David W. answered • 10/18/22
Public Speaking/Presentation/Interview Coach: Results in 1 Hour!
When you are stumped by a question and you don’t know the answer, it is crucial that you handle this well. If you don’t, you can easily lose control over your audience and lose your credibility. Once lost, these are difficult to regain.
The key thing is to realize that it is perfectly OK to not know the answer to some questions. As long as you handle it with poise and confidence, your audience will understand that you’re only human, and they may even appreciate your honesty and sincerity in admitting when you don’t know something.
In general there are three ways to handle a question for which you don’t have the answer, listed in order of the importance or relevance of the question to the topic at hand:
1) Find the answer on the spot
2) Defer to a later time
3) Offer your best guess or no answer
Handling any question in general:
It is generally a good practice to always paraphrase every question (repeat the question in your own words) before starting to answer it. This is to 1) confirm that you really understood the question, 2) ensure that the rest of the audience understood and heard the question, and 3) give yourself a few seconds to think about how to answer. For example:
“What you’re asking is, what happens if XYZ, am I understanding your question or concern correctly?”.
I’ll use the short-hand “Paraphrase/confirm” in my examples below to refer to this step.
Find the answer on the spot:
If you allow questions during your presentation, and the question posed is a really useful or important question which will clarify or help the understanding of the current key point you’re trying to convey to most of your audience, not just the person who posed it, then it is important to try to find the answer at the time it is posed.
If you believe you can figure it out on your own, and you just need a little time (a few seconds) to think about it to formulate your response, do this:
1) Paraphrase/confirm
2) “That’s a really good question! I don’t know. Allow me a few seconds to think about that”
3) Now just be silent and stand still, put on your thinking cap, and once the lightbulb comes on and you figure it out give them the answer, then wrap up with
4) “Does that address your question?”
If you don’t think you can figure it out on your own, but you have a computer, or a book or another way to quickly look up the answer:
1) Paraphrase/confirm
2) “You make a really good point! I don’t know. Give me a few seconds to look that up”, then
3) Look it up and give them the answer
4) Confirm you addressed their question.
If you can’t look it up, but there’s a chance that someone else in the audience may know the answer or have a suggestion or opinion:
1) Paraphrase/confirm
2) “Wow, I never thought about that! I don’t know. Does anyone else know the answer to that question?”, or, “Can anyone else shed some light on that?”
3) If someone DOES speak up, make sure to repeat their response so everyone can hear what they said. If no one responds, move on to deferring the question (see below).
4) Confirm with the person who posed the question if they’re satisfied with the answer.
Defer to a later time:
If you don’t feel that the question or its answer is urgent or important enough to the topic at hand, or it may be important only to a relatively small number of people, or you can’t figure out the answer on the spot, then it’s OK to defer getting the answer:
1) Paraphrase/confirm.
2) “I don’t know. Let me do a little research during the break/right after the presentation/other. Please come and see me then, or, I will email all of you the answer”
3) When you commit to doing this, do it! It is important for your credibility to follow up on deferred questions. Write the question down so you remember to follow up. If applicable, write the name of the person who asked the question, so you can find them if they don’t come to you.
Offer your best guess or no answer:
If the question is of no consequence or importance, maybe a “just-out-of-curiosity” type of question, you can either provide your best guess, or simply say that you don’t know, without any commitment to follow up, and move on. Generally, when you do this, the person asking the question, as well as the rest of the audience, will implicitly understand that the question is not important or relevant and they won’t expect any follow-up. If you feel that the question seems important to the person asking it, you can offer to meet with them later to discuss it.
1) Paraphrase/confirm.
2) “I’m not sure, but I’m guessing XYZ”, or
“I don’t know, but if it were me I would XYZ”, or simply
“I don’t know/I don't remember/I'm not sure”, or
“I’m not sure I understand the relevance/importance to XYZ. Is it OK if you and I discuss this later?”
3) Continue with your presentation
Final Thoughts:
Use the expression “That’s a great question” (or equivalent) sparingly, NOT for every question! Say it ONLY when, in fact, it IS a great question that you hadn’t considered, and that really stumped you, in other words when you mean it! Otherwise, your audience will quickly learn that your statement is not sincere.
Never try to fake an answer, or guess the answer without making it clear that it’s just a guess! Maintain and protect your credibility at all times by being truthful and honest. You will earn everyone’s respect if you’re not afraid to admit when you don’t know something, but you’ll quickly lose it if they realize you’re bluffing your way through it.
Lastly, it goes without saying that you cannot say “I don’t know” too often. You need to be prepared enough to be able to anticipate and handle most questions, and if you learn to respond appropriately when you truly don’t know, you’ll earn and keep the respect of your audience.
