No presentation is complete without asking, "Are there any questions?"
A lot of people are afraid to ask this for a couple of reasons. First of all, they may be thinking, "What if they give me a question I can't answer?" Believe me, your prospects don't know the answers to the questions better than you do. And if there's a question you haven’t heard it's absolutely fine! My suggestion would be to say, "Actually, that’s a question we haven't heard before. Please give me your name and your email address and I promise you an answer before the end of the day."
The second reason someone doesn’t want to ask for questions is that they’re afraid that no one will say anything and their presentation is going to end early. The way around this is, to pick up a glass of water and take a sip while you wait, buying you ten seconds. If it’s quiet, you might chuckle and say, “If you did have a question, what would it be?" That breaks the ice in most audiences. It gives people permission to speak, and I guarantee that 90% of the time, someone in the room will ask a question immediately after the chuckling subsides.
If that doesn't work, you need to come prepared with a list of FAQs in your back pocket. Prep those questions carefully because they will be your parachute. Go through them one by one while respecting the time you have remaining. You might say something like, “Actually there’s one question that I’m surprised no one asked…” and then follow that intro with one of your FAQs. If that’s not enough to prime the pump, you might add, “In fact, another question that I get asked a lot is…” and give them your second prepared FAQ.
While your presentation most likely stands on its own, you’ll leave a better impression than just being passive and saying, “Okay, I guess we can finish early.” You don’t want to abdicate, so make sure you go out on a strong note.
