28. The Art of Q&A

IDEALLY, YOU SHOULD be as facile and engaging in your prepared text delivery as you are in your question-and-answer (Q&A) period afterward. But it’s more likely that you will feel more comfortable and judge yourself more competent in Q&A. Since Q&A may in fact be your strongest suit, it only makes sense to strengthen whatever aptitude you already bring to the party. Here are some guidelines you should keep in mind.

Be alert—don’t relax after the formal speech. Businesspeople are constantly confronted with questions. Some of those questions can be hostile, depending on sensitive or controversial issues in the work-place, prevalence of sexual harassment, equal opportunity, women and minority representation, animal testing, toxic ...

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