Isn’t it funny how there always seems to be that “one guy” in every audience that seems bound and determined to get the best of the speaker? I’m not going to oversimplify this by saying every tough question is asked for the same reasons, but we all know tough or even aggressive questions will eventually show up in your audience. It’s not a matter of “if”; it’s just a matter of “when” they will come.

How to use Responsive Acknowledgement

In this short video Kevin Karschnik explains the Responsive Acknowledgement formula we teach for addressing the tough questions you get. I define tough and aggressive questions with the following:

Tough Questions

These are the questions that are difficult to answer because you know the audience member is not going to like the answer. It’s a fair question, but unfortunately they will not like what you have to say. These are tough because we expect it will lead to an unpleasant situation.

• Can we get a better price?   No.
• Do you have an international office to support our operations in Singapore?  No.
• Why can’t you deliver on all these services within 3 weeks?

Aggressive Questions (or Statements)

There are some questions I would classify as aggressive. These types of questions have a strong motive behind them. They are also laced with some type of emotion. The aggressive questions need to be handled in a way it doesn’t promote an escalation between the two of you. To prevent the escalation, we’ve found it is most helpful if the aggressor knows you’ve heard him/her.  You don’t have to agree with him/her, but you need to show you have heard and understood him/her.

• “Why should we consider another data center when you can’t even support us in one?”
• “That would never sell in my stores. My customers would never buy something like that.”
• “If your project managers can’t handle a pilot project, why should we trust you with this project?” 

In this video Kevin teaches our process to handle the aggressive questions. We call it Responsive Acknowledgement. After you’ve expressed responsive acknowledgement, you can express your differing opinion without inviting further escalation.

It’s never fun handling the tough and aggressive questions, but with the right tools and some practice, it becomes much more controlled and successful.

Always take time to listen,
Russ

P.S. Can I ask a favor? If you have some specific sales or leadership situations you deal with, send me a message and we’ll post future blogs to address them. If we can support your leadership and sales communication, we want to help! Please let us know your tough communication situations.

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Corporate Ovations: Your Roadmap to More Effective Presentations, by Kevin Karschnik & Russ Peterson Jr.

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Russ Peterson Jr. is the co-founder and Managing Director of iSpeak, Inc. – An award-winning professional development training company. Russ is a speaker, international trainer, and published author on Professional Sales Communication and Business Communication. He delivers workshops, keynotes, and personal communication coaching services to business professionals in the US and around the world. You can connect with Russ directly through Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.