I recently had a client (a Silicon Valley technical professional, an Asian, non-native English speaker) give a technical presentation that had both an in-room live audience, and an online, remote audience. The presentation went well:
“Thank you Diane for coaching me. Today’s presentation is the best I have ever delivered in my life!”
And, overall, the Q&A session went well, “The questions from the room were relevant to the specific points I touched in my talk. Those questions were discussed in an interactive manner. I was able to handle them.”
But there was one challenge: The off-topic comment.
“On the other hand, the question from the remote site was something I did not expect. This was actually not a question, but something else, a separate idea someone wanted to talk about. I had hard time interrupting his talk.”
Here was my advice to him–advice that you can use, too:
Below are a couple of ways to re-direct if someone hijacks your presentation with an off-topic idea (note: I realize that for many people, especially people with an Asian background, that assertive and directive comments can be difficult, but if you do it well, you come across as very confident. The trick is to do it firmly, but politely).
Speak in a friendly, but firm tone . . .
“Excuse me, _________ (person’s name), that’s an important idea, but we need to stay on-topic. Can you send out an email on that? (or suggest another way to deal with it later). What other comments or questions do you have related to _______________ (topic you are discussing)?”
“_____________ (person’s name), I hate to interrupt, but let’s finish our discussion on ______________ (topic) before going off in another direction. So, do you have a comment or question related to _________________ (topic)?”