No one is immune to the nerve jitters before a presentation, but, as we’ve said so many times before, they can be controlled. Marco says thinking positively can help you a lot in managing the stress from the unknown. For instance, when you realise that presentation anxiety is settling in, direct your attention to positive thoughts like hope and sense of progress, instead of focusing on the negative (I’ll fail miserably, I can’t do this, etc.). Whatever you water grows, our lector says. So, water your belief in the best outcome. 

Or rather, for the questions you want to be asked. Experienced speakers can influence their audience to ask good questions in a number of ways.  

#1 Be clear about the objective of the presentation. Having a clear objective will help you easily define the structure of the presentation and how you want to proceed with the Q&A. Use the questions you’ll get as a chance to reiterate your key message. 

#2 Decide when and how you want to do the Q&A – before, during, or after the presentation. Choose an option that feels comfortable to you. You might also be using some audience interaction apps. If so, let everyone know about the app of choice, how they should use it and what they can expect to happen throughout the presentation.

#3 Give the audience time to think. People need boundaries and clear sets of rules, so a little bit of framing won’t hurt. You can start by saying there will be a Q&A slot in the session, then take a few minutes to explain something else and then come back to the actual Q&A. This will allow the audience to reflect on your topic and come up with better questions.  

#4 Maintain control over your session. It’s your party, remember? You, as the presenter, can moderate the discussion and whenever you hear an irrelevant question, you can quickly get back on track by saying something like Today we’re not talking about this topic, we’re talking about […]. 

What’s the connection between priming your audience and the cat on Marco’s slides? Find out by watching the full session recording in the Public Speaking track. 

There’s always a chance someone throws a curveball at you. You know – that tricky or sometimes even rude question that’s meant to push you out of your comfort zone. Worry not, you can play it right as long as you stay calm and keep reminding yourself that you’re in control.  

In such situations, you can pause for a second and ask for clarification like Sorry, what’s the question again? or reframe it – Are you asking me if.… And sometimes you may not even know the answer to a question. Normalise not knowing the answer, Marco preaches. You can tell them you’ll get back to them later (but really do it!). Finally, don’t forget to mention how they can reach out to you for follow-up questions and clarification.