question that brings you back into the conversation.
Questions you have already answered
Every speaker has experienced this: An inattentive listener asks a question that would be unnecessary if they had been paying attention. However, if you point this out to them, you embarrass them - and harm your own reputation in front of the audience.
Please never demonstrate, on such occasions, that you are annoyed by the inattentiveness of the questioner by prefixing your answer with a taunt like "As mentioned earlier" or "Again..." This is disrespectful and will annoy the conversation partner.
Instead, look at it from the positive side: This question is easy for you to answer because you have already prepared the answer anyway. Seize the opportunity to summarize the key points of your presentation succinctly - but really only briefly and to the point. An extensive repetition would punish all those who listened.
Answer questions that ignore what has already been said patiently and enthusiastically. Concisely summarize only the key points and avoid redundant clichés.
Questions to which you do not know the answer
No one likes to admit they don't know something. However, resist the temptation to somehow bluff your way through. No one knows everything. Offer to follow up with the questioner and ask for their business card - this creates accountability.
It becomes more difficult when the question directly relates to your statements, meaning you should know the answer, but you simply hadn't considered that aspect. In this case, you must answer - otherwise, you will appear evasive. However, if you guess randomly when you don't know the answer, you are taking an unpredictable risk. Instead, say something like: "I would have to estimate, and that wouldn't help you." Then steer the dialogue back to a related aspect that is relevant to the questioner, to which you can respond, for example: "What I can tell you for sure is..."
Answer difficult questions immediately and do not evade problems that your listeners address. Remember: You don't have to know everything. You just have to find a
relevant answer.
How to effectively disarm killer questions
There is a remedy against even the most threatening of killer questions. If you learn to use it, you can turn even the most uncomfortable situations into a valuable basis for argumentation, to present your best arguments. In conclusion, I would like to entrust you with three golden rules, condensed from the above advice, to help you answer difficult questions confidently:
- Gain the respect of the questioner by taking every question seriously and answering every question.
- Identify the core concern in difficult questions and put it into a perspective from which you can respond constructively.
- Paraphrase negatively phrased killer questions positively and use them as a springboard for your arguments.
Make a good impression!
Yours sincerely,
René Borbonus
Speakers
