Photo by: piranka via Canva
One of the more common questions I get when facilitating our Instructional Techniques for New Instructors workshop focuses on the topic of questions. Specifically, how to respond to learner questions and what to do when you don’t have an answer. For me, this has taken years of experience and several trial-and-error attempts in the classroom.
Here’s what I’ve discovered so far…
Listen
Listen objectively and completely to the question without interrupting (I admit this is hard to do sometimes). Avoid making judgments about the learner asking the question.
Repeat
Direct the question back to the entire class (relay question). Make certain everyone can hear the question and involve the class in the response. I usually say something like, “I have some thoughts on that, but I’m going to throw it out to the group.” Use this time for a mental analysis of the question and to get the complete attention of the group.
Respond
Respond truthfully and as briefly as possible. Relate the response to content previously covered whenever possible. Use a visual aid such as the flipchart or PowerPoint slide if it will clarify, or simplify, your response. Never bluff or make up answers if you don’t know. Doing so can seriously affect your credibility and the learners’ buy-in!
Let’s look at some techniques for properly handling questions for which you don’t have the answer.
- If it’s a question within the scope of the course you’re delivering, offer to find out. Keep your promise and tell the class what you will do. I usually say something like, “I want to give you the correct information, so let me do some research and I’ll get back to you by 10:00 a.m. tomorrow.” If possible, deliver the answer before the deadline. It’s great customer service when you can under-promise and over-deliver!
- If it’s a question that is of interest only to the more advanced learners, identify several sources of information and offer to help the learners find the answer themselves or provide the process to find out.
- If there’s no exact information available, inform the learners that facts are not known. This might be a good opportunity to open it up to the entire group for discussion.
- Finally, if the question is unrelated to the topic at hand, have the learner write their question on the “Parking Lot” and you can address it later.
For credibility and learning purposes, we want to handle questions well. Hopefully, the techniques I’ve shared can help. Are there additional techniques you use? I’d love to learn more about them.
If questions are an area you’d like to improve, we cover the following topics (and more!) in our Instructional Techniques for New Instructors workshop: how to ask questions, the best type of question and the one type of question to avoid, seven tips for answering questions professionally, what to do if you don’t know an answer, and how to handle incorrect answers.
