Handling the Audience Q&A with Aplomb! – Part Two

: Published: 13 July 2025

By Claire Doole, www.doolecommunications.com

In last month’s post, I shared some tips and techniques on the art of handling audience questions - whether you’re online, in-person, or in front of a tough crowd.

Now let’s take things a step further. What happens when the question is messy, hostile, or downright confusing? How do you respond when you're caught off guard—or worse, when no one asks anything at all?

Below are some tips and techniques:

Reframe convoluted questions: If a question is overly long, vague, or hard to follow, help your audience by tightening it up.
“I am sorry I can’t quite grasp every detail of your question, but I would like to respond to your part about X”
Be clear when you don’t know the answer: You can’t have all the answers. Here are three options on what to say when you don’t have the answer:
i. Say ‘I don’t know’ – you’ll get back to them. Never, ever, guess.
ii. Ask someone in the audience to respond who is an expert on the subject.
iii. ‘I’m not 100% sure’ When you say this you’re not saying ‘I don’t know’, you’re saying ‘I’m not completely sure’, which is a totally different thing.
Answering challenging questions: When faced with a challenging question from that angry staff member, board member or at an official hearing – you need to employ the ABC technique I teach in media training - acknowledge the question, potentially reframing it before you bridge to a broader point you want to make – moving from the specific to the general.
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