"Any Questions?" - purely a vent

[ckay87]

Ok, I do realize.... and I'm serious about this... that I probably have undiagnosed adult ADD, but I have to just vent a little here. When a speaker asks "any questions," please take a fraction of a second to think about whether your question will benefit the entire group. Please do not pose a 5-minute long question. Please save your questions for later if the session has already run long. Please realize that you do not get bonus points just for asking questions and understand that multiple questions will not earn you more friends (so refrain from the stupid questions!!.) Please know the difference between a statement and a question. And please keep in mind that this will almost certainly not be your last opportunity to ask your question - the telephone and email are magical inventions - have mercy on people like me, desperate to escape this session! We may be smiling, but we are dying inside each time a hand goes up.

And may God bless the presenters who have the guts to say "that's it for the questions." You are a rare and precious breed!

Can you tell that I've been traumatized by the department "questioners!"

Thanks for listening, I have nothing further and will not be taking questions

 

[clm10308]

Ok, I do realize.... and I'm serious about this... that I probably have undiagnosed adult ADD, but I have to just vent a little here. When a speaker asks "any questions," please take a fraction of a second to think about whether your question will benefit the entire group. Please do not pose a 5-minute long question. Please save your questions for later if the session has already run long. Please realize that you do not get bonus points just for asking questions and understand that multiple questions will not earn you more friends (so refrain from the stupid questions!!.) Please know the difference between a statement and a question. And please keep in mind that this will almost certainly not be your last opportunity to ask your question - the telephone and email are magical inventions - have mercy on people like me, desperate to escape this session! We may be smiling, but we are dying inside each time a hand goes up.

And may God bless the presenters who have the guts to say "that's it for the questions." You are a rare and precious breed!

Can you tell that I've been traumatized by the department "questioners!"

Thanks for listening, I have nothing further and will not be taking questions

Been there. I feel your pain.

 

[plutotek]

Sounds like you need to get over yourself. The people posing the questions are, most likely, not doing it to inconvenience or annoy you, but for their own edification. Who are you to judge whether they should be asking questions?

 

[ckay87]

Sounds like you need to get over yourself. The people posing the questions are, most likely, not doing it to inconvenience or annoy you, but for their own edification. Who are you to judge whether they should be asking questions?

Wow, you took this way too seriously. I figured someone would.

 

[lovesmurfs]

Sounds like you need to get over yourself. The people posing the questions are, most likely, not doing it to inconvenience or annoy you, but for their own edification. Who are you to judge whether they should be asking questions?

A bit harsh. I feel the OP's pain.

Many times there are professionals in a conference seminar who ask the questions not to help clarify the presentation, but to 1) trip up or prove the presenter wrong, usually starting with "in MY experience"; or 2) to make the questioner look more important in the eyes of the attendees.

 

[Jennasis]

Same thing sort of happened the other night. I was at a meeting (a volunteer committee for a government office) and while we were going over new business, at the end of each subject, the Chair would ask "any questions?" and without fail each and every time after a stretch of silence from everyone the one little old lady in the group would pipe up with some question that neither she nor any of us needed to know in relation to the subject at hand. The meeting was running long and we all wanted to get the heck outta dodge, but I figured the meeting was probably the highlight of her week and she just wanted a little more interaction.

 

[mad madam mim78]

Ok, I do realize.... and I'm serious about this... that I probably have undiagnosed adult ADD, but I have to just vent a little here. When a speaker asks "any questions," please take a fraction of a second to think about whether your question will benefit the entire group. Please do not pose a 5-minute long question. Please save your questions for later if the session has already run long. Please realize that you do not get bonus points just for asking questions and understand that multiple questions will not earn you more friends (so refrain from the stupid questions!!.) Please know the difference between a statement and a question. And please keep in mind that this will almost certainly not be your last opportunity to ask your question - the telephone and email are magical inventions - have mercy on people like me, desperate to escape this session! We may be smiling, but we are dying inside each time a hand goes up.

And may God bless the presenters who have the guts to say "that's it for the questions." You are a rare and precious breed!

Can you tell that I've been traumatized by the department "questioners!"

Thanks for listening, I have nothing further and will not be taking questions

OMG I totally feel you!! People asking complete irrelevant questions just so they can hear themselves talk. And it's always at the end of the lecture and you know if everybody would just shut up you could get out I there and move on with your life!! Some people just need to be validated. Even if it means wasting everyone elses time.

 

[Mokat76]

Sounds like you need to get over yourself. The people posing the questions are, most likely, not doing it to inconvenience or annoy you, but for their own edification. Who are you to judge whether they should be asking questions?

Really? You've never been in an endless meeting where someone wants to play stump the speaker or get into their personal needs questions? I envy you.

If you have a legitimate question that pertains to most or all of the audience, ask away, but if you're going to ask a question that pertains only to you or that you clearly are posing just to prove how smart you are, just pipe down. The rest of us have lives to lead, work to get back to or maybe just need to go to the bathroom.

 

[DeaverTex]

Amen.

 

[Ginny Favers]

Ok, I do realize.... and I'm serious about this... that I probably have undiagnosed adult ADD, but I have to just vent a little here. When a speaker asks "any questions," please take a fraction of a second to think about whether your question will benefit the entire group. Please do not pose a 5-minute long question. Please save your questions for later if the session has already run long. Please realize that you do not get bonus points just for asking questions and understand that multiple questions will not earn you more friends (so refrain from the stupid questions!!.) Please know the difference between a statement and a question. And please keep in mind that this will almost certainly not be your last opportunity to ask your question - the telephone and email are magical inventions - have mercy on people like me, desperate to escape this session! We may be smiling, but we are dying inside each time a hand goes up.

And may God bless the presenters who have the guts to say "that's it for the questions." You are a rare and precious breed!

Can you tell that I've been traumatized by the department "questioners!"

Thanks for listening, I have nothing further and will not be taking questions

I'm with you, OP. I speak at events often, and in every group there inevitably has to be someone who asks some 4-part question that will take me forever to answer, and the answer wouldn't benefit anyone else. I usually tell that person to come up and see me afterwards, so we can discuss it. And they always do and chew my ear off for hours, but at least the audience is excused!

 

[Mariep26]

Totally agree. I work with one guy who constantly waits with his question until the end (regardless of the opportunities in the middle to ask) and then no one understands what he is asking. I can practically hear the collective groan when he speaks up.

 

[SC Minnie]

We have one guy in our dept that will ask a question or make a statement at the end of every. single. meeting. And these statements are always reiterating what someone else said, that everyone heard. This guy just wants to be the last person heard. And no matter what, if there is a presenation he will ask a question. Even if the presentation was on your ABC's. He likes to be noticed.

 

[sam_gordon]

Really? You've never been in an endless meeting where someone wants to play stump the speaker or get into their personal needs questions? I envy you.

If you have a legitimate question that pertains to most or all of the audience, ask away, but if you're going to ask a question that pertains only to you or that you clearly are posing just to prove how smart you are, just pipe down. The rest of us have lives to lead, work to get back to or maybe just need to go to the bathroom.

How do you know a question only pertains to you? You don't know whether other people have the same question/issue. Yes, I've been to meetings where I understood everything presented, it's as simple as can be, and someone wants to "clarify" an issue. Not everyone is as smart as I am.

 

[ckay87]

How do you know a question only pertains to you? You don't know whether other people have the same question/issue. Yes, I've been to meetings where I understood everything presented, it's as simple as can be, and someone wants to "clarify" an issue. Not everyone is as smart as me.

Very good point... it is a matter of patience and I admit that I have very little.

 

[rgf207]

Remember. There is no such thing as a stupid question....only stupid people.

 

[MissMichigan]

Certainly feel your pain, OP. It does seem like there is always one person that just wants to talk to hear their voice, or make everyone else hear it. There was a student in my JROTC program that fit this bill.

Every so often, we'd have a guest speaker in class to talk to us about what military life is really like, or something like that. This kid, no matter what the speaker was saying, would inevitably ask questions like "how many people have you killed?" and "what guns do you have?". The poor guy would be talking about military housing, and ask if there were any question, and that's what this kid would ask. And not just once, every time the speaker asked if there were questions, this kid would pipe up.

Same program, but years later when my Xh was the guest speaker. He was talking about his experience in basic training and asked if there were any questions, and one kid raised his hand and asked "Did you know my sister? She went to this high school too."

Stuff like that does nothing for anyone but the person asking the un-needed question. It doesn't add to the speech or lecture, and no one else listening gains anything from it. It just eats up time that could be used for actual information, or for getting everyone out on time.

 

[FireDancer]

 

[lovin'fl]

I was recently at a meeting for newly homeschooling parents. It was a meeting given by our county school system's home school administrator. If we are being overseen by the county school system (as opposed to a church group) we have to follow specific guidelines and the meeting was to inform us exactly what and how to do it. There was one mom (who said she'd been home schooling for 10 years so why was she even there) who kept asking questions that she knew the answer to but she didn't like the answer (she made that clear). She'd go on to ask why that was the answer and explain why it was no good and continue to question (argue really) the guidelines set forth by the county school system. I just wanted to get through the meeting and know exactly what is expected of us and get home. This was not the time and place to argue for change as this was only an informative meeting and not any kind of voting or policy making.

 

[FLCyndi]

There is always one in every bunch.

 

[PrincessKsMom]

While I do understand where the OP is coming from, I also believe that sometimes you don't realize you have a question or concern until someone else speaks up. It might not be anything you've considered until another person asks a question, which leads to a further discussion.

Don't ask if anyone has any questions if you don't really want any questions. Just like don't ask for someone's opinion if you don't want it.

Reminds me of the Parent Teacher night where a teacher is telling the OP she doesn't want/need to meet with her. Hate to tell you but you can't pick and choose who will show up just like you can't pick and chose who will ask questions.