# 417 | How great leaders handle questions they can’t answer

An episode of [The Art of Speaking Up](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1436888741), 26 May 2026, 13 min.

Audio: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2630838/episodes/19505512-417-how-great-leaders-handle-questions-they-can-t-answer.mp3

You're in a meeting. Someone asks you a question you don't know the answer to. What do you do? In this episode, I'm teaching you 4 "time-stopping techniques" — communication tactics that buy you time, protect your credibility, and help you respond with confidence when you're put on the spot at work. You'll learn: • The Validation technique • The Open-Ended Probe • The Closed-Ended Probe • The Future Over-Deliver These are the exact tactics leaders use to handle tough questions while maintaining their credibility. Grab the free Bias to Action Worksheet: https://jessguzikcoaching.com/biastoaction/

## Transcript

[0:00] SPEAKER_00: You're in a meeting, a stakeholder turns to you and asks you a question that you don't know the answer to.
[0:05] SPEAKER_00: In that moment, if you could have one wish, it would be to snap your fingers and freeze time so that you can think of how to respond to the question.
[0:14] SPEAKER_00: In today's episode, I am granting you that wish.
[0:18] SPEAKER_00: Today I'm going to teach you something called time-stopping techniques.
[0:23] SPEAKER_00: Time-stopping techniques are communication tactics that you can use to buy yourself time and slow down the conversation when you get asked a tough question so that you have a minute to collect your thoughts and answer with confidence.
[0:39] SPEAKER_00: By the end of this episode, you're going to have a toolkit that you can lean on anytime you get put on the spot and asked a tough question.
[0:48] SPEAKER_00: If you're new to the show, by the way, welcome.
[0:51] SPEAKER_00: I'm Jessica Guzzick.
[0:52] SPEAKER_00: I'm a prior McKinsey consultant and a current New York Times featured podcast host.
[0:58] SPEAKER_00: I'm also a coach for professional women.
[1:01] SPEAKER_00: I help working women find their voices as leaders and build deep confidence so they can take up more space at work.
[1:11] SPEAKER_00: The first of the four time stopping techniques that I'm going to be teaching you is validation.
[1:16] SPEAKER_00: This is the easiest one, and it's the one that you're going to use most often because you can pretty much use it for any type of question that you get asked.
[1:25] SPEAKER_00: Validation is where you tell the stakeholder that the question they asked you is a good question.
[1:33] SPEAKER_00: So let's say you presented a slide and then Bob, your coworker, turns to you and says, I appreciate you walking us through this project plan, but what would be the investment required to speed up the execution of the plan by four to six weeks?
[1:49] SPEAKER_00: Now, in that moment, you might panic and you might think to yourself, oh my God, I don't know.
[1:54] SPEAKER_00: I haven't looked at that.
[1:55] SPEAKER_00: I don't have the answer.
[1:57] SPEAKER_00: This is the perfect moment to stop time by validating Bob's question.
[2:03] SPEAKER_00: So you might say something like, That's a great question, Bob.
[2:07] SPEAKER_00: Executing quickly is definitely a priority right now.
[2:11] SPEAKER_00: So it makes sense for us to take a closer look at the timeline and the investment that would be required to speed it up.
[2:18] SPEAKER_00: Now, noticed how I haven't actually shared any new information.
[2:23] SPEAKER_00: However, this response will make you look good as a leader.
[2:30] SPEAKER_00: Because when you validate Bob's question, you're showing Bob and everyone in the room that you are a big picture strategic thinker.
[2:39] SPEAKER_00: You're showing them that you understand how this question plugs into the bigger priorities of the business.
[2:45] SPEAKER_00: So even though you're not coming back to Bob with the answer that he asked you for, you're coming back to him with a response that increases your credibility.
[2:55] SPEAKER_00: And Bob is going to like it when you share this because you're praising Bob's intellect.
[3:02] SPEAKER_00: You're saying, great question, Bob.
[3:03] SPEAKER_00: That was really smart of you, Bob.
[3:05] SPEAKER_00: So Bob isn't going to be thinking, oh my gosh, why is she taking so long to answer my question?
[3:10] SPEAKER_00: Bob is going to be thinking, yes, I am very smart.
[3:14] SPEAKER_00: Thank you for reminding me of that.
[3:16] SPEAKER_00: Now you might be thinking, this validation tool sounds great, but it doesn't sound like it stops time for that long.
[3:26] SPEAKER_00: It only buys me a few extra seconds when I stop and tell the stakeholder that I think they asked a great question.
[3:34] SPEAKER_00: Now, the good news and the really fun thing about time-stopping techniques is you can stack them on top of one another.
[3:43] SPEAKER_00: Just because you validated doesn't mean you're done stopping time.
[3:48] SPEAKER_00: You can now layer on another time stopping technique to buy yourself even more time.
[3:55] SPEAKER_00: And that brings us to technique number two, which is called the open-ended probe.
[4:02] SPEAKER_00: The open-ended probe is one of the most powerful time-stopping techniques in that it gives you the most amount of time.
[4:12] SPEAKER_00: This is when you ask the stakeholder an open-ended probing question about their question.
[4:21] SPEAKER_00: So they asked you a question, and now you come back to them with another question about their question.
[4:28] SPEAKER_00: So here's what this would look like.
[4:30] SPEAKER_00: Let's stick with the same example of Bob saying, what would be the investment required to speed up this project by four to six weeks?
[4:40] SPEAKER_00: So first, I'd validate and I'd say, that's a great question, Bob.
[4:44] SPEAKER_00: Speed is super important when it comes to this project.
[4:47] SPEAKER_00: And then I'd stack the open-ended probe on top of that.
[4:52] SPEAKER_00: And I'd say something like, Can you share more of your thoughts about the ideal timeline?
[4:58] SPEAKER_00: I have now taken the question that Bob threw at me and I threw it back at him.
[5:05] SPEAKER_00: And this is where time stops because now Bob is going to start talking.
[5:11] SPEAKER_00: He's going to answer your question, and you get time to gather your thoughts and figure out what you want to say next.
[5:19] SPEAKER_00: And this probing question makes you look strategic.
[5:23] SPEAKER_00: You're demonstrating interest in what matters to Bob.
[5:26] SPEAKER_00: This is one of the most powerful things that you can do when it comes to persuasion.
[5:31] SPEAKER_00: When you show genuine interest and investment in your stakeholders, and when you respond to their questions by saying, Tell me more, I'd love to understand more about this, that is music to their ears.
[5:44] SPEAKER_00: They're not going to hear that as, oh my gosh, she doesn't know the answer to my question.
[5:49] SPEAKER_00: So she's using a time-stopping technique.
[5:51] SPEAKER_00: How dare she?
[5:53] SPEAKER_00: They're going to hear it as she's listening, she's strategic, and she cares.
[5:58] SPEAKER_00: So one of the best things about these time-stopping techniques is that in addition to stopping time, they also make you look good.
[6:06] SPEAKER_00: Now, the third time-stopping technique is what I call the closed-ended probe.
[6:12] SPEAKER_00: Before I walk you through it, I want to let you know about a free resource that I created.
[6:17] SPEAKER_00: It's called the Bias to Action Worksheet.
[6:20] SPEAKER_00: One of the traits that will help you grow your reputation as a leader is a trait called bias to action.
[6:26] SPEAKER_00: It means that you are someone who knows how to get results and get things done in the room.
[6:33] SPEAKER_00: When you demonstrate bias to action, people don't just see you as someone who's in the room speaking, they see you as someone who's in the room leading.
[6:43] SPEAKER_00: The bias to action worksheet teaches you how to speak in a way that demonstrates bias to action so that people start viewing you as a leader.
[6:52] SPEAKER_00: It is completely free and you can grab it by clicking the link in the description box or in the show notes.
[6:58] SPEAKER_00: And now we're going to get into the third time-stopping technique, which I call the closed-ended probe.
[7:05] SPEAKER_00: And it is closely related to the open-ended probe.
[7:09] SPEAKER_00: So you'll recall with the open-ended probe, when you get asked the hard question, you come back at the stakeholder and you ask them an open-ended question that gets them talking so that you have time to think.
[7:20] SPEAKER_00: The closed-ended probe is similar in that you're still coming back with a question, but instead of an open-ended question, you give them finite options.
[7:29] SPEAKER_00: So going back to the Bob example where Bob says, Hey, what would be the cost to speed up this timeline by four to six weeks?
[7:37] SPEAKER_00: If I wanted to do a closed-ended probe, I would say something like, Great question, Bob.
[7:42] SPEAKER_00: Do you want the month-by-month numbers?
[7:45] SPEAKER_00: Or are you interested in the high-level answer?
[7:48] SPEAKER_00: What I'm doing with the closed-ended probe is I'm giving my stakeholder two options.
[7:53] SPEAKER_00: I'm letting them choose if they want a super general answer or a super detailed answer.
[8:01] SPEAKER_00: Here's why this is so effective.
[8:04] SPEAKER_00: 80% of the time, your senior level stakeholder is not going to want the detailed answer.
[8:11] SPEAKER_00: Executives are inundated with information all throughout the day, and they tend to prefer things that are high level because it's easier for them to process.
[8:21] SPEAKER_00: So there is a high likelihood that Bob is going to say, oh, interesting.
[8:26] SPEAKER_00: I think I just want the high-level view.
[8:28] SPEAKER_00: And in that case, I might be able to come up with an answer for Bob.
[8:32] SPEAKER_00: And I might say something like, Great, well, I can tell you for sure that if we speed up the project by four to six weeks, it's going to increase our costs.
[8:41] SPEAKER_00: It probably won't double our costs, but we'll definitely see a substantial increase.
[8:46] SPEAKER_00: So now I've been able to provide Bob with value, even though I don't have the exact detailed answer.
[8:54] SPEAKER_00: The closed-ended probe is really good for questions where you know part of the answer, but you don't have the exact number or the exact thing that the stakeholder is looking for.
[9:07] SPEAKER_00: And something really important to keep in mind is that they don't always want all of those details.
[9:13] SPEAKER_00: And a lot of times when you get asked that hard question, you panic because you think you need to have every single piece of information at the ready.
[9:21] SPEAKER_00: When in fact, very often your stakeholder will be satisfied with that higher level answer.
[9:28] SPEAKER_00: Now, you might be thinking, Jess, what if they tell me that they want the detailed answer?
[9:35] SPEAKER_00: What am I supposed to do?
[9:37] SPEAKER_00: I don't have the detailed answer.
[9:40] SPEAKER_00: And this is where you're going to use time-stopping technique number four, which is the future over-deliver.
[9:48] SPEAKER_00: The future over-deliver is when you promise them an over-deliver to the question that they asked you.
[9:58] SPEAKER_00: So let's say Bob asks that original question of what would it cost to speed up this timeline by four to six weeks?
[10:05] SPEAKER_00: And I decide to use the closed-ended probe and I say to Bob, do you want the high-level answer or the detailed answer?
[10:11] SPEAKER_00: And Bob says, I want the detailed answer.
[10:14] SPEAKER_00: In that moment, I'm going to respond to Bob by promising to over-deliver on that answer.
[10:21] SPEAKER_00: So here's an example of what this might look like.
[10:24] SPEAKER_00: I might say something like, Great, I can break that down for you month by month so that you can see how the costs go up as we move through each phase of the project.
[10:34] SPEAKER_00: I'll also show you a conservative scenario along with an aggressive scenario so you can compare.
[10:41] SPEAKER_00: I'll have my team put that together and get it to you later this afternoon.
[10:46] SPEAKER_00: So, as you can see, I did not answer Bob's question.
[10:50] SPEAKER_00: I did not tell him what the detailed costs would be, but I gave such a vivid, confident description of the answer that I'm going to give him in the future that it felt as if I answered him and I earned almost as much credibility as I would have earned if I had delivered the answer on the spot.
[11:14] SPEAKER_00: This is so important.
[11:16] SPEAKER_00: We think that in order to be impressive, we have to have all of the information right there when our stakeholder wants it.
[11:23] SPEAKER_00: But the thing that really impresses stakeholders is confidence.
[11:28] SPEAKER_00: It's having the confidence to own that you will get them the answer without a hint of apology in your voice.
[11:37] SPEAKER_00: Because you know that leadership isn't about being an encyclopedia.
[11:42] SPEAKER_00: It's about backing yourself and your work.
[11:45] SPEAKER_00: And it's about instilling confidence in your stakeholders that you are going to get them the results and the answers that they need.
[11:54] SPEAKER_00: So, in summary, there are four ways to stop time when you get asked a question that you don't know the answer to.
[12:02] SPEAKER_00: Number one, validate.
[12:04] SPEAKER_00: This is where you tell the stakeholder why you think their question is a great question.
[12:10] SPEAKER_00: Number two, open-ended probe.
[12:13] SPEAKER_00: This is where you ask the stakeholder an open-ended question about their question.
[12:18] SPEAKER_00: So you might say something like, Can you share more of your thoughts on that?
[12:22] SPEAKER_00: Number three, closed-ended probe.
[12:25] SPEAKER_00: This is where you say to the stakeholder, do you want the high-level answer or the detailed answer?
[12:32] SPEAKER_00: And if they say that they want the detailed answer, then you'll also use the fourth time stopping technique, which is called the future over deliver.
[12:42] SPEAKER_00: This is where you promise to get the stakeholder a robust and detailed answer to their question and you deliver it with so much confidence that it feels as though you've answered the question on the spot.
[12:56] SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for tuning into today's episode.
[13:00] SPEAKER_00: Make sure you're subscribed to the show so you don't miss the weekly episodes.
[13:05] SPEAKER_00: And if you found this helpful, share it with a friend or a coworker who is also up leveling their voice as a leader.
[13:13] SPEAKER_00: Thank you for tuning in, and I'll catch you in the next one.
[13:16] SPEAKER_00: Bye.

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