How to Communicate: Video Skills

HOW TO COMMUNICATE|Video Skills

RESPONDING TO AUDIENCE QUESTIONS

image One way to improve your public-speaking skills is by adapting to different audience behaviors. Learn how to handle questions from listeners by completing the How to Communicate video activity below.

CONSIDER THIS: You are giving an informative speech to your communication class. Drawing on social science research, you explain why some online videos posted by ordinary people go viral and are seen by millions. After concluding your speech, you have time to answer questions from the audience.

WHAT WOULD YOU DO? A question-and-answer period is a chance to connect interpersonally with your audience while engaging them further in the speech topic. As part of your speech preparation, anticipate possible questions that may come up. As you watch the video, consider how communication skills like active listening, perception, and immediacy can help you competently manage audience interaction. Then, test your knowledge of key skills, and create your own responses to the What if? video prompts.

image HAVE A FEW QUESTIONS PREPARED. To deal with any awkward silence when you open for questions, have a few questions ready to ask (and answer) yourself to get things started. Taking this first step can encourage a quiet audience to open up.

image ACTIVELY LISTEN TO QUESTIONS. Repeat questions to ensure you understand them and for the benefit of others in the audience who may not have heard them. Avoid evaluations (“That’s a really good question”), as they may imply that some questions are better than others.

image INVOLVE YOUR AUDIENCE. Make eye contact with the person asking the question, but address your response to the entire audience. You don’t want to talk one-on-one with the questioner, causing others to feel excluded.

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image BE BRIEF AND COMPLETE WITH YOUR ANSWERS. Look for opportunities to refer back to key points in your speech. If you don’t know the answer to a question, say so.

image STICK TO A TIME LIMIT. Give the audience your contact information in case they want to follow up with additional questions. Have a prepared closing remark that ends the question-and-answer period on a positive note.

QUESTION: Why does the speaker make eye contact with the entire audience—not just the person who made the inquiry—when answering questions?

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Chapter 16: QUESTION: Why does the speaker make eye contact with the entire audience—not just the person who made the inquiry—when answering questions?