HANDLING QUESTIONS


Positive response

That’s good/ difficult/complex/ an interesting question.
Thank you for asking that question
I’m glad someone asked that question. It allows me to say….


Check your answer

Does that answer your question? / Is that ok?
Is that clear now? Can we move on?


Clarify

If I understand you correctly, you want to know..
You’re asking me about… Is that right?
Sorry I didn’t follow/ catch question.
Could you repeat that for me, please?
In other words, you’re asking…


Refer back

As I said earlier, in the first section/ at the end of the second section…
Yes, I mentioned in the introduction…

Accept criticism

I accept that./ That’s a fair point. I agree with what you’re saying.
Up to a point, I agree.


Referring back to the presentation

As said/ pointed out /explained earlier
I think we’ve already made it clear that…



Avoiding:

1. WRONG PERSON
I’m afraid I can’t really answer that.
That’s not really my area/field, I’m afraid.
I don’t have t he figures with me.

2. WRONG TOPIC
I’m afraid that question goes beyond the subject of today’s presentation
I’m afraid that’s confidential. / I’m not at liberty to give you that information.
I’d be glad to discuss that with you personally after the presentation.

3. TENNIS- returning a question

Well, let me ask you the same question
Ok. Let me ask you a question.

4. HEDGING
Well, that depends on what you mean by..
Well, it s very complicated matter
Well, there are various ways of looking at it.

Fill in the blanks. Listen and check.

Follow         hedging                difficult                depend on



Bob:If I understand you correctly, you mean the feedback led to larger orders.

Mark:Of course it is _________________to prove a real cause and effect relationship
        between the feedback and sales.

Bob:Now you sound like you’re _________on the claims you made before.

Mark:Let me make one thing clear. I am positive informal feedback led to a better
       relationship with clients. And I’// also mention that sales do not ___________
      the  relationship alone, but a good relationship certainly doesn’t hurt.

Linda:I have a question, too. I didn’t _____________ your organization of feedback
        files. Can you repeat that for me, please?

Match the question with the correct response.

1. Can we move on the next question?               a. It’s both fair and objective.

2. Did I understand you correctly?                              b. It’s a complex area to study.

3. Is that really a fair criticism of the project          c. Yes, that’s what I said.

4. Would you tell us more about who did the study? d. No, I also want to point out..

5. How can you study the market response to
this product?                                      e. I’m afraid I can’t . That is
                                                                         confidential  information.

Choose the word with a similar meaning as the BOLD word.

1.He could not give an ANSWER  to the question.
a. area        b. criticism                c. field                d. response

2.I’ll be HAPPY to talk with you about that after the meeting.
a. complicated        b. fair                 c. glad                d. interesting

3.She MADE REFERENCE to an earlier point in her presentation.
      a. depended on         b. made clear                 c. pointed out                d. referred back

4.We don’t know much about current research in this AREA.
a. criticism                b. field                        c. response                 d. section

5.I’m sorry. I didn’t HEAR what you said.
      a. catch        b. hedge                c. mention            d. repeat