How to handle difficult questions during your presentation
When people hear you do stand-up, the first question is often “What makes you think you’d be good at that?” The second question (and more relevant for this blog) is “Ooooh, what’s the worst heckle you’ve ever had?”
Well, I cover that specific subject elsewhere, but heckling, or as it’s known in business presentations “bastards asking awkward questions” is probably more prevalent in pitching and selling than it is in stand-up.
After all, in a pitch there’s often a lot at stake - money, pride, professional reputation. There are many legitimate reasons for a client to give you a hard time, from making sure they’re not going to be ripped off, to seeing how you handle pressure. And of course, sometimes there’s good old-fashioned hierarchy and power dynamics - “I hold the purse strings and I need to show my lackeys who’s boss, so I’m going to make you jump through some hoops for my pleasure. And the hoops are on fire. And the pleasure will never show on my face.”
Luckily, comedians have an arsenal of tips and tricks they use to respond to awkward moments, alpha-dog douchebaggery and random questions. Here are some of them.
Repeat the question.
This one is incredibly straightforward. Someone asks a difficult question, simply slowly repeat it back. This looks like you’re getting alignment on the exact question so you can answer it more precisely. What’s actually happening is you’ve bought your brain 5 seconds to formulate a response and 5 seconds when you’re on the spot feels like several months. Plenty of time for your brain to step up with something workable. It’s also important at this stage to…
Work out their intention.
Is the question a good-faith attempt at a difficult discussion? Is it a power move? Does the speaker want to feel a part of what’s going on? Are they just excited? Taking a second to think about their motivation helps you…
Trust your response.
When MC’ing a comedy night there’s nothing worse than second-guessing what your response should be to a heckle. The audience will know its not genuine, and will feel something is a bit off - you’ve been shaken. Likewise, in a pitch or presentation it pays to give an immediate (yet considered) response that is transparent and direct.
Work the dynamics.
If there’s a rowdy group at a gig the MC’s key strategy is twofold. Firstly figure out who’s the leader of the group. Secondly work the dynamics of the room against them if necessary. Crowds are extremely powerful to have on your side. Whatever effect you have on the leader will ripple out to the rest of the group. In a business setting this might mean honing in on a senior person who has interjected with a difficult question and bringing them onside. Which might mean you have to…
Throw them.
In his book, Presentation Zen, Garr Reynolds takes inspiration from Aikido in dealing with conflict - specifically in using an attackers energy against them. He goes into detail here, but it boils down to being truly in the moment, responding authentically, not retreating into defensive mode and aiming for harmony. Managing your emotional state is key - not getting angry, flustered or unnerved.
In comedy terms this translates into keeping a loose and light authority (i.e working with , rather than being angry at interjections) and working to keep the majority of the audience on your side to help you deal with the heckler. Same rules apply for pitches.
Increase your “local star power”.
Often difficult questions are thrown up by a clash in status - who is in control of the room? Is it you or the CEO you’re pitching to? In Oren Klaff’s book Pitch Anything, he explores the concept of “local star power” - the idea that status is fluid and context dependent. The CEO of Goldman Sachs may walk through the marble halls of his Manhattan office to a backdrop of forelock-tugging and bowed heads, but when he’s out entertaining clients and the Sommelier disagrees with his choice of wine he’s going to get flustered and back down - suddenly his status is temporarily less than that of the wine expert.
What does this mean for you? Use the interjection as a chance to increase your local star power - bring the topic to a space where you’re the expert in the room and watch your status rise.
Play Devil’s Advocate
If you think there might be some awkward questions in store for you at a pitch, simply… get your colleagues to ask them in a rehearsal. Nominate a couple of people to sit through your pitch, then hit you with the worst, most devious, undermining questions they can think of. Then try and respond to them, note your answers and ask how you could have answered better. You’ll feel a lot more comfortable answering whatever comes up in the real event - and they’ll just really enjoy it.
Listen to them.
Sometime a heckle is genuine, or a cry for help. Often it’s possible to completely diffuse an awkward situation by making the other party feel really heard. Many times you’ll be able to say “I’m really glad you asked me that - that will be coming up shortly” or “that’s a great question, but probably works better if we raise it as part of the Q&A session”.
Baffle them.
Look, this one might not work 100% of the time, but Harry Hill used to often respond to heckles by saying “I don’t know about you sir, but when I get home I’ve got a lovely roast chicken dinner in the oven”.
Do with that what you will.