Handling Tough Questions in Presentations?

Question

Today, I gave a presentation in front of a group of my manager and a several executives. I spent a long time preparing for it as there were a lot important people attending.It was going well until we got to the Q&A section, which went something like this:` Will this work with active/active? -I don't know. What's the impact to the EAE project? -I don't know what that is. How will this be scaleable with the QA infrastructure? -Yes, it will be. How? -I don't know. What encryption technique is being utilized? -I don't know. Was Chris Kegoh ok with this design? -Yes, he definitely was. Chris is a *she*. -Oh... then, I don't know who that is. What do you feel about BLT? -Uh... BLT? Yes. -Well, I've never been a big fan of tomato... No... the Business Ledger Team. -Oh. I don't know who that is.I was probably asked 20 questions, and I couldn't answer of them. I thought I was well prepared, but obviously I wasn't, and now I've made a fool out of myself.Beyond preparing even harder, how should I answer questions that I don't understand (or have no idea on the answer)? I don't want to completely BS my way through meetings, but give just enough BS so I don't appear so incompetent.

Answer 1

I'm sorry that didn't go well for you. A few suggestions:

Try to anticipate questions that might be asked. Ask colleagues for their experiences when presenting to these people. People usually have a style and it shouldn't have been a complete surprise that you were peppered with questions. (And if you were, then your presentation was likely lacking the level of detail that they were expecting - which you might have been able to anticipate.)

When you don't know something, instead of just saying, "I don't know" say, "I don't know off the top of my head, but I can get that information and follow up with you."

If you don't know someone's gender, use their name and the neutral pronouns: "Chris was okay with this design."

If you don't understand the question, seek clarity: "I want to make sure I'm understanding your question correctly. Are you asking ...." and then answer.

Hope it goes better next time!