Responding to Hostile Questions
At some point, someone in your audience might ask a question that sounds like an attack. How should you respond?
- Don’t confront the person. Don’t say, “No, I think you’re wrong.”
- Affirm the person. Say,
“That’s an interesting point, but here’s another way to look at.”
“I can see why you would feel that way, but I was trying to make the point that…”
“Point taken; I might have been too sweeping in my generalization.”
Everyone in the room will be waiting to hear how you respond to the challenge. If you keep cool and say something positive before you proceed to your answer, you will impress your audience with your professionalism and your command of the situation.
- Agree with the person as far as you can. State your disagreement in a non-confrontational way. “I think we agree on XYX, but not on ABC.”
Answering hostile questions with an equally hostile response will simply make the whole process tense. As you are the person at the front of the room, and the person asking the question is sat with a number of other people, it will simply set you against a larger group of people, making the atmosphere needlessly confrontational.
Additionally, if you answer a hostile question by showing good grace and considering the question on its positive merits, you will increase the likelihood of the initially hostile individual backing down from their confrontational position, whether through embarrassment for their unnecessary hostility, or because they were impressed by you looking to answer their question fairly despite the fact that it could have been taken as an attack.
It should be clear that you are not a teacher to the group of people, but some of the principles of teaching remain intact. Among these, the fact that you are in a position of some responsibility and importance should prevent you from allowing yourself to have a pop back at the person.