Answer Questions Like a PRO

I have a question… 

How many questions, from your team, your colleagues, or your supervisors, do you get asked during a typical workday? 

Inevitably, during every presentation, meeting, conference call, or conversation, you get asked questions. Dozens of them.  And each of those questions need an answer, an answer that is efficient, clear, and easily retained.  

Below are a few of our tips to help you provide clear, succinct, and effective answers.

Tip 1: Repeat the Question
Every person that asks you a question wants to know you heard them and that you understand their question.  By paraphrasing the question back to the questioner, you are overtly letting them know you heard them and are being directly responsive.

It works like this:

Q: “Why aren’t we meeting our deadlines with the new software development project?”

A: “We’re not meeting our software development deadlines because…”

In addition to making the questioner feel heard, repeating the question helps you keep your answer on track.  It primes your brain to be more directly responsive to the specific question instead of wandering off-topic in your answer.

Tip 2: Roadmap your Answer
Provide your audience with a preview of your answer by giving them a roadmap to your response. (If you need a refresher on what a roadmap is, you can duck into our time machine and revisit one of our Soundbites from 2017 aptly entitled, The Roadmap).

It can be short and simple: 

Q: “Why has there been more churn this quarter than in previous ones?”

A: “There are three reasons why we’re seeing more churn with our customers this quarter.”

This roadmap lets the listener know you will cover “three reasons,” and this prepares them to hear “three reasons.”  As a result, the listener will lean in and listen more intently. 

But what if you don’t have a predetermined number of points you’re going to say in your answer?   What if you’re figuring out your response on the fly?  Fortunately, you can still use a roadmap.

Like this:

Q: “Why has there been more churn this quarter than in previous ones?”

A: “There are a few reasons why we are seeing more churn with our customers this quarter.”

By using “a few,” you’re not locking yourself into a certain number of reasons but you’re still giving your answer a clear structure.

Tip 3: Signpost your Answer
After you have given the questioner a short roadmap, you need to let them know what part of your answer you are about to deliver. Provide this alert with a signpost.

It sounds like this:

A: “We are not meeting the deadlines on our software project for three reasons.  First, we lost some staff that were crucial to the project. Second, we have increased the scope of functionality.  And the third reason we’re not meeting deadlines is…”

By saying “First” and “Second,” you’re continually engaging your audience, improving the persuasiveness of your answer, and making each of your points easier to discern and retain.  Additionally, if you’re delivering a longer answer, periodically expand your signpost to remind your audience of the original question, as you can see in the expanded “Third” signpost above.

Repeating the question, roadmapping your answer, and signposting each transition, will dramatically improve the effectiveness and efficiency of your answers.

Now, I have one more question for you, when you’re presenting next week, how are you going to answer your next question?