hold the room.

Glossary

What? So what? Now what?

A three-sentence answer for any surprise question: what the thing is, why it matters to them, and what happens next.

From the lesson

The fear is the first three seconds

The fear in an unexpected question is not the question. It is the three seconds where you don’t know how to start. Teachers of spontaneous speaking solve that with a structure you can reach for blind: What? So what? Now what? “What” is the thing. “So what” is why it matters to them. “Now what” is what happens next. Three sentences, and you sound as if you had prepared.

Day 22 · Quick on Your Feet: How to answer unexpected questions: what, so what, now what

Drill step 1

Open Speak and choose Pressure in Options. It gives you a random question and five seconds to start. Answer in What, So what, Now what. 45 seconds max.

Day 22 · Quick on Your Feet: How to answer unexpected questions: what, so what, now what

Where it is taught

In practice

Examples from the course that use it.

In the all-hands Q&A

The CEO turns to you. One second, then you start. What, so what, now what. The second before you spoke was the pause, and nobody in the room counted it. Last quarter you would have said “um, so” for the same second.

In the office Day 22 · Quick on Your Feet

What, so what, now what

On the transcript the three sentences are there, in order. It read like you prepared it. You did not.

Example Day 22 · Quick on Your Feet

Related terms

  • FillersSounds that fill a gap while you think: um, uh, like, you know. Try a short pause instead. Speak shows them as ums.
  • BridgeA short phrase that buys you thinking time without “um”, like “The short answer is…” or “There are two parts to that”.
  • UmsSounds that fill a gap while you think: um, uh, er, like, you know. Speak counts the ones you tap and the ones in what you type. Try a short pause instead.

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