How to deal with curve-ball questions in a CPD.
There are two types of curve-ball questions you might get in a CPD.
The first is the one where you know the answer, the question just comes right in the middle of another section.
The second is arguably the more scary one, where you don’t know the answer.
Let’s address the first type first. When I first started presenting CPDs, these would massively put me off my stroke. I’d feel the need to prove I wasn’t unknowledgable and answer the question right away. It would mess up the flow of the CPD and cannibalise my upcoming slides.
Over time, I learnt to deal with these questions by telling the person with the question that I had a section coming up in a moment that would help me explain the point really well and, if they are happy, I’ll cover their point in a lot of detail in just a moment.
It might seem obvious but when you’re new to a subject and an audience, it can seem like a huge challenge. However, keeping control of your presentation is vitally important. I’ve had many sessions where a room of attendees will start debating the answer to a question and, before you know it, you’re completely derailed.
As for the second type of question, these are the ones that used to fill me with dread and make me secretly pleased when a CPD cancelled on me…
It took me a long time to realise the secret to this, but once I found it, it was so simple I couldn’t believe I’d not thought of it before.
Every time I got a question I didn’t know the answer to, I’d admit that I didn’t know but that I would find out. I’d go back to the office and collar someone and ask them to explain it carefully and thoroughly to me before emailing the questioner back.
But that’s not the gold. The gold came when I realised that these questions were giving me something more: content.
So, every time I got a question, if I didn’t know the answer, I’d promise them a video with the answer. If I did know the answer, I’d still write it down on my long list of questions.
And I would make videos! They started out as me stumbling through answers in my bedroom after memorising a script and ended up with a purpose-built studio and a full-time content manager to keep up with the volume of content we were producing. I would post them on YouTube and LinkedIn, tagging in the person who’d asked the question, as well as directly emailing them to the company who’s CPD it was.
The effect of this was threefold. Not only did it answer people’s questions and expand my own knowledge, it made both me and the company a thought leader in our industry, transforming our offering in the process.
So, next time you’re confronted with a curve-ball question, keep your cool, tell them you’ll research the answer and create them a resource, whether it’s in the form of a blog post, a whitepaper or a video (better still, all three!) and you will win!
