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Hello Reader 👋

When people ask me what’s the most stressful part of a Finance presentation, I never say “preparing the slides.”

It’s what happens after.
When someone interrupts. Doubts your figures. Brings up another report that, of course, has different numbers. Or asks the one question you hoped wouldn’t come.

This week, I’m sharing the best ways I’ve learned to stay calm, sound credible, and keep the trust in the room when that happens.

And since many of you asked for something more structured, I also released my first professional YouTube video.

That's 10 minutes of practical storytelling guidance you can use right away.

So take a coffee, sit down and read FP&A Stories just like 26k other readers.

This week in FP&A Stories

😐 How to Stay Calm When the Questions Turn Hostile

I’ve had my fair share of presentations that turned into cross-examinations.

You prepare the story, structure the insight, deliver your points...
And then someone cuts in, and you know deep down that it's not to understand, but to challenge.
Not because they care about the numbers, but because they want the room to see them push back.

It used to throw me off completely.

I’d feel my heart race. I’d fumble through my answer. I’d try to win the argument instead of owning the room.

Until I realised: that never works

Presentations aren’t battles, but they can get tense

You’ll deal with people who:

• Bring up old data (or their own data)
• Ask questions you have already answered
• Challenge your assumptions publicly
• Accuse you of being defensive
• Stay completely silent until the last 2 minutes, then throw a grenade

It happens to everyone, and it doesn’t mean your presentation is bad.

It usually means it landed somewhere important.

What Changed for Me

I stopped trying to win when my reaction once backfired at me. I always had an answer but once, I answered badly to someone who was very influential.

In short, this little disagreement prevented me to become a manager during 3 years.

So to avoid that, I started managing the room.

I learned to:

• Stay calm when someone quotes another source
• Reframe questions I already answered
• Acknowledge tension without reacting to it
• Redirect the conversation back to the message
• Admit when I didn’t know — and own it

And most importantly: I realised that fighting for your slides in front of executives is the worst trade-off possible. You have nothing to gain and everything to lose.

A Few Techniques You Can Steal

I summarised my best go-to responses below: the ones I use when things get tense, questions get tricky, or the tone gets sharp

1️⃣ When the question is frustrating

Someone asks what you’ve already answered. Or something banal. Or something completely irrelevant.

📌 What to do:

• Answered it already? Repeat calmly. If it’s informal, offer to summarise after the meeting.
• Too basic to be useful? Keep it short and polite.
• Feels off-track? Acknowledge that it may matter to them — and offer to handle it offline.

📎 Optional bonus:
Add value. Say: “I’d even go one step further by asking…” and shift the focus to something sharper.

2️⃣ When you just don’t know

We’ve all been there. A data point is missing. A definition you forgot. A question you didn’t expect.

📌 What to do:

• Admit it. Calmly. Confidently.
• Say you’ll follow up with the right detail after the session.
• If it’s not your domain, redirect to someone who’s better placed to answer.
• Or push it to a future milestone: “We’ll know more in 4 weeks.”

The win? You don’t fake it. You gain trust. And you don’t carry a wrong answer through the rest of the session.

3️⃣ When they question your data

They’ve seen another report. Or a different number in a dashboard. And now the whole room is watching you.

📌 What to do:

• Stay cool. The point isn’t who’s right — it’s how you handle it.
• Briefly explain your source and where else it's used (e.g. external comms).
• Don’t argue about filters or extracts — just acknowledge the difference and offer to align.

The key is confidence without arrogance. If you show panic, you kill the credibility of everything else you presented.

4️⃣ When the audience expected something else

Someone looks surprised. Then they say it: “This isn’t what I thought this session would be about.”

📌 What to do:

• Use your agenda slide to bring the session back into focus.
• Briefly explain the lens you chose — and why.
• If needed, isolate the objection by asking: “Do others feel the same?” (careful with hierarchy).

Then, either:

• Offer a quick answer if it’s easy
• Or propose a follow-up on the right topic, offline or in another meeting

Don’t fold. But don’t shut the door completely either.

5️⃣ When it gets into a disagreement

Someone clearly disagrees — and it starts to look like an argument.

📌 What to do:

• Don’t fight it. Ever.
• Acknowledge the perspective.
• Say: “Let’s align the assumptions and compare both views.”

Getting into a back-and-forth kills the energy of the room. You won’t win. You’ll just look defensive.
Take the heat out, not up.

6️⃣ The Boomerang Technique

When you’re stuck (either because you don’t have the answer, or you sense a trap) use the boomerang.

📌 Four ways to bounce it back:

• To the asker: “What’s your view on that, since you raised it?”
• To the room: “Does anyone want to weigh in before I answer?”
• To an expert: “That’s more a question for X, who owns the process.”
• To the future: “We’ll know more by next month — I suggest we bring it back then.”

Don’t overuse it. But when used once or twice, it lets you redirect the tension without looking weak.

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See what they think about it

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​If you want to go beyond reporting and start influencing, these will help.

That's a wrap for this week

See you next week!​