Index

A

accountability, 142, 154

acquisitions, 157

Active Listening, 46, 60, 139

physical listening and, 56–58

Roman Columns, identifying, 50–56

subvocalization, 56

Affirm Holdings, 163

Alito, Samuel, 26, 175

Allianz, 88

answering questions. See also special questions

deafness ruse, 59

evasion, 113–122, 141–142

McNamara on, 113–114

“No comment,” 117

reasons to decline an answer, 121

spin Buffer, 114

“whataboutism,” 114

“Return to Sender,” 60, 99–100

anticipation, preparation and, 25–27

Apple, 144–145

Audience Advocacy, xviii

audience perception, 16–17, 20–21, 38, 81. See also presenter behavior/audience perception dynamic

of certainty, 114

authority, questioning, 5

Avio, 74

B

Bastian, Ed, 83–84

Baumann, Werner, 162–163

Bayer Pharmaceutical company, 162–163

Bellet, David, 12, 21

Better, 72

Benioff, Mark, 75, 156–157

Bilirakis, Gus Michael, 133–135

BlackBerry, 18, 116. See also Lazaridis, Mike

Blankespoor, Elizabeth, 15

BMW, 102–103

Boehner, John, 8

Boeing, 78–79

Bork, Robert, 25

Bourla, Albert, 165–166

BP (British Petroleum), 4

Brand, Rachel, 177

“Breaking into Jail,” 142–143

Brennan, Morgan, 163–164

British Bankers Association, 87

Brooks, David, 58

Buffering, 1, 74–76, 88–91, 93, 113, 132, 144–145, 158, 181–182. See also challenging questions, answering

benefits of, 89–91

for competition/differentiation issues, 66, 70–71

for contingencies, 68–69, 73, 85

Double, 96–97

for growth/outlook issues, 68, 73

Key Words, 86, 101–109, 120

for multiple questions, 82–83

for negative questions, 78

paraphrasing, 101–102

positioning, 64, 105

for price/cost issues, 65–66, 70

for problem issues, 69–70, 74

for qualifications/capability issues, 66, 71–72

spin, 114

for timing issues, 67–68, 72

Topspin and, 155

Triple Fail-Safe, 99–100

Verbalization and, 175–176

Bush, George H. W., 41–47, 49, 53, 55, 58, 114, 140–141, 146. See also Presidential Debates, 1992

Bush, George W., 135

businesspeople, tough questions and, 10

C

Cadbury Schweppes, 116–118

Calacanis, Jason, 159–161

CamConnect, 57

Canva, 159–161

Carlyle Group, 57

CarMax, 168–169

Carroll, Lewis (Through the Looking-Glass), 114

Cartesian method, 10

Carville, James, 53

CBS, Mike Wallace, xvi–xvii, 6–8

CD PROJEKT, 84–85

CDC, 118–120

CEOs, 26

startup, 140–142, 145–146

CFOs, 26

challenging questions, answering. See also tough questions

about presented content, 89–90

irrelevant questions, 80

multiple questions, 81–86

negative questions, 78–79

statements, 86–88

Channel 4 (Britain), Jon Snow, 87

Cicero, Marcus Tullius, 28

Cisco

Chuck Robbins, 75

Helene Poirier, 10

Clapp, Geoff, 72

Class V Group, 12

Clay, William, 16–17

Cleveland Cliffs, 19–20

Clinton, Bill, 41, 44, 46, 53–57. See also 1992 Presidential Debate

Code Media Conference, Roger Lynch, 82

company-specific questions, 74–76

competition/differentiation

answering questions about, 66

Suasive Q&A Cycle and, 158–161

Complete the Arc, 94

Condé Nast, 82–83

contentious behavior, 62, 63

audience perception and, 20–21

Lourenco Goncalves, 19–20

Mike Lazaridis interview, 18–19

contingencies

answering questions about, 68–69, 85

Suasive Q&A Cycle and, 168–169

Covid-19, 11, 70, 118, 165, 169

Cramer, Jim, 126, 156–157

critical thinking, 5, 10

Crown Advisors, 12

Cusick, Phil, 128–129

D

deafness ruse, 59

declarative statements, 114

defensive behavior, 16–17

audience perception and, 20–21

John Stumpf Senate testimony, 17–18

Mark McGwire Senate testimony, 16–17

Delta Airlines, 83–84

Deutsche Bank, 79, 143–144

Dimon, Jamie, 161

distilling questions, 40–41, 48. See also listening

preparation and, 27

red flags, 28

Dorsey, Jack, 133–135

Double Buffers, 96–99

downstream questions, answering, 139–140

E

Edwards, Anna, 162–163

El-Erian, Mohamed, 88

Enron, 137

Epictetus, 47

Eubanks, Shawn, 90

evasive answers, 114, 115–122, 141–142

McNamara on, 113–114

“No comment,” 117

reasons to decline an answer, 121

spin Buffer, 114

“whataboutism,” 114

Extended Stay America, 73

eye contact, 57

EyeConnect, 97, 99–100

F

Facebook, 135–137

false assumption questions, 132–135

fast thinking, 39, 48, 81, 177. See also Daniel Kahneman

Fog of War, The, 113

forward-looking questions, answering, 139

Franklin, Benjamin, 5

Freshworks, 174–175. See also Girish Mathrubootham, Jayne Gonzales, and Tyler Sloat

Frost, Wilfred, 143–144

G

Gibson, Scott, 177

Goncalves, Lourenco, 19–20, 62

Goodell, Roger, 120

Google, 178

Gonzales, Jayne, 174

“gotcha” questions, 6

Grande, Ariana, 80–81, 132

growth/outlook

answering questions about, 68

Suasive Q&A Cycle and, 166–167

Grubman, Richard, 137–138

“Guilty as Charged” questions, 140–142

in action, 143–145

benefits of, 147

“Breaking into Jail,” 142

Guru-Murthy, Krishnan, interview with Quentin Tarantino, 8–10

H

hair-trigger answers, 45–46

Hall, Ronald, 107, 132, 134

Hammond, Ed, 161

handling tough questions, 12–13

Harlow, Poppy, 75

Hasse, Bruce, 73

Hastings, Reed, 74–75, 127, 159

Hayward, Tony, 4

head nods, 97

HealthSouth, 6. See also Scrushy, Richard

Hendricks, Brad, 15

Hewitt, Don, 24

Hopwood, Mike, 177

hostile questions, 140

answering, 65–68, 140–142

I

Instacart, 170

interpersonal relationships, listening, 38

IPO roadshows, 4, 10–11, 15, 26, 29, 151

IPOs

CEOs and, 2

NetRoadshow, 11

public investors, 12

“Risk Factors” section, 142

irrelevant questions, 80

Irwin, Brad, 116–118

Izquivel, Jesus, 108

J

Jeong, Suji, 168–169

Jobs, Steve, 144–145

journalism, 6, 145

tough questions and, 5–10

J.P. Morgan, 128

JPMorgan Chase, 161

Juenger, Todd, 74–75

K

Kahneman, Daniel, Thinking, Fast and Slow, 39

Kennedy, John. F., 2

Kennedy, Ted, 25

Kennedy-Nixon debate, 2–3, 24–25

Kernen, Joe, 118

Kessler, Andy, 107, 132

Key Words, 29, 86, 101–109, 113, 120. See also Buffering

Khosrowshahi, Dara, 70–71, 157–158

Kiciński, Adam, 84–85

Kirsanov, Dmitry, 104

Knight, Angela, 87–88

Koenig, Mark, 137–138

Krueger, Harald, 102–103

Kurtzleben, Danielle, 114

L

Lazaridis, Mike, 18–19, 115–116

Leary, Timothy, 5

Lebowitz, Fran, 37

Lee, Bruce, 149

Legere, John, 128

Levchin, Max, 163–164

listening, 37, 41–44, 48. See also Active Listening

active, 46

identifying Roman columns, 50–56

subvocalization, 56

physical, 56–58

Roman Columns and, 50–56

Loney, Dan, 88

Lopatin, Uri, 151

Lucid Motors, 127–128

Lynch, Roger, 82–83

Lynley, Matthew, 164–165

M

Mackenzie, Tom, 102–103

Mathrubootham, Girish, 174–175

McDowell, Greg, 166–167

McGwire, Mark, 16–17

McNamara, Robert, 113–114, 150

Mehta, Apoorva, 170

Merwin, Chris, 132

Microsoft, 39–40

Mill, John Stuart, 77

Miller, Greg, 15

Monroe, James, 31

Mossberg, Walt, 115–116

Muilenberg, Dennis, 78–79

multiple questions, answering, 81–86

Munoz, Oscar, 153–154

murder boards, U.S. Supreme Court, 26

Musk, Elon, 40, 50, 76

N

Nadella, Satya, 39, 50

Nash, William, 168–169

negative questions, answering, 78–79

Netflix, 70, 127, 159

NetRoadshow, 11. See also IPO Roadshow Study

news media, 6

NFL, 120

Nixon, Richard, 2, 17–18. See also Presidential Debates, 1960

NLP (natural language processing), 151

NPR, 114

O

Ocasio-Cortez, Alexandria, 136–137, 138

Okonjo-Iweala, Ngozi, 71, 162

open-ended questions, 59–60

Osterweis Capital Management, 90

P

paraphrasing, 113–114

Double Buffers, 96–99

Triple Fail-Safe, 99–100

Pardes Biosciences, 151

parity, 75

Patronizing Paraphrase, 95–96, 115–116

PayPal, 163

Pegoraro, Rob, 116

perception, 2

Perkins, Melanie, 159–161

Perot, H. Ross, 41, 45–46, 51–52, 55. See also Presidential Debates, 1982

persuasion

Point B and WIIFY, 147

Topspin, 141–148

Pfizer, 165–166

Pfrang, Leslie, 12, 26

physical listening, 56–58

Pichai, Sundar, 178

Pinterest, 164–165

Pluralsight, 175

PLX Technology, 177

Point B, 147, 150. See also Topspin

Poirier, Helene, 10

Porter, Katie, 118–120

positioning the answer, 29–30

Powell, Colin, 104, 107–108, 131–132, 182

It Worked for Me: In Life and Leadership, 109–110

preparation, 23, 173–175

anticipation, 25–27

distill, 27, 40

position the answer, 29–30

research and, 24–25

worst-case scenario and, 31

presented content, answering questions about, 89–90

presenter behavior/audience perception dynamic, 20–21

contentious behavior, 62, 63

Lourenco Goncalves, 19–20

Mike Lazaridis interview, 18–19

defensive behavior

John Stumpf Senate testimony, 17–18

Mark McGwire Senate testimony, 16–17

Presidential Debates

1960, Kennedy-Nixon, 2, 24

1992, Bush-Clinton-Perot, 41, 50–59

2008, Reagan-Mondale, 171

price/cost

answering questions about, 65–66

Suasive Q&A Cycle and, 156–158

problems

answering questions about, 69–70

Suasive Q&A Cycle and, 169–170

Q

Q&A cycle, 34. See also Suasive Q&A Cycle

answering questions, 123

Suasive, 155–156

Topspin, 141–148, 150–154

yielding the floor, 34–35, 47–49

Q&A sessions, 186–187

asking questions about questions, 59–60

Buffers, 63–65, 74–76

for competition/differentiation issues, 66, 70–71

for contingencies, 68–69, 73

for growth/outlook issues, 68, 73

positioning, 64

for price/cost issues, 65–66, 70

for problem issues, 69–70, 74

for qualifications/capability issues, 66, 71–72

for timing issues, 67–68, 72

contentious behavior and, 18–21

controlling the traffic, 32–33

deafness ruse, 59

defensive behavior and, 16–17

distilling questions, 40–44

hair-trigger answers, 45–46

listening, 41–44

maximum control and, 32

Patronizing Paraphrase, 115–116

positioning the answer, 29–30

recognize the questioner, 33–34

repeating the question, 62

retaking the floor, 61–62

Roman Columns, 50–56

“Rude Q&A,” 26–27

self-consciousness and, 48

setting the ground rules, 32

time management, 32, 127–129

tough questions, why people ask, 5–10

worst-case scenario, preparing for, 31

qualifications/capabilities

answering questions about, 66

Suasive Q&A Cycle and, 161–163

quid pro quo, 122–123, 139, 159

in action, 125–127

Seven Universal Issues and, 124–125

Topspin and, 154–155

Quintanilla, Carl, 127–128

R

rambling, 39

Ranzo, Guilio, 74

Rawlinson, Peter, 127–128

Ray, Neville, 128–129

“Ready, Fire, Aim!,” 45–46

Reagan, Ronald, 25, 171

recognizing the questioner, 33–34

red flags, 28

positioning, 30

seven universal issues, 28–29

Redfield, Robert, 118–120

repeating the question, 62

research, preparation and, 24–25

retaking the floor, 61–62

“Return to Sender,” 60, 99–100

RIM, 115–116

Roberts, John G., 26, 175

Roman Columns, 49, 88, 123, 181–182 See also Buffering

Roman Room Technique, 28

Rubenstein, David, 57–58

“Rude Q&A,” 26–27

S

S&P, 151, 163

Saban, Nick, 121–122

“Safe Harbor” statements, 139

Safire, William, 26, 119

Salameh, Mike, 177

Salesforce.com, 156–157

Schroeder, Alan, 24

Schwarzkopf, Norman, 179–186

Scrushy, Richard, 6–8

SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission), 142

“Safe Harbor” statements, 139

tough questions and, 19

self-consciousness, 48

Senate testimony

John Stumpf, 17–18

Mark McGwire, 16–17

Seven Universal Issues, 28–29, 153, 178. See also Buffering

Compete/Differentiate

Buffers, 66, 70–71

Suasive Q&A Cycle and, 158–161

Contingencies

Buffers, 68–69, 73

Suasive Q&A Cycle and, 168–169

Growth/Outlook

Buffers, 68, 73

Suasive Q&A Cycle and, 166–167

Price/Cost

Buffers, 65–66, 70

Suasive Q&A Cycle and, 156–158

Problems

Buffers, 69–70, 74

Suasive Q&A Cycle and, 169–170

Qualifications/Capabilities

Buffers, 66, 71–72

Suasive Q&A Cycle and, 161–163

Timing

Buffers, 67–68, 72

Suasive Q&A Cycle and, 163–166

Seward, William Henry, 23

Sewing, Christian, 79, 143–144

Shakespeare, William, 176

Shaw, George Bernard, 37

Sierro, Laurent, 71

Silbermann, Ben, 164–165

Simon, Paul, 113

Simpson, Carole, 41, 52

Skilling, Jeffrey, 138

Skonnard, Aaron, 174, 177

Sloat, Tyler, 175

slow thinking, 39

Smucker, Lloyd, 153–154

Snap, 74–75

Snow, Jon, 87–88

Socrates, 5

Socratic method, 5, 10

Sonnenfeld, Jeffrey, 21

Sorkin, Ross, 157

special questions

downstream, 139–140

false assumption, 132–135

forward-looking, 139

“Guilty as Charged,” 140–145, 147

tangential, 131–132

unknown, 135–139

Spiegel, Evan, 74–75

spin Buffer, 114

Squawk Box, 21

startup companies

CEOs, 145–146

hostile questions and, 140–142

statements

declarative, 114

forward-looking, 139

responding to, 86–88

Stelter, Brian, 103–104

Stumpf, John, 17–18, 21

Suasive Q&A Cycle, 155–156, 170–171. See also Topspin

Seven Universal Issues and

Compete/Differentiate, 158–161

Contingencies, 168–169

Growth/Outlook, 166–167

Price/Cost, 156–158

Problems, 169–170

Qualifications/Capabilities, 161–163

Timing, 163–166

Topspin, 47–49, 141–148, 150–154, 171

yielding the floor, 34–35, 47–49, 170–171

subvocalization, 56

Summers, Marisa, 41–42, 43, 47, 50–51, 52, 56–57, 59

Sun Tzu, 63, 179

The Art of War, 149

Swisher, Kara, 74

T

Talend, 166–167

tangential questions, answering, 131–132

Tao of Jeet Kune Do, 149

Tarantino, Quentin, 8–10

Tawfik, Hoda, 105–106, 109

Tesla, 40–41

The Wall Street Journal, 2, 72, 107, 132

Through the Looking-Glass, 114

Time magazine, 8

time management, 32, 127–129

timing

answering questions about, 67–68

Suasive Q&A Cycle and, 163–166

Tirrell, Meg, 165–166

T-Mobile, 128–129

Toomey, Pat, 17–18

Topspin, 47–49, 141–148, 150–154, 171, 182, 184. See also Topspin

Buffering and, 155

quid pro quo answers and, 154–155

Suasive Q&A Cycle, 155–156

Verbalization and, 175–176

tough questions

audience perception and, 20–21

Buffers, 74–76

for competition/differentiation issues, 70–71

for contingencies, 68–69, 73

for growth/outlook issues, 68, 73

positioning, 64

for price/cost issues, 65–66, 70

for problem issues, 69–70, 74

for qualifications/capability issues, 71–72

for timing issues, 72

Cartesian method and, 10

contentious behavior and

Lourenco Goncalves, 19–20

Mike Lazaridis, 18–19

defensive behavior and

John Stumpf Senate testimony, 17–18

Mark McGwire Senate testimony, 16–17

“gotcha” questions, 6

handling, 12–13

SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) and, 19

Socratic method and, 5, 10

why businesspeople ask, 10

why people ask, 5–10

transparency, 154

Trewhitt, Henry, 171

Triple Fail-Safe, 99–100

Tuchen, Mike, 166–167

Tumulty, Karen, 8

Twain, Mark, 13

Twitter, 133–135

Tzuo, Tien, 132

U

Uber Technologies, 70

unauthorized Wells Fargo accounts, 17–18

United Airlines, 153–154

unknown questions, answering, 135–139

U.S. Supreme Court murder boards, 26

V

Vataru, Eddy, 90

Verbalization, 175–178

verbification, 119, 120

Verona Pharma, 168–169

W

Wall Street Journal, The, 2, 72, 107, 132

Wallace, Mike, interview with Richard Scrushy, 6–8

Wang, Xiang, 86

Waters, Maxine, 120

Wells Fargo Bank, 17–18

“whataboutism,” 114

WIIFY (“What’s in it for you?”), 147, 150, 186. See also Topspin

scientific and technical information, 151–153

Wills, Garry, 26

worst-case scenario, preparing for, 31

WTO, 71–72

X

Xiang, Wang, 73

Xiaomi Corporation, 73

Xu, Yingbo, 73, 85

Y-Z

yielding the floor, 34–35, 47–49, 170–171

Yuan, Eric, 103–104

Zaccardelli, David, 168–169

Zhao, Frank, 151

Zoom Video Communications, 103

“Zoombombing,” 103–104

Zuckerberg, Mark, 136–138

Zuora, 132–133