I am currently writing an introduction to presentation skills (delivering tomorrow!) and am looking for a 'Top 3-5' set of question types to help keep their audience interested. I have this information for facilitiation, interviews etc but am particularly interested in the best 3 and their pros and cons for presentations.
Thank you in advance for your help.
Fiona
Fiona Wheal
2 Responses
Questions
Fiona
How about:
“What is your experience (in relation to this issue)…” – people like to talk about what they do or have done, and it can give them confidence to talk as long as it is something they have experience of. This is past orientated.
“What is your view/ideas/questions/thoughts…” – this invites people to air what is going through their mind right now. This is present orientated.
“Would this work (in your area)/what are the key things to think about in applying this…” – even if people have no past experience they can anticipate what might or might not happen in future, or have ideas or feelings about the future. Obviously, this is future orientated.
If the atmosphere is right, you can ask pretty much anything. But if in doubt, try that sequence. And, if some find one type of question hard they will often find another type more inviting (as some people are more past orientated and some more future orientated etc.)
Hope that helps a little more than the usual stuff on open questions and the like.
Best of luck tomorrow!
Graham
Additional qs
Graham’s are excellent. You could also try:
Most successful presentation?
Worst or most amusing experience when presenting?