I’m not dogmatic about this, but my experience clearly shows that most speakers don’t achieve positive results when they allow participants to interrupt freely during a presentation. Unless it’s a deliberate part of your style – a strong gimmick – or you’re an exceptional facilitator who can easily regain control, you’re likely to lose track of time. You also risk facing irrelevant or potentially irritating questions, or having to deal with challenging participants whose primary goal is to hear themselves speak or to test your patience.

Of course, participants should be encouraged to challenge you and seek clarifications or elaborations, but this can be managed far more effectively by facilitating questions after you’ve finished your presentation.

Instead, transform your audience into active participants by fostering interaction and involvement throughout your presentation. This helps avoid the dreaded “one-way monologue” that can disengage your participants.

The simplest approach is to clarify with your client upfront that you’ll deliver your presentation uninterrupted and then address questions afterward. This also gives you the bonus of receiving applause twice – once when you conclude your presentation and again when you wrap up the Q&A session!