Presentation Skills That Will Take You to the Top (Collection), 2/e

63. A Lesson in Listening from Barack Obama: How to Handle Multiple Questions

Listening, the social skill that is becoming extinct in the twenty-first century, is rapidly being replaced by rudeness. This behavior, which is merely annoying in social circles, can be destructive in the more mission-critical circumstances of business and politics.

One of the most common instances of not listening comes in response to multiple questions. Because such queries are usually a rambling set of unrelated issues, it is difficult for any presenter to remember all the diverse parts. Two common responses are to answer only one of the questions and then to ignore the second question by moving on to another questioner, or to answer the first question and then ...