What do you do if your Q&A sessions in presentations are eating up too much time?

Know your material, know your key points so that it allows you veer off on tangents, get into Q&A and discussion but you are still in control and can return to the main topic as needed. Be aware of the minimum amount of time you need to deliver these key points, what you can remove if time is coming short. As the presenter you are in charge of the presentation - you are in command of the room, its important to remember that

One thing I've learnt from my manager, was instead of asking "Has anyone got any questions?" Or "Feel free to ask any questions", to make it organised and set boundaries, you'd raise your hand and ask "Who's got the first question?". That gives the audience an idea about time restrictions, and would follow with raising hands to ask instead of asking chaotically at the same time.

One of the ways I manage Q and A is I ask the audience to write down questions as I am speaking. I let them know up front that I will open the floor for Q/A at the end of my talk or training. Taking Q/A during your talk can quickly run into sidebar discussions, and take away from your presentation time, especially if you are a guest speaker on a tight time limit. Also, there may be that 'one person' who monopolizes with a lot of questions, so this keeps that scenario from happening by holding questions to the end.

Ser objetivo nas respostas é fundamental. Especialmente quando você gosta do tema é fácil transformar a resposta à uma pergunta em outra palestra... então seja breve e conecte com pontos já estabelecidos na palestra, ou ainda aponte para recursos adicionais que a audiência pode acessar posteriormente- inclusive conectando com suas redes pós palestra.

Managing or allowing the time for a Q&A session is essential to ensure that it remains productive and respectful of everyone's time. By establishing the time allocated for questions at the beginning of the session and ensure to it, you can prevent the Q&A from becoming a time-consuming detour. For example, if you have a 60-minute slot for your presentation and want to allow for discussion, consider limiting your presentation to 45 minutes . This way, you create a 10-minute window for interaction without encroaching on others' time or the audience's schedule and 5 min for the feedback. Balancing between being informative and respectful is key to a successful Q&A session.

Set Ground Rules: At the start of the Q&A session, let the audience know to keep their questions brief and focused to allow for as many participants as possible.

Audience-Focused presentations are win-win. Prioritization may give them a feeling of disrespect; instead, listen to them carefully and if the questions are off topic or taking a never ending argument, proffer them a post presentation session or a continued communication via email etc. This shows a respect of all audience viewpoint, yet their schedule.

As a general practice, I deliberately allocate a specific number of questions per topic. When I encounter a question that is either off-topic or overly intricate, I politely suggest that it be addressed later or via email. The pace and accuracy of responses influence my decision to expand the scope for additional questions.

Na minha experiência, deve ser dado foco ao assunto em questão. Questões colaterais que nada têm a ver com o tema em discussão deverão ser evitadas, caso sejam colocadas, deveremos respeitosamente, informar que este não é o fórum adequado para a questão, centrando novamente o tema no que está predefinido. As regras devem ser definidas inicialmente, para não dispersar e permitir a participação do maior número de pessoas.

Having a moderator accept the ques through some sort of submission mode (online, passing a note, etc) ensures not only that everyone has equal access to asking questions, but also that someone is managing and proactively scanning the incoming ques. This is also an easy way to review repetitious ques or cut out ques that cause risk, should not be answered live or can be reworded to accommodate the speakers' needs.

Prioritize Questions: If multiple questions are asked at once, prioritize those that are most relevant to the broader audience or the core message of your presentation. Use a Moderator: A moderator can help keep the Q&A on track, filter repetitive or off-topic questions, and ensure time limits are respected.

As a best practice, colleagues (subject experts) attend the session. For e.g., if a speaker’s presentation covers topics like authoring tools/AI, a tools expert steps in to handle the more in-depth questions. This is also helpful when participants use the chat for quick queries (instead of the Q&A pod), where it’s easy for questions to be missed. Having someone dedicated to chat responses is a huge relief -If something needs the speaker’s attention, the colleague posts it in the Q&A. Sometimes, when an immediate answer is necessary or there’s a risk that a participant may not follow the rest of the session, the host alerts the speaker, who may respond in real-time rather than waiting for the Q&A. It’s all about balancing urgency and timing!

I believe each listed option is good enough yet during a presentation or session audience expects a direct answer to their concerns. A moderation approach therefore gives the person a choice to address more people with identical queries in a go. Thus justifying and ensuring a high rate of audience participation and satisfaction as the outcome of a presentation or discussion.

This is by far the most effective time and quality management tool for QnA sessions. MS Teams give a great option to group similar queries [use of like or vote button on a query], or the moderator can do it them self to ensure effective utlization of time.

In preparing responses, I’ve found it useful to consider how the session material is applicable in real life and what are the areas of concern that would crop up. It is useful to also provide hypotheticals or real life case studies to illustrate or explain your points.

DELIBERATE responses! While the audience should have the opportunity to ask the questions they’d like, the presenter should be confident in their ability to steer the conversation in the direction they’d like… including wrapping things up in a timely manner. This can only be done with intentional, deliberate responses. Every word has a purpose

1. Share presentation materials in advance with audience and collect questions upfront whenever feasible This will allow some consolidation of Questions and one can cover answers in presentation 2. Create and share FAQs this will reduce noise and questions can be focused

Collect Questions in Advance: If possible, ask the audience to submit their questions ahead of time, either through social media, email, or during a break in the presentation. Use Technology: Tools like Slido or Mentimeter allow you to collect and manage questions digitally; you can address the most popular ones as voted by the audience. Offer Follow-Up: For unanswered questions, invite the audience to reach out to you personally after the session or via email/social media.

In the past, I’ve sent a description of my presentation and asked for advance questions. I’ve shared that if time permits, we can have additional questions but follow up questions are welcome.

One Question Per Person: Encourage the audience to limit themselves to one question each, to give others a chance. Implement a Parking Lot: Write down off-topic or complex questions on a “parking lot” list for later follow-up, either after the session or via other communication channels.

I've had the best success with sticking to the allotted presentation or training time (ending 2 minutes early always makes everyone happy) and then scheduling an "office hours" call a day or so later for anyone to bring questions or issues to you directly. Be sure to point everyone to the FAQ or other "solve it yourself" resources, and update those resources if you get good questions during your office hours session.

Online events organizers often tell people they will answer all the questions afterwards if there is no time for all the questions. Not all do. This is not respectful. Depending on the goals of the meeting, its duration, and depending on the platform, organizers could set a period of time after the meeting finishes so the audience can interact with speakers.

What I've found helpful is having some background information on my audience, to be able to anticipate the types of questions they could possibly ask and prepare suitable answers for them. Also, wrap up the questions during the session in such a manner that the participants feels they have been listened to and manage the time during the presentation well, so that you can make an opportunity for post session Q&A as well.

When time runs out during a Q&A session, offering to engage with the audience afterward has proven to be an effective strategy for me. In several instances, I’ve found that participants have additional questions, but we need to wrap up the formal session to stay on schedule. I typically say something like, “I’d be happy to continue this discussion. Feel free to approach me after the session, or you can email me your questions.” This approach shows that I value the audience’s input and am committed to addressing their concerns, even outside the allotted time.

Its possible to have a very engaging Q&A probably after a hot topic or addressing a trending issues. Knowing how to effectively manage the Q&A session is as important as your presentation because it just might be your audience's take away. From personal experience, you can announce you will be taking two final questions, reassure your audience they will have access to the slides/resources and if there are any further questions, they can send you an email and you will do your best to respond to as many as you can. Strategically mainatin the tempo of your presentation by giving a brief re-cap, highlight key points discussed and thank everyone for their participation,

I wrap up by thanking for engagement, inviting remaining questions in writing, but then taking everyone back to what I spoke about, top three highlights and a call to action. Audience should leave with a summary of your overall intent, and not the answer of the final question in an Q&A.

Keep it short and simple by wrapping up the presentation, reinforcing the key message and end it with a call to action for the audience to remember vividly the key message.

As the end of the allotted Q&A time approaches, thank the audience for their participation and let them know that you can take one final question before concluding the session. This signals closure and ensures that you end on a positive note.

After giving your audience a heads up that only a few more questions will be taken, a very smart way to wrap up is to build in your closing question ahead of time- and to let your speaker know. The final question is an opportunity to help guide people to their next connection/conversation/way to be in touch. A great final question is always "how can people stay connected/learn more/gain insight for questions that have been left unanswered". This gives your speaker the chance to once more share their preferred contact, their general thesis statement/offer, and the invitation to stay connected and build community.

Ask the participants to drop their questions in the chat in a virtual environment. After the ppt, ask the audience to finish off their last question in 2 min. meanwhile, the presenter can group the questions (there will always be a logical grouping pattern). While answering, make sure the answer is much broader to cover all relevant questions. very efficient! - I practise this all the time.

A trainer's true abilities of time management and flow management is tested in situations like this. Make sure there is time allocated to the Q&A session and ensure adherence to it. First of all, while you can't restrict the questions coming in from the participants what you can control is the answers; keep it precise and not too long. Don't get carried away. 2nd chose questions based on relevancy to take up during the session. For questions not so relevant, allow participants to connect separately. 3rd, encourage for a detailed session post training and also provide resources and references for detailed reading. These are some of the many techniques to avoid missing on time track.

If your presentation has gone well, you should be on time and have time for Q and A. If you have more questions than time left, let people know you will be outside or at the bar, or whatever your schedule allows, to keep talking to people. Now, because once they leave you, you will probably not hear from them again. Grab a drink and a chair and talk to people. They are your customers, clients, and possible job opps, or even book deals.

One thing I have found helpful is allowing the participants ask all the questions before responding as opposed to answering one question after another. This is because some persons can ask similar questions that might be answered in one response and also prevent others from asking a question out of your response. It is always helpful to provide an avenue for people to get responses to burning questions at a convenient time outside the session.