Jousting: [jowst-ing] the belligerent posing of unanswerable, cryptic, or trick questions by an audience with intent to de-horse a prideful speaker; also, bludgeoning a speaker with a lance.
If you’re new to the sport, there are a few key differences between presentation jousting and medieval jousting that you should be aware of: blows are dealt in the back when you aren’t ready for it, the lance is replaced with scathing discourse, and instead of bodily bruising and the loss of a beautiful princess you have public humiliation and precipitous loss of influence for consequences. That’s all, really.
To be fair, it isn’t cowardice on the part of your audience that leads them to plow into you with hostile questioning while you’re sipping on your Perrier. It’s you: you’ve been trotting through your presentation all afternoon—reveling in your fluid hand gestures, perfect comedic timing, and authoritative intonation, no doubt—and forgot to notice that they haven’t understood a word you’ve said, laughed at a single joke, or had a restroom break in two hours. They hate you, and the Q&A you just opened up is now mob rule.
Jousting is an unwinnable war. Do you stay and try to bring order to a fractious group of people who are unified only in their desire to see you brought low? Or, do you quickly escape through a back door and pledge never to make the same mistakes again, leaving them to channel their anger and contempt however they see fit?
Faced with jousting, the best way out is to lose. What hurts worse, leaning into an oncoming projectile, or falling away from one to receive a glancing blow? Admit you were wrong, or that you don’t have the answers, or that they are right and your hair does look like Bea’s from The Golden Girls. Do whatever it takes to give them the satisfaction of winning, and you’ll be amazed at how quickly they revert to a more placid state.
The Takeaway: Keep introductions humble and relevant, and information basic and accessible. Before each presentation, ask a friend or partner if you sound arrogant or pompous. Audiences are king-killers and peasant-knighters: they’ll uplift one of their own but destroy those who aren’t.
