"Why…?"
"How…?"
"Does…?"
"Can…?"
"Is…?"
Use the paraphrase to deflect the challenge and to control the meaning.
Then conclude your paraphrase with a question mark. These beginning and ending points then serve to bracket the centerpiece of the original question: the Roman Column.
Please note that the paraphrase is only a reconfiguration of the original question and not a question about the original question. Asking a question about a question, as President George H. Bush learned so painfully when he speculated, "Are you suggesting…?" is a tactic doomed to failure.
Answering a question with a question is also a doomed tactic. "Why do you ask?" is an evasive device that has inexplicably gained favor in some quarters of sales training. It is perceived as ducking the issue and produces nothing but frustration and irritation in the asker. Inevitably, irritation in the audience produces failure for the presenter.
A good paraphrase simply incorporates the words of the original question and retains the Roman Column. The paraphrase differs from a question in that the voice drops at the end of the sentence, as opposed to a question in which the voice rises inquisitively.
Now, please look at the original question again: "Wait a minute! You tell me that your product is going to save us money, and then you give me a sticker shock price that's twice as much as your competition asks! That's outrageous! Where do you get off charging so much?"
As in Chapter 4, "Active Listening," the balance of this page is left blank for you to analyze the question "What is the Roman Column?"
If you said "overcharging," "high price," "expensive," or "costly," you would be focusing on the outer wrappings of the knotty ball…the questioner's feeling or emotion about the price of your product.
The Roman Column is simply price. That is center of the ball, free of any other tangled strands. That, as Sensei Ittosai counsels, is a reflection of your opponent's image in a mirror.
Now incorporate the word "price" within a paraphrase.
What is our pricing rationale?
Why have we chosen this price point?
How did we arrive at the price?
Notice that when you strip the charged words, "sticker shock," "twice as much," "outrageous," and "so much," out of the original question, you neutralize the hostility. Then, when you begin your answer, you will only have to address the price itself and not whether it is too high or too low.
By becoming one with your opponent in the paraphrase, you level the playing field. This is the essence of self-defense in the martial arts: By using agility to counter force, the engagement then proceeds as a contest between equals.
Level the playing field with the paraphrase.
When you paraphrase in Q&A, you can proceed to answer the question your questioner asked without having to deal with any latent hostility. Your questioner cannot help but concur that you have identified the issue, and therefore that person will not say…with exasperation, "What I'm really asking…" Instead, that person will nod in agreement and release you to move ahead with your answer.
The head nod from your questioner is completely involuntary. In my private coaching sessions with my clients, I engage them in an exercise in which they fire tough questions at one another. If the person who is asked the question paraphrases correctly, the person who asked the question invariably nods in agreement. If the paraphrase is wrong, there is no nod. In fact, there is often a frown or a shake of the head. When the paraphrase is correct, the nod always happens even though the exercise is a simulation and even though the participants are peers or colleagues and not adversaries.
Let's look at another hostile question: "There are dozens of little start-ups doing exactly what you're doing! Then there are all those big guys, with their entrenched market share. It's a jungle out there, and you're only just getting off the ground! What on earth makes you think that you can survive?"
What is the Roman Column? Decide before you turn the page.
I hope you didn't say "survive." Figure 5.1 shows why not.
Figure 5.1. Paraphrase positioning.
Think of the light area in the center of the horizontal bar as the cool zone and the outer dark areas as the danger zones. Your objective is to position the Roman Column in the cool zone.
If you were to repeat the challenging question, "What on earth makes me think that we can survive?" you would land in the dark zone on the left because you have validated that there is reasonable doubt that you could survive. Your audience would then perceive you as having admitted guilt.
If you were to reverse the challenging question in your paraphrase, "Why will we succeed in this jungle?" you would land in the dark zone on the right because you have invalidated the questioner's concern about your ability to survive. Your audience would then perceive you as having been contentious.
The Roman Column is "compete." The paraphrase could be:
How do we compete?
What is our competitive strategy?
Where are we with our competitive strategy?
Find the Roman Column and confine it within the cool zone. Deal with only how you compete, not whether you can or cannot. Use as few words as possible in your paraphrase. Less is more. Mirror your opponent and neutralize the hostile question.
Use as few words as possible in your paraphrase.
Here is one more: "You know that this is a male-dominated industry and that most of the buying decisions are made by the buddy system in smoke-filled back rooms. What makes you, a woman, think that you can penetrate that old boy network?"
What is the Roman Column? Decide before you turn the page.
I hope you didn't say "sexism" or "chauvinism." If you did, you would be responding to the value or emotion, the outer wrappings of the knotty ball. The Roman Column is "capability," and the paraphrases are
What are my capabilities to reach decision makers?
Am I capable of reaching decision makers?
How do my capabilities apply to reaching decision makers?
Another version of this hostile question is, "You look like a kid! I doubt that you've been in this business very long. I've been in this industry since before you were born, and now you come in here and tell me how I should run my business. Where do you get off telling me what to do?"
The Roman Column is the same as above, "capability," not age. The paraphrases are
What are my capabilities to offer you solutions?
Am I capable of offering you solutions?
How do my capabilities apply to our solutions?
All the previous long, rambling, challenging questions can be reduced to three single words: "price," "competition," and "capability." The hostility in each of them is purged by the paraphrase. Also note that all the paraphrases are neutral questions, positioning you to move on to a positive answer. Contrast this approach to the negativity latent in President George H. Bush's words when he retook the floor after Marisa Hall's question.
Are you suggesting that if somebody has means that the national debt doesn't affect them?
Any answer after that would be defensive. Imagine if instead he had paraphrased by saying, "How can a person of means find a cure for those who are less fortunate?"
The answer that would follow that paraphrase would contain an action verb, and be about his ability to provide solutions in response to Marisa Hall's resounding, "How?"
Paraphrasing positions you right in the middle of the cool zone, ready to move forward positively. You can use this very powerful technique to control other types of challenging questions.
Challenging Questions
Negative
"This is the age of mergers. Banks are consolidating. Manufacturing and pharmaceutical companies are joining forces. Everybody's throwing their lot in with others. Instead of going out there and trying to be the Lone Ranger, why don't you throw in your lot with one of the larger companies in your sector? You can either get acqu
ired, merge, or partner."
What is the Roman Column?
The sub-text of the question is this: Why don't you do what the questioner thinks you should do instead of what you just got finished spending your entire presentation telling the audience what you are going to do, which is to go it alone, aspiring for market leadership.
The Roman Column is "independence."
If you, as presenter, spend any time dealing with "Why don't you?" questions, you will only invite more negative questions, and you'll be swatting flies all day. Instead, turn the negative into a positive by addressing only why you are doing what you said you'd be doing in the presentation. The paraphrase is, "Why are we remaining independent?"
Irrelevant
"How come your logo doesn't have a space between the two words?"
This kind of question usually results in a smile, a snicker, or a frown from the presenter, each of which represents disdain to the questioner. When you're presenting, there is no such thing as an irrelevant question. Every question from every audience member is relevant and appropriate. If they ask it, you must answer it.
There is no such thing as an irrelevant question. If they ask it, you must answer it.
Inhibit the snicker or frown with the paraphrase, "What's behind our logo design?" or "Why the logo style?"
Multiple Questions
Specifically, disparate multiple questions. You will have no difficulty in handling related multiple questions such as: "How much did you spend on R&D last year? What percentage of your revenues did that represent? What is your R&D model going forward?" Any financial person could easily handle all three because they are related.
The difficulty comes when one of the multiple questions is from left field, another from right field, and another from the moon. What many presenters do in these circumstances is to dive into an answer for one of them and then lose track of the rest. At that point, the presenter often turns to the questioner and asks, "What was your other question?"
The audience perception: "You weren't listening!"
Don't burden yourself with having to remember someone else's right brain, nonlinear data dump. Instead pick only one of the questions…the easiest, the hardest, the last, the first, the one that surprised you, or the one that you were expecting. Paraphrase the question, answer it, and then turn back to the person who asked and, in a declarative statement say, "You had another question!"
That person will then either repeat the other question, and you can respond with a clear, unencumbered mind; or the questioner might say, "That's all right, you covered it." The latter response is very common in Q&A sessions because most people can't remember their own right brain ramble. Either way, you are off the hook and free to move forward to either answer the second question or move on to another questioner.
Statement
The question that is not a question: "Your new solution appears to be very effective, but you've only just released it. You don't know if it has any kinks. I'd like to see it field-tested before I commit. It's not for us at this time."
If you were trying to land a sale for the early release of your promising new product, you certainly wouldn't want to leave the exchange at that point with no sale. Instead, turn the statement into a question by using the paraphrase, "Why adopt our new product now?" Your answer will then be about why your prospective customer wants to be the first kid on the block to enjoy the many benefits of your promising new product.
Presented Material
The final challenging question is the one about material covered within the presentation. You've probably witnessed this common occurrence: A presenter delivers a very thorough presentation about a new product, only to have a person in the audience ask a question about one of the product's main features already discussed. At an internal company meeting, this usually results in audible groans from other members of the audience. At an external meeting, other audience members, being discrete, stifle their groans and only think them internally.
Presenters, being discrete and hopefully respectful, will also stifle groans but all too often begin their answer by saying, "As I said…" This seemingly innocuous phrase belies impatience with the questioner at best and condescension at worst.
Instead, move directly forward into the answer as if you have never covered the subject. "Absolutely! Our new product performs this function better than any other product on the market!" You are then free to recap the main features of your new product. Resist the temptation, however, to stand on the soap box and repeat the material in as much detail as you did in the presentation. Be succinct!
Avoid back references during Q&A sessions.
Avoiding back references produces three considerable benefits:
Reinforcement of your selling points.
Validation, rather than invalidation, of the questioner.
Positive Perception. Because everyone in the audience heard you cover the material in question and they see you react patiently and positively, they perceive you as a person in control. Cool under fire. Grace under pressure. Effective Management.
One important footnote about avoiding back references: In my earlier book, Presenting to Win: The Art of Telling Your Story, I advocated back references as a powerful narrative technique to create continuity in any story. However, in the free fire zone of Q&A sessions, where the one-against-many dynamics are in force, the rules change. Therefore, use only forward references.
All the foregoing techniques for handling challenging questions share a least common denominator that brings us full circle back to the martial arts.
The Buffer
The Buffer levels the playing field between unequal forces.
By reframing the inbound energy of challenging questions, the paraphrase acts as a Buffer or shock absorber by deflecting the negativity. Like the martial arts, the Buffer is the first line of self-defense. By becoming one with the opponent, the Buffer levels the playing field between unequal forces…one presenter and many audience members. Then, after the Buffer discharges the negative energy, the presenter regains balance and moves ahead. The Buffer allows you to
Neutralize hostile questions.
Turn negative questions positive.
Treat irrelevant questions the same as any other.
Manage multiple questions efficiently.
Convert charged statements into questions.
Handle questions about presented material with equanimity.
Buffers have a host of other benefits…
"I heard you!" This is the sine qua non of any Q&A session. It tells your questioner…and the rest of the audience…that you listened.
Condense. There is no need to carry forward the right brain nonlinear ramble of your questioner.
Thinking Time. A most valuable asset any time; especially when you are in the line of fire.
Verbalize. Drawn from a rehearsal technique, Verbalization means speaking aloud the actual words in the presentation to crystallize them. By Verbalizing the Buffer, you clarify the Roman Column in your own mind. (You will find a fuller discussion of Verbalization in the section on preparing for Q&A in Chapter 8, "Preparation.")
Trigger the Answer. When your mind is clear on the Roman Column, your answer follows readily.
Audibility. Everyone in the audience hears the question you will answer.
Given all these valuable benefits, you should Buffer all questions, even those that are not challenging, such as, "Could you please describe how you plan to market your company in this competitive environment?" However, if you were to paraphrase this question by saying, "Could I describe how we're planning to market our company in this competitive environment?" you would sound awkward. Another option is to Buffer with Key Words.
Key Words
In the case of non-challenging direct questions you can shift to a shorter Buffer, using the Key Word or Words that identify the Roman Column and roll those words into your answer. An example would be, "Our marketing plan includes…" Or you can use the Key Words
as an echo…"Our marketing plan?" and then proceed with your answer.
Use the Key Word Buffer and roll into your answer.
You also can use this Key Words Buffer technique for tough questions, like the opening salvo in this chapter: "Wait a minute! You tell me that your product is going to save us money, and then you give me a sticker shock price that's twice as much as your competition asks! That's outrageous! Where do you get off charging so much?"
The Key Word Buffer is, "Our pricing rationale is…"
Or the second round salvo: "There are dozens of little start-ups doing exactly what you're doing! Then there are all those big guys with their entrenched market share. It's a jungle out there, and you're only just getting off the ground! What on earth makes you think that you can survive?"
The Key Word Buffer is, "The way we will compete is…"
Or the third round salvo: "You know that this is a male-dominated industry and that most of the buying decisions are made by the buddy system in smoke-filled back rooms. What makes you, a woman, think that you can penetrate that old boy network?"
The Key Word Buffer is, "My capabilities include…"
Now you have two types of Buffer. One is the paraphrase that restates the question, and the other is to state the Key Words and then continue on into your answer. However, some presenters are not content with one Buffer. They feel the need to put a Buffer in front of the Buffer, otherwise known as a Double Buffer. In the section that follows, you'll find…and most likely recognize…a collection of the most common Double Buffers used in Q&A sessions, all of which are useless fillers at the very least or counterproductive at the worst.
The Double Buffer
The most common Double Buffer is
"The question is…"
In the Line of Fire: How to Handle Tough Questions... When It Counts Page 6
