In today's episode, you'll discover how to reframe that moment when someone throws a question at you during a meeting or presentation.
It is not a pop quiz.
It's not a test.
It's not a trap.
It's your blue diamond opportunity.
Welcome back to Speak Up, the podcast for high performing introverts, including you social introverts alike. where we reveal the charisma and communication secrets of A-listers so that you get the recognition and the opportunities you have earned.
I am your host, Laura Camacho, your magical executive presence coach, godmother, and strategist.
And by the end of today's episode, you will know a four-step framework to answer any question with clarity, confidence and warmth.
Why it's better to intentionally withhold certain information in your presentation.
And finally, how to leverage the power of micro relationship builders that make you more trustworthy and memorable.
And all of these play into the strengths of any flavor of introvert that we like to think, we like to prepare and we like to stay on the point.
All right.
So you're going to understand that questions are incredibly powerful tools to grow your executive presence, to boost your persuasive skills, to elevate your professional reputation.
You're going to get my 4A framework, which is one of my top shared tools in my executive presence coaching practice.
I teach this because it is so good.
And Once you get the hang of it, you'll notice that top executives use this.
I don't know if they have learned it from me or somebody else, but there is a way to answer questions.
Actually, I do know that the roots of this framework come from media training, from training people for interviews on television back in the day, before there were podcasts and radio and that kind of thing.
So you want questions.
They're good.
They show interest.
When you don't have questions...
When you say something or suggest something and the room is silent.
And I have been there and I have had that happen.
That is not good.
One of the smartest strategies you can use during your presentation is not to tell them everything.
I'm not saying you need to leave out the main point, but certainly use your appendix.
Put some of the details at the end so that you can get into that in the Q&A.
And even without asking for questions.
If you get people asking you things, that shows that they're getting into it.
And it also shows that they are processing more deeply.
Like when you're in a QA mode with someone, you're much more engaged your brain is than just listening to somebody drone on.
And everybody is paying close your attention.
And if you're calm and cool and collected and maybe a little bit funny or witty sometimes, That is the blue diamond.
All right.
So why you want to be asked questions?
Because it shows that what you're saying is interesting.
It shows your expertise.
It shows that your expertise is relevant to the people in the room.
And it gives you an opening to demonstrate insight, composure, strategic thinking.
It also, using this framework, builds relationships.
It's such a sneaky little trick.
It's not a microaggression.
It's the opposite of that, a micro relationship builder.
And it expands your influence because that's when more people are paying attention is in the Q&A.
So again, it's not like you need to think of this as a pop quiz.
If you keep your brain turned on and not frozen, you probably know the answer to the question.
This works even when you don't have the whole answer.
Okay, so this is the 4A framework.
A as in apple.
You can write it down or go to the show notes.
So the first A is to acknowledge the question.
And we've all heard people say, oh, great question.
Well, I'm going to tell you there's other ways to acknowledge the question.
But that tells the person who asked the question, hey, thank you.
I appreciate that.
Then number two is to advise on the topic.
Again telling everyone in the room why that question is important or relevant or not relevant or interesting.
Then the third step is to actually answer the question, and you can do that as concise as you want to.
And then the fourth A is to ask if they are content with that answer or would they like to know more about something?
So I'm going to walk you through each one of these A's.
So yes, good question.
Thank you for asking.
That's acknowledging the person.
I like to say, oh, I'm so glad you asked that question.
That's an interesting question.
I was hoping somebody would ask that.
Oh, nobody's ever asked that question before.
It's not to be like a robot.
Oh, thank you for that question.
No, it's to be specific, to be sincere, to acknowledge that hey, somebody took the trouble to ask a question.
There's part of your micro relationship builder.
You're expressing appreciation for the question.
Now the second is to advise on the topic, and this is where most people miss out, but not the chatterboxes they tend to give you like a dissertation on their thoughts on the topic.
I'm not saying to do that, but this is what one sentence, or maybe two, about why the topic matters.
Maybe you need to give some context, but you definitely need to show why it is important to the people in the room.
So you can combine A1 and A2, which is acknowledge the questioner and advise on the topic by saying thank you for asking that great question.
That's such a good question because my team has been working on this.
We've been obsessed with this problem for six months now.
Or that's so important because the way the market is trending or because of this happening in the economy, or our audience, or something.
Why is it important?
That is what makes people want to listen.
You're giving a value indicator.
So say somebody, you know, is going to ask about how can you use AFI in this process?
And you could say, oh.
Everybody's asking that question.
That's the question.
Like AI is everywhere right now.
It's so important because it's changing not only the speed at which we work, but even how we think about innovation.
It's such a huge topic.
Very warm, very conversational.
And not only assuring the questioner that, hey, that question was a good one.
It's also saying, hey, this topic is worthy of your attention.
That is showing leadership, friends.
It's reframing the question into a strategic entry.
It's a strategic invitation for you to give your opinion, your informed opinion.
So just one sentence, two sentences max, and then you get in to answer the question.
If it's just a straightforward thing, you just say, da, da, da, da, that's what it is.
If it's a little bit more complicated, I would pull out three things.
The three things that we're focused on right now to reduce costs, for example, the three most important factors.
Or at the top of mind, the three things that come to mind, answer the question.
And then four, ask if they are satisfied with the answer.
Now notice with number three, answer the question.
Let's say you don't have the complete answer.
An incomplete answer is, is better than a, I don't know, I'll get back to you.
You can say something like, I haven't seen the full set of data.
I haven't seen the latest numbers, but what I have seen tells me that blah, blah, blah.
Or what I've observed is such and such.
I haven't looked at that, but based on how it's been going so far this year, I would say, like, give them something. directionally accurate folks that is more important than being accurate to the last footnote be directionally accurate give an incomplete answer then your fourth a can be would you like me to get back with you with the more data with the latest data with different numbers with the final solution ask if you have addressed their concern does that answer your question would you like for me to elaborate Does this align with what you were thinking?
How does this sound to you?
What do you think?
It's an invitation to engage.
And that's how you keep the conversation going.
And your influence is just expanding.
So I'm going to give you a hypothetical example.
Let's say you work in finance and the topic is sustainability.
So someone says how can we increase our ROI on this investment while making money this company more sustainable?
And you say, that's a critical question.
You know, that's what my team is obsessed with sustainability.
In fact, that's our mandate is to raise sustainability in our portfolio companies.
And maybe you have a different way of acknowledging it.
I don't work in finance.
I'm just telling you.
That's what sounds like what Laura would say.
You wanna ask me something about executive presence?
I would say oh my gosh, thank you.
Executive presence is the invisible key to getting that promotion or to getting that getting recognized for your contributions.
It's so cool.
It's a way of adding more value to a company.
All right, advise.
Let's say we're going back to the finance sustainability.
And an advice could be Well.
Reducing costs while maintaining or even increasing our sustainability depends on the specific approach that you take to be more sustainable.
Because I know that there are several approaches to doing that.
So that would be an advice on the topic, the broader topic, the context.
And of course, I already told you how to combine those first two A's.
And then number three, you give the answer.
It can be a complete answer.
It can be an incomplete answer.
It could be what you're thinking about, what you've heard, what you've observed.
Give a reason for it.
And then does that align with your thinking?
Ask if they're happy with the answer.
Would you like some more details of any aspect, right?
It's magical.
So don't think of questions as interruptions.
They are invitations for you to demonstrate your brilliance.
And it's such an opportunity for building your executive presence folks, because somebody who can demonstrate just take these questions and finesse them that it shows sophistication, it shows polish, and yet it also is warmth and competence all wrapped up into one.
So all of you are smart, experienced, and high performing.
I know that.
But this kind of tool gives you the extra edge to be memorable, quotable, and undeniably credible.
So If you dread questions, if you walk out of a meeting just hitting your head against the wall wishing you'd answer the question better, I can help you.
One thing you might want to look at is my executive presence scorecard.
It's 15 questions over four domains of executive presence.
If you want access to that, simply email me at hello at speakupwithlaura.com.
Put score in the subject line and I will get you that access.
Have a fantastic day and I will catch you on the next episode.
