Just a short post building on yesterday about giving speeches. I learned most of this watching Dan Pink give a talk.
For Q&A.
- Never do it at the end.
- Never say, “just one more question.”
- Never beg for questions.
Instead…
- Do Q&A about 80% through the talk and control the ending.
- End Q&A when there is at least one hand still up. (usually time forces moving on)
- Give people a heads up…”We’ll be doing Q&A in 2 minutes.” If I am worried that the group will not be too active in Q&A I might say “talk at your table” or “talk with your neighbor” and come up with some questions for 15 seconds. Then you skip the deadly waiting for the first person to raise their hand.
- Speak to the person who asked the question. Usually I walk a little bit in their direction.
