Asking Good Questions in Presentations

3 Quick tips on asking good questions in presentations

Asking good questions during a presentation can be difficult. If you haven’t understood a point in the presentation, it is likely that other people in the audience will be thinking the same as you. You don’t want to leave the presentation with a question mark in your head so it is important to ask your question. Other people in the audience will likely be pleased that you have asked.  Here are 3 quick tips on asking good questions in presentations.

1.  Prepare

Write your question down before you ask it. This will allow you to reflect on your question before you ask it, as well as giving you time to check to see if it is understandable.  Also, some questions sound good at first, but you may reconsider asking them after a minute of thought.

2.  Provide context

Some presentations are long and your question may be related to a topic covered 10 minutes ago. Provide some context of what the topic was or what point you are addressing. This will help both the person who is answering the question and the rest of the audience understand what you are talking about.  It also shows that you have been paying attention and are following the presentation.

3.  One question

Try to ask just one question instead of clustering your questions. If you ask a lot of questions all at the same time, it can confuse the presenter and you probably won’t get the detailed response you are looking for.  If you have a two or three part question, wait until the presenter answers the first question and then ask your next question.  They may answer your second question in their first answer.

If you have any more tips on asking good questions in presentations, please let us know in the comments section below.