TROUBLESHOOTING

I. Introduction
Unexpected troubles on stage is what everyone would like to minimize during their presentation. U sually, people will try
their best to avoid any unexpected events to occur when they are still in the preparation stage. The troubles we’re talking
about here does not only lie in the equipments, the preparation, but they also are a threat when you’re presenting. But only
some talented presenters are able to find out the opportunity that lies behind the elephant in the room, or cleverly
improvise. In today’s presentation on the topic “troubleshooting”, we will discuss two of the most common problems the
presenter may encounter, as well as four reliable ways to handle questions from the audience and how to end the
presentation properly.
II. Presenter's problems
1. Slides
Imagine your presentation starts in an hour at university, and the moment you arrived to test the equipments, you realise
that the projector or the cable does not support your laptop, or you cannot open your files. What’s worse, you have only
practised with the help of your slides, so it’s not surprising that you’ll panic and think that your preparation for the
presentation is now a complete waste.
To not fall into such situations, before the presentation day, you can take time to familiarize yourself with the venue and
the available equipments at least once (if possible). But what’s important is the presenter trusting themselves, not their
slides. The slides may be catchy to your audience, but at the end of the day, they’re just your tools. The factor that makes
or breaks your presentation is the way you speak and deliver your points.
2. Audience
During the presentation, there might be a chance that some listeners are confused about how you deliver your main points.
That is a sign of failing to “inform” your audience. Don’t continue on with explanations, because that’d take up more
unnecessary time for other people in the audience just to tell something they already know. Changing it into an
“educating” experience, however, may be more beneficial than just keep on explaining everything whenever you
introduce something new. That way, you can easily “inform” them in future talks.
On the other hand, if your audience seems like they have understood the topic, we suggest that you should stick to your
main objective of the presentation, which is usually at the “call to action” or “conclusion” section. Don’t forget that you
should inform them that they’ve known the main ideas, then you can jump to the end to deliver the key points and the rest
of the remaining time for comments and concerns.
III. Handling questions
The presentation of yours is coming to an end, but what really troubles you next probably will be the Q&A part. A
question that comes at the wrong time or too difficult for you to answer can make all your preparation process go to waste.
There are many ways to give a suitable response to your audience’s questions, and those answers as well as how you give
them are helpful in forming relationships with other people, which is useful for your future presentations.
1. Eye contact
Many presenters take advantage of time their audience giving their question to walk around the stage, straighten their
clothes or adjust their microphone. Becoming distracted when someone is giving a question makes can make the person
being asked disrespectful. Instead, make sure to maintain eye contact and nod regularly to questioner, because body
language is a powerful tool to show if you’re interested in others’ concerns or not.
2. Pausing
No matter what the question you’re dealing with is about, or if it’s related to the topic, you should always pause for a short
time after the person finished their question, even if you got the answer right away. It gives the questioner time to finish
and clarify their question as well as time for you to think of the best way to answer instead of rushing without certainty.
Also, it makes the questioner think that you’re paying attention to their question, which shows respect. If you don’t like a
long pause, you can thank that person’s question and beat around the bush for a bit to begin with your answer.
3. Anticipation
You may have done with your contents for the presentation, but that’s what you (or your team) think. Many presenters
forget to look at the details through the eyes of their audience, so they usually lose confidence when unexpected questions
appear. Instead, search for additional data or clarifications that could help you with your presentation. Of course you can’t
expect to know everything the audience may ask, but knowing a bit more can help you maintain your confidence while
delivering your answer.
4. Honesty
A Q&A during a presentation is not a daily conversation. You can’t lie to your audience by giving them random answers
that pop up in your mind, you can’t pass this problem to other members of your team, and you can’t distract the audience
from the question, because that’s just showing you don’t know how to answer, and that wastes a lot of time. Instead, you
can tell them what you have known so far, delay your answer by doing future research afterwards or leave the answer to
someone who is an expert. After all, no one in the audience would expect you to know everything, you’re not a computer.
IV. Ending the presentation
I noticed that many of us used the Q&A at the end of the presentation. It’s fine if the topic of yours or the way you deliver
the information is raises questions or arguments in the audience. However, I’ve noticed about half of our presentations
made during this course ended with no questions at all. Both scenarios will always end in a long silence eventually. You
were expecting a thank-you at the end of the silence can help, but trust me, it only increases boredom and awkwardness in
the audience, and what could be your “perfect presentation” is destroyed.
So how do we counter that silence? Just simply not let that be the final part. The attention span of the audience will lower
if they know your presentation is ending. So, it is important to leave something that impresses them afterwards. You can
put a call to action or your final comments at the end instead. When you’ve done with the questions, tell your audience
that your presentation is ending by a reminder, a question, a story or a picture instead.
V. Conclusion
Let’s look back at the main points of troubleshooting in presentations. To begin with, we’ve covered the problems the
presenter may face with the slides as well as their audience. Secondly, we’ve covered the most reliable ways to deal with
upcoming questions from easy to hard. And finally, we have known that putting the Q&A part at the end of your
presentation, though having any concerns or not, is not always a good idea. Now it’s time for your comments and
concerns, and we’ll be delighted to give you the suitable answers to your questions.
(after the Q&A) (only answer 3 questions)
For those who still have further concerns, we’re going to answer them after this session. For now, it’s time to conclude
today’s topic of “troubleshooting”. To sum up, it is never an unnecessary move to prepare for the worst that can happen to
your presentation, and you should not forget your audience, both during the talk and the Q&A section. We hope our
presentation today has been a helping hand to your future talks. Thank you.