In the Line of Fire

Answer even the toughest, most hostile questions brilliantly: take the floor, stay poised, and win your audience over every time!

• The definitive guide to answering brutally tough questions in public – now fully updated with new case studies for today’s in-person and online presenters
• Control your entire exchange with a hostile questioner, and avoid the defensive, evasive, or contentious answers that destroy careers
• Techniques you can use in any presentation or conversation – digital or in person
• By Jerry Weissman, the world’s #1 high-stakes presentation consultant for 30+ years

Jerry Weissman is the founder and president of Suasive, Inc., formerly Power Presentations, Ltd. Weissman began his career as a staff producer-director of public affairs and news programs at CBS TV in New York, where he learned the skills to master the building blocks of every presentation: a clear, compelling story, well-designed graphics, natural delivery, and the art of Q&A.

In 1988, Weissman brought these skills to Silicon Valley. In short order, he established himself as the coach for Silicon Valley CEOs developing their IPO roadshows by teaching them to tell their business stories through the eyes of their investors. In doing so, he helped their companies raise hundreds of billions of dollars. After amassing an elite client list of IPOs, he soon widened his focus to coaching public and privately held companies to develop and deliver all types of business presentations. Today his methodology has helped thousands of companies on every continent deliver high-stakes presentations with clarity, confidence, and maximum persuasion.

In addition to this book, Weissman is the author of three other books on presentations and public speaking: The Power Presenter: Techniques, Style, and Strategy to Be Suasive; Presentations in Action; and Winning Strategies for Power Presentations, all Pearson publications.

Answer the Toughest Questions Brilliantly…And Win Over Your Audience Every Time!

In this fully updated edition, the world’s #1 presentation coach enables you to field any question from any audience and to respond with complete assurance.

Drawing on brand-new business case studies, Jerry Weissman shows you how to control the entire Q&A session and to avoid the defensive, evasive, or contentious answers that can ruin careers.

Whether you’re a senior executive, job candidate, or anyone else in business, you’re judged on how you handle high-pressure exchanges. Get this book and learn how to handle them successfully.

Part of the Jerry Weissman Presentation Trilogy! Also look for updated Editions of:

• Presenting to Win: The Art of Telling Your Story and Designing Your Slides
• The Power Presenter: Techniques, Style, and Strategy to Be Suasive

“I’ve been asking tough questions for half a century and listening to variously brilliant, boring, evasive or illuminating answers. Jerry Weissman’s book will help anyone–anyone–answer even the toughest questions.”

–Mike Wallace, Sixty Minutes, CBS News

Foreword: Baptism Under Fire     xvi

Introduction: Universal Challenges, Universal Solutions     xviii

Chapter One: The High Stakes of Q&A     1

The Pricing of an IPO     1

The Making of a President     2

The Unmaking of a CEO     4

Chapter Two: Tough Questions     5

Why People Ask Tough Questions     5

Why Businesspeople Ask Tough Questions     10

Blood Sport     11

Chapter Three: Presenter Behavior/Audience Perception     15

Presenter Behavior: Defensive     16

Presenter Behavior: Contentious     18

Audience Perception     20

Chapter Four: Four Steps of Preparation     23

Research     24

Anticipate     25

Distill     27

Prepare Your Position     29

Chapter Five: The Q&A Cycle     31

Worst-Case Scenario     31

Maximum Control     32

Open the Floor     32

The Q&A Cycle     34

Yield the Floor     35

Chapter Six: You’re Not Listening!     37

How to Lose Your Audience     38

How People Ask Questions     38

Ready, Fire, Aim     45

Chapter Seven: Active Listening     47

Yield the Floor     47

Subvocalization     56

Physical Listening     56

Yards After Catch     60

Chapter Eight: The Power of the Buffer     61

Retake the Floor     61

The General’s Strategy     63

The Buffer     63

Buffers for the Seven Universal Issues     65

Industry- or Company-Specific Buffers     74

Chapter Nine: Structurally Challenging Questions     77

Negative Questions     78

Irrelevant Questions     80

Multiple Questions     81

Statements     86

Questions About Presented Content     89

Summary     91

Eight Buffer Benefits     91

Chapter Ten: Buy (Thinking) Time with Buffers     93

Paraphrase     93

Double Buffers     96

The Triple Fail-Safe     99

Buffer Options Summary     100

Key Word(s) Buffers in Action     102

The Making of a Master     109

Chapter Eleven: Slip, Slide, and Spin     113

Evasion     113

Valid Reasons to Decline an Answer     121

Chapter Twelve: The Quid Pro Quo Answer     123

Quid Pro Quo / Seven Universal Issues     124

Manage the Time     127

The First Three Steps of Q&A Cycle     129

Chapter Thirteen: Special Questions / Special Answers     131

Tangential     131

False Assumption     132

Unknown     135

Forward Looking     139

Downstream     139

Guilty as Charged     140

Point B and WIIFY     147

Topspin     148

Chapter Fourteen: Topspin     149

Topspin     150

The Suasive Q&A Cycle     155

Chapter Fifteen: Finishing Touches     173

Preparation     173

Verbalization     175

Chapter Sixteen: The Role Model     179

Summary     186

Endnotes     189

Appendix A: Video Links     201

Index     211