Dealing with Off Topic Questions

As a public speaker and trainer you will likely have faced the difficult task of answering questions that may be either outside of the scope of the seminar/course you are instructing.

An effective way to deal with questions that may be outside of the area you are presenting is to do the following:

• Thank the participant for their question. Let them know that it is an excellent question.
  
• Acknowledge that the question is one that others may have as well, but in order to stay on topic ...
  
• Suggest that you get together at a break or after the session to discuss this question in more detail.
  

I would say something like this:

"Thanks Mark. That is an excellent question about communication. Unfortunately due to time and topic constraints for this session, I am not able to address that question - why don't we get together after the session and discuss it in more detail?"

I have had great success with this method - I wish you luck incorporating this method of dealing with off-topic or difficult question in your presentation.

Posture IS Important

Remember back to the days when your parents or grand parents would holler at you and tell you to stand up straight...

Here is a practice exercise:

Next time you are standing up, make note of your posture. How you stand, how you hold your head, how your arms rest and the positioning of your feet. If possible, ask someone to take a picture of you standing naturally.

Just as timing is important for a joke or punchline, good posture is important and effective for demonstrating a point.

For instance, when you have something you want to convey as confidential, an excellent technique I have used is to lean into the crowd, lower your upper body position hunching over a bit as if you were telling a child a secret - then when the information has been passed, standing very straight with shoulders back is an excellent way to communicate that something very important is going to be demonstrated.

How you stand, and how you move when you speak can be signals to the audience that you have something important to tell them. Posture can also be an effective tool for reigning in a boisterous class.

As you rehearse your presentation, rehearse effective posture and stance to help with the impact of your words.