How to Respond to a Question You Dont Know
How to answer question you don't know the answer to
The problem
You are in a business setting holding some kind of presentation, either in person or remote through teleconferencing. A member of the audience asked you a question you immediately don't have a good answer for.
Your heart starts beating, you mouth gets dry out, yous feel pain in your chest and your vision starts narrowing — does information technology audio familiar? The monkey in your brain just suffered a fate worse than death — social humiliation.
For virtually people speaking in front of a big grouping is very tough. We are genetically programmed to fit and work in groups with other people. Anything that would jeopardise our social status in that group our brain is programmed to perceive as a treat to our very own survival.
When you come alone in front of a group of people y'all brand you self vulnerable, a target. Especially if you lot seem not to exist that competent and people will call up of y'all less than before (loss of status).
Ane of the toughest situations you lot may get is someone asking yous a question yous don't know the answer to. Well, don't fret nearly information technology , in that location are means around the problem which volition help you lot avoid a fate worse than death.
Read along, but first some things you should not do when facing such a situation.
What non to do
- Stay silent
- Answer with "I don't know" and fall silent
- Apologize and fall silent
- Fake the answer
There are definitely less desirable ways for you lot every bit the presenter to deal with a question you don't know the answer to. Particularly if the presentation is handled online and people can't see your body (or not at all). Silence, saying you lot don't know without a way to resolve the question at a later date are non good ways to bargain with the problem.
The goal in this cases is always to present your cocky with conviction to the group and discover a manner to resolve partially or at a later date the trouble posed by the group.
The solution bellow is an effective mode how to deal with questions you lot don't have an answer to.
The solution
- Repeat or paraphrase the question out loud.
- Ask clarifying questions.
- Admit you lot don't know the full reply.
- Provide what information you practice take
- Hope you will observe the answer and come up back to the questioner
- Ask the questioner how to best reach him, if you lot don't know how
- Inquire the group to continue the presentation
Repeat or paraphrase the question out loud.
"Then to run across if I understood the question correctly, the team you lot are working with is having trouble finding logs for this functionality, is it correct?"
Repeating or paraphrasing the question our loud will give you time to think well-nigh the trouble before you lot. Speaking the question aloud volition activate different parts of your brain which may help you formulate the answer.
Presentations are scary since we equally humans fear social humiliation more than death it cocky. And asking a question we don't know in front of a group of people is the ultimate death for the monkey in our brain. Speaking the question aloud volition help us calm our selves.
Information technology will also allow the person who asked the question to confirm you understood the question. People will ofttimes elaborate more, thus providing you with more details and data to call up. Please let the questioner speak and elaborate, people like to exist heard so that volition win you brownie points with them and show them you lot are invested in answering the question.
Ask clarifying questions.
"Could you please tell me what you mean by …."
"I'm not familiar with this use example, could yous delight share how your team approaches this topic…"
People rarely make sense the first time you speak to them about the problem. You may speak about the same topic, but dissimilar companies or teams have different ways to understand the same thing. Don't be agape to ask for clarifying questions to explain the concepts or the context. The better you sympathise the state of affairs which prompted the question the better answer you tin can give.
Admit you lot don't know the full answer.
"I apologize but I'yard not familiar with the topic"
"I'1000 deplorable, I haven't worked with this function of the system before"
"I'one thousand sorry, I haven't revisited this expanse in some time"
"I have feel with this topic but from a different angle so you, so I may non be able to fully cover your topic"
This is the tough 1. Aye, no trunk knows everything , fifty-fifty experts accept gaps in their knowledge.Maybe yous accept some knowledge almost the topic only you have not revisted it in a yr or so.
Its time to share with the group the fact that y'all may not exist able to answer the question. Keep information technology simple, keep it short. In that location is no need to berate your cocky or to experience ashamed.
Stand up straight, in your ability pose and with a at-home vocalism share with the questioner that y'all cannot answer the question.
Provide what information you practice have
"The functionality you are asking near is a office of this package, I have worked with this area and know other groups have experienced this problem and were able to solve it. I would go to this page, or this forum to find more details about information technology or contact this user grouping to run across if someone has the aforementioned story to share."
If yous take some information to share which would aid the person who asked the question it is time to share. First past explaining the context of the question, for example what is the functionality the questioner is asking well-nigh, then provide what information yous have and finally share what are the all-time ways for the questioner or the group to find the data for them selves.
Usually you can cover the final part by maxim I would go into this are or enquire this group to find the answer. Don't make this role also long, keep ti short like one or two sentences. You lot can't provide what you don't have so there is not point to fake it or heighten dust by speaking nonsense as well long. People will go it and you credibility as a speaker will drop.
Promise you will find the reply and come up back to the questioner
"Unfortunatelly this is what i take for now, but I can get dorsum to the part and find this stuff for you"
"I'll talk to my team and come up back with a better answer"
People really similar when their needs are met. There is aught worse than a demand to met. In this case you were not able to satisfy the person who asked you the question. Tough luck. But information technology doesn't hateful you volition non be able to respond the question given more fourth dimension to dig and ask around, right?
Share with the person that you lot are going to detect the answer to their question and come back to them with it, or to the group in general. This will show the grouping that y'all are willing to piece of work for their needs and its reducing the emotional pain of the person who'due south needs were not met.
It will also requite you and opportunity to grow you skills and knowledge. What is important if you promise to do something you improve go along it.
What happens if you tin't discover an respond. Well , some questions are not that like shooting fish in a barrel to answer. What you volition do in this case you will contact the person and say what yous did to discover the answer (to show that you put some endeavor and where you lot looked for the answer) and tell them you were not able to reply their question. If yous can propose steps for them where they tin continue their search.
Always provide a way for the customer to go and go on her journeying and to try to solve the trouble.
Ask the questioner how to best reach him, if you don't know how
"What would exist the all-time way to reach you"
"You can attain me over my email over here and then I will send you the answer to your question as a answer"
If you lot promised to evangelize something you will have to have a manner to do it. If yous don't how, you tin can always enquire them. Usually its email but it tin can as well be a publicly readable page on the corporate intranet or blog, you lot merely a twitter feed. Doesn't affair how, it matters that you know how to achieve them.
Enquire the group to continue the presentation
At this point you have done everything you could about the question. You clarified the question, admitted y'all can't fully answer, gave what information you had and agreed on a manner how to contact the person making the question. Presentations have a limited time bridge and there are other people and topic to embrace. It is best non to dwindle on the topic too long and just continue.
Just ask the grouping and the person who asked the question to continue. Why the group and the person, well the person may not wish to go on (people like to talk) merely the group may feel differently and there is no improve solution than peer pressure to go things moving again.
Conclusion
Remember no one is perfect and everyone has gaps in their cognition. It is perfectly normal not to have answers to all questions, specially if someone is coming from a dissimilar business concern context than yours.
The feelings you have are perfectly natural, the shortness of breath , the tunnel visions are genetically coded responses to social humiliation which are built in our brains to permit united states of america to survive as part of a group.
Business presentations are rarely life or death and then don't sweat it, take it as learning opportunity to acquire something new and meliorate your presentation skills.
Source: https://medium.com/@nikolastjelja/how-to-answer-question-you-dont-know-the-answer-to-be5d231a1349
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