166 - How To Ask Questions From The Audience

Speaking with Confidence with Cat Matson: communication coaching for humble leaders

Ever been in the audience at a conference, asked a question of one of the speakers, and got completely tangled up in giving context?

Well, that’s EXACTLY what I’m addressing today - how to ask questions FROM the audience in a way that elevates you, gets the answer you want and doesn’t get you all tangled up.

This is in response to a listener question who said

Many times I hear questions in presentations be asked with a lead-in that links some of the themes of the talk to the question about to be asked. However each time I try to do this I really seem to make a mess of the lead-in and then by the time I get around to asking a question the speaker is so confused about what I’m asking so we just have this awkward exchange where I repeat the lead in and question but get super nervous which makes things seemingly worse.

Listen in to my (slightly rambly) answer to learn:

• How to frame a question in your mind, first

• How to connect it to what the speaker was saying

• Why it’s easy to over-think our questions, and how I do it too

• The difference between a general question that will benefit everyone in the audience, vs an advice question that relates to you

• How asking these kinds of questions is a powerful networking and profile building strategy

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