First, Understand the Critical Role Q&A Can Play and Commit to Doing it Well

According to Kevin Werner of SAIC Venture Capital Corporation, "The best interchanges are when we can just sit across the table and converse. I don't especially care about a presenter's dress or accent. The biggest need is to be open and receptive to questions."^[2]

In coaching executives and teams, a major challenge is getting them to even commit to preparing for Q&A as well as the formal presentations. Presenters will spend hours getting the right graphic layout and the precise language, yet ignore what is likely to be far more important: How to work with the audience in the interactive part. I've long included Q&A in training seminars, and most people come up short on what makes for good or poor responses.