Asking for feedback

During a presentation, you should pay special attention to the needs of your audience. In a data analysis setting, your audience will likely include your stakeholders or supervisors. They have a vested interest in the work you’ve done, so it is important to communicate your findings to them as clearly as possible.

At the end of a presentation, you’ll typically be asked to hold a question and answer (Q&A) session. During the Q&A, your audience can ask you for clarification about what you’ve presented or provide advice about how to proceed.

In some cases, you might find that stakeholders don’t know how best to ask a question. Imagine a scenario in which a stakeholder is confused about what you’ve discussed, but is having trouble figuring out how to ask their question in a group setting. With this scenario in mind, consider the following questions:

• What are some other ways you can receive feedback from your audience and stakeholders?
• How can you be as inclusive as possible? How can you make your audience feel comfortable asking you for clarification?
• What creative methods can you use to engage your audience?

Submit 3-5 sentences (150-200 words) answering these questions. Then, visit the discussion forum to read what others have written, and respond to at least two posts with your own thoughts.

Test your knowledge on listening, responding, and including

Question 1

After you finish giving a presentation, an audience member asks your team for additional information on your topic. Your coworker is answering the question thoroughly, but you notice that the rest of your audience has tuned out. How can you re-engage your audience? Select all that apply.

• Ask a question to the audience
• Repeat the question
• Redirect to a new question
• Interrupt your coworker

Explain: If you notice your audience is losing interest, you can redirect to a new question or ask a question to your audience to re-engage them.

Question 2

You answer a question from an audience member, who then seems confused. You conclude that you didn’t understand the question. What should you have done differently to avoid the issue? Select all that apply.

• Listened to the full question
• Elaborated more on the topic
• Provided more context for their answer
• Repeated the question to clarify

Explain: In this scenario, two actions could have assisted you in answering the question: listen to the full question or repeat the question to clarify. These strategies can help you answer a question directly and completely.

Question 3

Your audience has several questions after your presentation, and you may not have enough time to answer them all. How should you proceed?

A. Understand the context of each question

B. Involve the whole audience

C. Keep responses brief and follow up after the presentation

D. Repeat each question

The correct answer is C. Keep responses brief and follow up after the presentation. Explain: To answer more questions in less time, keep each response brief and to the point. This way, you answer a question directly and have more time to move onto the next one. After the Q&A, you can follow up with any questions that still need clarification.