By: Lambers Fisher, LMFT, MDiv
Engaging and Interactive Q&A is often the most memorable aspect of many speaking engagements. It has the potential to help attendees feel “spoken to” and more “engaged with.” Nonetheless, new and seasoned speakers alike often fear and avoid Q&A. To help you reduce these fears and create a more memorable Q&A experience, I offer the following considerations:
1) Open with a Disclaimer of Appreciation
Speakers can reduce attendee fears of embarrassment by opening with an acknowledgment that asking questions can feel risky. Reassure them that you consider every question to be valid when motivated by a genuine desire to increase understanding. Then express appreciation in advance for their risk because it allows you to personalize what you share to the need of others in attendance who may have similar concerns but are afraid to ask – making the person asking the question a brave hero and leader.
2) Get Up Close & Personal
If your message was given from behind a podium, distinguish your talk from interactive Q&A by leaving the podium and, if possible, the stage, answering questions from within the crowd. This visual transition helps attendees feel that you’re more engaged and interested in being with them as they learn.
3) Offer Specific Answers with a Side of Bonus Context
In addition, answering each specific question asked clearly and concisely, offer the extra gift of context in the form of additional factors to consider, strategies for addressing barriers that often get in the way of implementation, or things that can improve the likelihood of success. In this way, you can answer unspoken questions as well as questions that are likely to later arise.
4) Validate Multiple Sides of Controversial Perspectives
When answering potentially polarizing or divisive questions, offer answers that help attendees on multiple sides of any controversy to feel heard, understood, and equipped with tools for healthier interactions moving forward.
5) Use humor to Lighten the Mood & Increase Receptivity
Whenever possible, acknowledge the humor or irony in the attendees’ circumstances. This has the potential to reduce tensions, increase receptivity and motivation to apply the tips and suggestions you have to offer, and create a more fondly memorable experience.
6) Acknowledge Your Personal Learning Journey
Alleviate attendee concerns of their own lack of knowledge by acknowledging that there was a time when you too didn’t know the answers either; share not only what you learned, but also the experience that helped you learn the valuable tips you shared.
7) Close with Appreciation & Hope
End the Q&A experience by expressing appreciation for all of the questions asked. Summarize some of the key practical takeaways you want them to remember. And express hope and a genuine belief that attendees will find ways to utilize what was shared to improve their lives and the lives of others.
Armed with these strategies, your next live and interactive Q&A experience can become the most valued and remembered part of your next speaking engagement.
ABOUT THE EXPERT:
Lambers Fisher, LMFT, MDiv, is a licensed marriage and family therapist, clinical supervisor, adjunct instructor, author, and national speaker on the topic of multicultural awareness and diversity. For over 20 years, Lambers has counseled individuals, couples, and families from a variety of cultural backgrounds, in private practice, non-profit, as well as ministry environments. Lambers utilizes his marriage and family therapist experience to bring a positive, shame-free, empowering, and relationship-focused approach to equip helping professionals in various fields to increase their cultural self-awareness, reduce the frequency of unintentional cultural offenses, as well as repair relationships damaged by cultural offenses. Lambers’ Diversity Made Simple training has equipped over 20,000 helping professionals around the country to feel more comfortable, competent, and confident in their ability to meet a greater variety of needs for whomever they have the opportunity to serve. Lambers is the presenter of the popular TEDx talk on “What to Do When You Offend someone” which has been viewed over 500,000 times. Lambers is also the author of the award-winning book, Diversity in Clinical Practice: A Practical & Shame-Free Guide to Reducing Cultural Offenses & Repairing Cross-Cultural Relationships. For more information about Lambers, visit www.LambersFisher.com
Lambers’ Contact Information:
Lambers Fisher, LMFT, MDiv
Lambers Fisher Counseling, LLC
PO Box 9363, St Paul, MN 55109
Website: https://www.lambersfisher.com