When you get to the ‘question’ part of a presentation, you can sometimes find that you haven’t explained things as well as you thought you had. If you’ve just spent 15 minutes explaining why Madrid is a better location for your new project than Dubai, it can be quite irritating if the questioner asks you which of the two you prefer. I know that sometimes when this has happened to me that I have felt irritated. Once or twice I’ve even been hostile to the questioner. How dare they not understand what I have just explained?
Well, of course, that’s not the attitude to have. Your explanation may well have been perfect and the questioner may have been thinking about lunch through part of your presentation but that does not entitle you to make critical references to the questioner’s hearing or memory. Simply summarize your previous argument and move on. It’s your job to get your point across, whatever barriers your audience may put in your way.
