For every presentation I have ever given more than once, there are a standard group of questions that come up almost every time. Not every question will come up every time, but at least one or two from the list will. Rather than having to pull the answer from the air for each of these, I developed a process for creating and using FAQ slides.

Step one: Create the slides
The first step to a successful FAQ section is to create both the Q&A slides and add an index to them. The FAQ slides are individual slides or pairs of slides that contain the question and the material you need to share to answer the question. The index slide will have one box or other shape for each question.

As you add FAQ slides, add their titles to the index slide. Once you have FAQ slides built, go back to the index slide and select each shape in turn. While it is highlighted, right click and select Hyperlink. Set the hyperlink to the corresponding Q&A slide.

Step two: Make the slides accessible
My next step is to create a custom show that contains the index slide and all the Q&A slides. Name the custom show “FAQ.”

(Don’t know how to create a custom show? Go to Slide Show / Custom Show. Click New. Select the slides in the left hand list that you want in the show. Click Add. Give the show its name. Click OK and then click Close. Your custom show is all set.)

Now comes the fun part. You don’t really want your audience to know that you have FAQ slides in your presentation. So, you want to create a way to go to the custom show without them even knowing it exists. In one corner of your slide master, add a box that has a background fill (or a 98% fill) and no line. Right click the box and select hyperlink. Set the hyperlink to the FAQ custom show and check the box “Show and Return.”

You now have a spot on the slide where you can click and automatically go to the FAQ index. But, when you get to the index, the audience will see that there are other questions there. You run the risk of them wanting to see all those answers right away. So, how do you use the index to get to your question slide without the audience knowing where you are going?

Select all the shapes and give them a fill of any color, but at 90% transparent. They now won’t show, but will still be able to be clicked.

Step three: Use the index and FAQ slides
When you are presenting and a question comes up, cursor to the FAQ show spot on your current slide. Immediately, cursor to the square that corresponds to the question you want to answer. When the Q&A slide comes up, go through the answer. When you are done with the FAQ entry, press the escape key and you will be back where you were.

Step four: Practice!
I definitely recommend practicing using the FAQ links before you do them before an audience. Once you have the moves down, they will become second nature. One of the best parts about this process is that the audience doesn’t even need to know that you moved out of sequence. All they will see is the FAQ slide come up and then go away.