Next level communicators answer their audience’s questions before they ask them.
Next level communicators answer their audience’s questions before they ask them.
You’ve just finished your presentation and instead of making a beeline for the green room, you decide to stand down front and be available to whoever wants to come and hang (good call). One of the first people you interact with is a pleasant person who is not out to get you in the least. They seem to have enjoyed your talk, and raise an honest question with the purest of motives, leaving you to think they were probably not the only one to wonder this. As you respond you begin to beat yourself up for not addressing so obvious of a question in your talk.
Boy have I been there.
One of the challenges we have as communicators is we can become so content focused in our preparation we forget we are talking to real people who have important questions for each of our points. The difference between an okay talk and a next level one is great communicators anticipate their audience's questions and address them before they are asked. As I write these words I am just over a week away from giving an address on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., at a large evangelical institution. In recent years, allegations of King’s infidelity have become more and more widespread, with many in the evangelical community questioning the legitimacy of even honoring his legacy. With all of this swirling, it would be irresponsible of me not to address the question and just launch into the importance of his legacy.
If you are a preacher who is giving a biblical view of marriage and divorce you have to address the questions of what to do if a spouse is abused, or deserted? Or if your subject is the importance of diversity you have to know people will be triggered politically, and even personally. Anticipating their questions (and even objections), and offering an answer is not only responsible communication, but will deepen a connection by saying in so many words, “I see you.” And if you are trying to persuade people to use artificial intelligence you need to be able to answer questions like how this could affect certain industries where people can lose their jobs, or will AI contribute to a culture of thoughtlessness?
If you want to grow immediately as a communicator, anticipate your audience’s questions and answer them before they can even ask them. As easy as this sounds, it’s not. Here’s a few tips to help you:
State their question. After you make one of your points, stop and say, “Now some of you this brings up a major question which is…”. For example, if I am calling people to place their faith in Christ, I will say something like, “Now some of you are here thinking, ‘I am a good person, why do I need to trust Christ?’” I’ve just acknowledged their question by stating it, and then I will give a response.
Be brief. Don’t replace your point with a tangent. Answering key questions is important, but it will take discipline, because you never want the (needed) tangent to dilute the overall point you are making. Raise their question by saying, “Now some of you all are thinking,” and then give 2-3 sentences to address their question and get right back to your point. Sometimes I have said, “Now I know what I have just raised brings up a lot of valid questions, questions I don’t have time to answer. Here’s a resource I have found helpful in engaging these questions.” I’ve acknowledged their questions, and pointed them to answers all while being brief and staying on topic.
Be economical. What I mean by this is you can’t fill your whole talk by anticipating people’s questions. Remember the basic structure I have when I put a talk together is explanation, illustration and application. I will repeat this three times. What this means is I will at most raise people’s questions three times, because I am only making three points. Just as important is my rule in raising questions is I only want to do this with common questions people have. I don’t want to chase obscure ones. So as you prepare, ask things like, “What would be a common question the audience will have about this point?”
Raise questions by people you want in your audience. What you will discover over time is you will attract the kind of people whose questions you raise. Tim Keller was a pastor in New York City, and if you listen to his messages he is always raising questions skeptics would ask. Any wonder his church was filled with skeptics? People heard his questions and thought, “I have a friend who thinks this. I should bring her to church.”
What I’m Reading:
Celebrities for Jesus: How Persona’s, Platforms and Profits are Hurting the Church, by Katelyn Beaty.
With MLK day coming up, I edited a resource years ago you will find helpful called, Letters to a Birmingham Jail.
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