In short: Put the Q&A before your conclusion, not after it. Tell the room how questions will run at the start. Keep a short close ready, one or two sentences that return to your main message. If questions run long, stop taking them with time left for the close rather than running on.
The usual order is talk, then questions, then the session ends wherever the questions happen to leave it. The problem is that the last answer becomes the last thing the room remembers. Move the questions one step earlier, so the talk finishes on your point.
The order
- Your talk, with the main point made clearly.
- The Q&A, with a time you have set.
- A short close of one or two sentences that returns to the main point.
The close is not a summary of everything you said. It is a return to the one idea you want people to take home.
Tell the room how it will run
At the start, say when questions will be taken and roughly how many you can fit. "We will have about ten minutes for questions, then I will close" makes the structure visible, so people hold their questions and do not interrupt. If the room is online, ask people to type questions into the chat. If it is in a room, ask them to write them on cards.
Keep the close ready
Write the close before the talk. Choose the sentence that matches your opening, and say it without notes. Practise it until you can say it when tired. If you find yourself improvising the close, you will probably run past the time you set.
When the questions run long
Use a timekeeper, or a signal you agreed beforehand. When time is nearly up, say: "I will take one more question, then I will close." Keep your answers short enough to leave room for the close. Park any question that needs a long answer, and offer to take it afterwards with the people who asked.
A worked example
Say the Q&A was set for ten minutes and it is seven minutes in, with three hands up. Say: "I will take two more questions, then I will close." Pick the two that connect to your main point, and park the third with a note that you will follow up. Then deliver the close, which you rehearsed, and stop. The room leaves on the idea you chose, not on the last answer.
Mistakes to avoid
- Saying "any questions?" and then standing still with nothing else to say.
- Answering the same question twice because the first answer was unclear.
- Using the close to answer a question you did not get to.
- Letting the most confident person in the room take up the whole Q&A.
Interruptions and difficult questions are the hardest part of a Q&A. The guide to handling interruptions sets out what to say in the moment. For the introduction that opens the session, the MC introduction guide covers what the host should say before you start.
Related guides
- Mic technique: handheld, lectern and head mic
- Stay in your light
- Using the whole stage, moving with purpose
- Write the introduction the MC will read
- Handling interruptions and the elephant in the room
- All guides and tools
The picture at the top of this page is an illustration, not a photograph of a client or a real job.
Questions we get asked
Should Q&A come at the end of a presentation?
Put Q&A before the conclusion, then finish with a short close. A question at the very end tends to leave the room remembering the last answer rather than your main point.
How do I stop a Q&A from running over time?
Set the time and the number of questions at the start, keep a timekeeper, and stop with enough time left for a short close.
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