A common fear of presenters is that they’ll be asked a question they can’t answer. How you handle questions will obviously affect your credibility, so before a presentation, try to think of all the questions that could come up and figure out how you’ll handle them. If you’re asked something you hadn’t anticipated, do your best to answer it but be honest if you can’t. Do not attempt to bluff your way out of it. Here are some tips for handling tricky questions.

Sometimes, the discussion around a question can go on too long or become irrelevant. Use your judgment on whether to let the debate run its course or call a halt to the discussion so more important topics can be covered. A good way of doing this politely is to say something like, 'This is clearly an important discussion to be had at some point, but in the interests of time, I’d like to suggest that we focus back on X.’
 
If you want to take audience engagement to the next level, you can ask someone to be actively involved in demonstrating a point. In a virtual presentation, this might involve trying out a demo of a new product or technology as the audience watches. In a face-to-face presentation, it could mean asking someone to play the role of the glamorous assistant. For example, to make the point that bombarding people with messages results in a lack of focus, ask a volunteer to try to catch as many ping-pong balls as they can, and then throw twenty at them simultaneously from a bucket. They probably won’t catch any. Simple moments of theatre like this energize the audience and make the presentation more impactful and memorable.