“When I’m giving a presentation, what should I do if I don’t know the answer to a question or need time to think?”
People ask me this a lot. So let me share four tips here.
1. Paraphrase
“Paraphrasing” means repeating in your own words what someone else said. Paraphrasing audience questions is powerful.
First, it shows the questioner that you’ve heard and understood them. People like to be heard and understood.
Second, if you misinterpreted their question, they can immediately restate it to avoid confusion.
Third, it gives you a bit of extra time to think about your answer.
2. Say “Let me think about that”
If you need more time to think, let your audience know. When we’re giving a presentation (or speaking up in a team meeting, or making a sales pitch), we often feel under pressure to respond immediately.
Human beings aren’t good at thinking under pressure. If we clearly say, “Let me think about that,” the pressure eases slightly and an answer is more likely to come to us.
3. Ask a question back
You can also ask if anyone else in the audience has the answer. Or ask a related question.
Sometimes, when you take the pressure off yourself that way, an answer will come to you and you can share your response after the other person has finished speaking and you’ve acknowledged them.
4. Be honest if you don’t know the answer
You can simply say, “I’m sorry, I don’t know the answer to that.” Provided you can show your expertise in other areas, people will forgive you for not knowing everything. And, if you admit that you don’t know the answer to a particular question, your honesty will help to build trust.
You may be tempted to say that you’ll find out the answer and let people know. Be careful what you commit to because you need to follow up. So you could simply say that you don’t know. Or you could ask people to contact you later if they want you to follow up (then you only follow up if they really want you to).
Bottom line: as Mark Twain said, “When in doubt, tell the truth.”
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