Professional speaker Jeremy Tracey suggests thinking about these things when creating questions for your audience:
- Cast a wide net - ask a question that will involve most if not all of your audience
- Make it a real question - some questions force the user into a certain way of thinking (e.g., "How much time do you want to spend on this?" assumes that the person is focused on the length of time a task takes, when that may not be important to them at all)
- Give the audience time to answer in their head - if you are asking a simply yes or no type question you can pause for a brief time before continuing with your speech, if you are asking a complex question (e.g., "What are you going to do with the rest of your life?") give a much longer pause to allow the audience to have a chance to think about an answer
Tim Wilson
Professional Speech Coach
Free speaking tips at: http://speakingquicktips.blogspot.com
