q-and-a

When to use

• The questions are the point. The slide that ends a pitch by naming the hard questions and answering them first. Anticipating the objection and closing it on your terms is more persuasive than waiting to be asked — it signals you have already done the thinking.
• Three or four weighty pairs. A few substantive questions, each with a reasoned two-to-three-sentence answer. Past five the answers compress below persuasion; for a long reference list of one-line look-ups use faq or glossary instead.
• Question as prompt, answer as substance. The layout deliberately weights the two unequally — the question is the lighter prompt, the answer is the payoff. Lead each pair with the interrogative line and nest the prepared answer one level under it.

When not to use

• A flat FAQ of one-liners. Six or more terse question/answer pairs you flip back to as a reference belong in faq or glossary, which are built to stack many short look-ups. q-and-a is for a few defended answers, not a help page.
• Rhetorical questions with no answer. Every question needs a nested answer that genuinely closes it. A bare question used as a section header or a hook is a divider or a statement, not a Q&A pair.
• Evaluation criteria in disguise. If the top-level item is a requirement you are scoring against (with a rationale below), that is list-criteria, not a question you expect to be asked. q-and-a defends; list-criteria evaluates.

Common mistakes

• Bolding or otherwise emphasizing the question text. Author the question as plain interrogative text. The layout supplies its own numbered-index and prompt-weight styling — bolding the question doesn't fight it (the lift step already no-ops on an already-bolded lead) but italicizing or otherwise marking it up can nest inside that styling in ways that look inconsistent across questions, so keep it plain.
• Assuming ul vs ol changes which marker or numbering renders. Unlike list, where list type is a real signal, q-and-a indexes questions automatically regardless of list type — ul and ol render identically here, so the choice carries no meaning.

Authoring

<!-- _class: q-and-a -->

## What we expect to be asked.

- First question the audience will raise?
  - The prepared answer — two or three sentences that close it down.
- Second question?
  - The prepared answer.
- Third question?
  - The prepared answer.

Slots

Anatomy

┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  header                                 │
│       What we expect to be asked.       │
│                                         │
│  Q  Why not wait two quarters?          │
│  A  The window closes in Q3.            │
│                                         │
│  Q  What if pricing shifts?             │
│  A  Contracts lock 2026 rates.          │
│                                         │
│  footer                           1/19  │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘

Variant decision rule

• default (no modifier) — Three or four pairs read fine as a plain vertical stack — the base look needs no extra structure.
• spine — The pairs want a strong visual throughline connecting question to question — threads them down an accent spine.
• rail — Questions should be scannable as a left-hand index while answers sit in their own column.
• tab — Each question should read as a labeled tab with its answer folding directly beneath it.
• grid — Exactly four pairs fit naturally into a two-by-two — an even count, not five or three.
• solo — One single question is weighty enough to deserve the entire slide.

Variants

<!-- _class: q-and-a spine -->

## spine threads the pairs down an accent spine.

- How long may a question run?
  - One line.
- And the answer?
  - Four words or so.
- How many pairs fit?
  - Five; six is the ceiling.

<!-- _class: q-and-a rail -->

## rail hangs the questions on a left rail.

- How long may a question run?
  - One line.
- And the answer?
  - Four words or so.
- How many pairs fit?
  - Five; six is the ceiling.

<!-- _class: q-and-a tab -->

## tab folds each answer under a question tab.

- How long may a question run?
  - One line.
- And the answer?
  - Four words or so.
- How many pairs fit?
  - Five; six is the ceiling.

<!-- _class: q-and-a grid -->

## grid deals the pairs into two columns.

- How long may a question run?
  - One line.
- And the answer?
  - Four words or so.
- How many pairs fit?
  - Five; six is the ceiling.
- Why four pairs here?
  - Grids want even counts.

<!-- _class: q-and-a solo -->

## solo gives one question the whole slide.

- What does solo change?
  - One pair, full canvas.

Related

• faqmany terse reference questions to flip back to, not a few weighty defenses
• glossaryterm/definition reference pairs rather than question/answer pairs
• list-criterianumbered criteria with rationale — evaluation, not anticipated objections
• cards-stackparallel co-equal cards with no question/answer role split
• decisiona single verdict to state rather than a set of questions to defend