Ever noticed that a question mark looks like a hook?
Questions ARE hooks.
They hook your audience, engaging them in your message.
So ask more questions.
And if you’re presenting online (virtually), get them to write their answers in the chat.
It keeps them thinking. And they can see what everyone else is thinking.
Face-to-face or online, it’s the single most powerful way I’ve found to make sessions engaging.
Research shows questions hijack the brain and fully focus it – on your message.
Don’t just spoon-feed info to your audience. Intrigue them first. Get them guessing. Nature abhors a vacuum. Your message will fill the void.
Count your questions
How many questions are you asking now? To find out, transcribe your session [how to do it on Teams] and count how many questions you asked:
In your transcription, search for ‘?’.
In a recent virtual course for a big corporate – just under three hours – I asked 362 questions:
That’s about a question every 30 seconds.
(More, actually, because the AI often doesn’t add question marks where it should.)
Maybe that’s why our most common feedback is about how engaging our sessions are, e.g. this, from a recent Board Paper Brilliance writing course:
Absolutely brilliant course. Can’t wait to use it in practice. All comms people and people leaders need to get on this course.
One of the best courses I have attended. I have recommended to all of my colleagues and direct reports.
Excellent and engaging offering, thank you.
Educator [Paul] covered a lot of content a little fast for me. But the course and educator were fantastic.
Excellent, engaging sessions. Very relevant to work.
Very helpful and engaging.
So … what questions could you ask in your next session?
And if you or your team need training, ask yourself … could you benefit from these?