Comments on: Asking Questions of Your Audience to Connect and Release Anxiety http://www.self-expression.com/speaking-freely/asking-questions-of-your-audience-to-connect-and-release-anxiety/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=asking-questions-of-your-audience-to-connect-and-release-anxiety Thu, 19 Jan 2012 20:48:56 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: David Portney, Public Speaking Training "Wizard" http://www.self-expression.com/speaking-freely/asking-questions-of-your-audience-to-connect-and-release-anxiety/comment-page-1/#comment-144 David Portney, Public Speaking Training "Wizard" Thu, 15 Jan 2009 17:19:36 +0000 http://www.self-expression.com/speaking-freely/asking-questions-of-your-audience-to-connect-and-release-anxiety/#comment-144 My experience is one of the huge barriers that people have - fears, actually - when it comes to public speaking is the fear of getting a question they don't know the answer to. So your strategy to mitigate jitters by asking questions of the group does work because it takes the focus off of yourself and can create a bond of affinity with the audience. For those still worried about getting that "impossible question" there are easy ways to deflect that; one is to simply use this 2 step process: 1. Acknowledge & validate the question: "Thanks for asking, that's a good question..." 2. Defer to a later time: "...let me answer that question for you later after my talk is over, and anyone else interested can join us then" and move on in your talk. Best, David Portney My experience is one of the huge barriers that people have – fears, actually – when it comes to public speaking is the fear of getting a question they don’t know the answer to.

So your strategy to mitigate jitters by asking questions of the group does work because it takes the focus off of yourself and can create a bond of affinity with the audience.

For those still worried about getting that “impossible question” there are easy ways to deflect that; one is to simply use this 2 step process:

1. Acknowledge & validate the question: “Thanks for asking, that’s a good question…”

2. Defer to a later time: “…let me answer that question for you later after my talk is over, and anyone else interested can join us then” and move on in your talk.

Best,
David Portney

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