Answer the Question Behind the Question
When caught without a number, answer the adjacent question and surface the real concern.
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 3
- Confidence
- 88%
When you're asked something in real time and don't have the exact answer, defaulting to 'let me get back to you' is often a missed opportunity. Instead, answer in the general direction with what you do know, then probe for the deeper underlying concern driving the question — which the asker may not even be conscious of.
Origin
Taught by Wes Kao as a technique for staying composed in high-stakes real-time conversations.
Core principles
- 01'Let me look into it' is fine and beats making something up, but experienced people can do more
- 02A surface question often sits on top of a deeper, sometimes subconscious concern
- 03Repeated questions on the same topic signal there's a question behind the question
- 04It's the communicator's responsibility to figure out the underlying concern
How to run it
- 1
Answer in the general direction
Rather than deflecting entirely, offer the adjacent information you do have. Asked for last month's mobile percentage you don't know, give the recent quarterly range and trend.
Pro tip 'I don't have that exact number, but last quarter it's been 60-70% and growing' keeps the conversation alive.
Watch out Don't make something up — approximate honestly with what you actually know.
- 2
Probe for the underlying concern
Ask what's driving the question: 'Are you wondering whether we're investing in mobile appropriately, or where's this coming from?'
Pro tip Repeated questions on one topic are a tell that a deeper concern exists.
- 3
Reflect the question back to buy thinking time
Restate what they're asking to confirm understanding — 'let me make sure I understand what you're looking for.' This buys you time, shows the person they're heard, and lets you land on what you do know.
In the wild
An exec asks what percentage of users came from mobile last month. Person A says 'let me look and get back to you.' Person B says 'I don't have that off the top of my head, but last quarter it's been 60-70% and it's grown over the past year — are you wondering whether we're investing in mobile appropriately?'
→ Person B keeps the conversation moving and surfaces the exec's real concern instead of stalling.
Common mistakes
Defaulting to 'I'll get back to you'
For an experienced person with subject-matter confidence, immediately deferring forfeits a chance to keep the conversation productive in the moment.
Is it for you?
Best for
Experienced operators fielding live questions from executives or stakeholders who want to stay composed under pressure.
Not ideal for
Cases where you truly have no adjacent knowledge and any approximation would mislead — then a clean 'let me get back to you' is correct.
From the transcript
“just saying I'll get back to you is sometimes a missed opportunity”
“I call it the question behind the question sometimes you get a question but underneath there's a deeper underlying concern”
“probing, asking for a bit more information, answering in that general direction, and then validating”
From the episode
Become a better communicator: Specific frameworks to improve your clarity, influence, and impact
Wes Kao (coach, entrepreneur, advisor)