Nov 29, 2024
Transcript:
I’m Johanna Rothman, and this is Johanna’s 60 Seconds of Writing WIP for November 29, 2024, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress.
This is from the Effective Public Speaking book.
When You Do Not Want to Answer
While most audience members are terrific people, some are not. Those people too often ask questions that insult you or your content. Or the questions are way too personal--even if you're speaking about personal topics.
You do not have to answer those questions.
I used to have a "fan" who went to all my sessions at specific conferences. He always had questions that were off-topic and generally insulting. I smiled and said, "That's off-topic. You and I have emailed before. Please email me. We can discuss this in more detail." Then I looked around and asked, "Who has the next question?"
He was not happy about that answer. He yelled his question out, ignoring my facilitation.
That's when I turned to him and said, "If you want to give your own presentation, that's great. But this one is mine.”