When I first started teaching database sessions at conferences, I noticed a pattern.

When I finished the session, closed PowerPoint, and thanked everyone for attending, a big queue of attendees would instantly start forming at the podium. People would line up to ask private questions, one at a time.

And simultaneously, a small audience would form – people who wanted to hear every question and answer, but didn’t actually want to ask any questions of their own.

As a presenter, that sucked. There were sessions where I couldn’t leave the room until two hours after my scheduled time was over. Several different people in line would ask the exact same question, but because the line was long, they wouldn’t hear that the question had already been asked and answered, so I’d have to repeat it again.

So I came up with a better solution – for me, at least, and maybe it’ll work for you.

Whenever I’m teaching a day-long pre-conference class at a conference, I start with a few logistics slides. I explain what the attendees will learn during the class, how bio breaks will work, and that questions are welcome at any time through the day. Just raise your hand whenever, and we’ll cover your questions right there, as long as they’re related to what we’re discussing.

However, I explain that I have three rules.

First, I can’t take any private questions during bio breaks. I need to pee too, and I have to set up the demos for the next module. Without this, my bio breaks would be utterly frantic. Even WITH this, I still get people coming up during the bio breaks, and I have to gently remind them to raise their hands during the class because I need the break time to set up.

Second, the day will finish with an hour of open Q&A. I aim to end the class at around 4PM, and at that time, we’ll take a short 5-minute bio break. People who want to pack up and leave to beat rush hour traffic or catch a train are welcome to pack up and go, because the official training material is done. People who want to ask questions are welcome to stay, and the rest of the time is spent doing totally open Q&A. Any questions are welcome, whether they’re related to the training material or not – you’re welcome to ask whatever question has been giving you trouble at work.

Third, when the open Q&A is over, there are no private questions allowed. I’ll stand and answer questions as long as people keep asking them, but when you stop asking questions, THE CLASS IS OVER. I will thank everyone for attending, and I’ll pack up my laptop and go. If there’s a question you don’t feel comfortable saying in front of the group, you’re welcome to email me at help@brentozar.com, and I’ll hit that after I get home from the conference. (They’re given specific things to include with their help email, and told that if they don’t include those things, they’ll get my standard template response that suggests ways they can get help for free.) I make a joke out of it by saying, “When open Q&A is over, I’m going directly to my hotel room for a bottle of wine to recover, and you are not going to stand in between me and that wine.”

This reshapes the end of the training class.

I announce that the training material’s done, and that we’re going to take a 5-minute break so folks who want to leave can pack up and head out, and then we’ll switch to the open Q&A portion. I thank everyone for coming today, and take a bow, and the “finishing” round of applause hits. I put a 5-minute timer up on the screen, and I close all my apps so people can see that we’re done with that.

Then, when the open Q&A starts up, it’s genuinely fun. People understand that we can jump around to any topic they’re interested in, and the more questions they hear, the more comfortable they seem to be in posing their own.

But as the questions start to slow down after a while, I have to remind folks about Rule #3. I’ve learned over the years that if I don’t keep repeating it as the questions taper down, there’s always gonna be somebody who tries to pull me aside afterwards to say. “Hey, I just had a few quick questions,” and then they open up a Word doc with a wall of questions their boss sent them to class with.

As the Q&A slows down, as we approach 5PM, I’ll say in a joking tone, “Going once… going twice… any more questions? Remember, after this is over, I’m going to pack my laptop up, go to my hotel, and order room service and a bottle of wine, because I need to recover. When there are no more questions, this class is over, and there will be NO PRIVATE QUESTIONS, remember? You’re not going to line up and accost me afterwards, right? Any more questions?” I genuinely want to hit every single question, and I want everyone in the audience to learn from every question. Questions and answers are so much fun – heck, that’s even part of why I do so many of them in my Office Hours videos, and clearly thousands of y’all love watching me answer other peoples’ questions.

Eventually, the questions stop, and I close things out by thanking everyone for coming, and wishing them a safe drive home. I close my laptop, yank the HDMI cable out, and as I’m putting the laptop in the bag, at least a couple people still line up, every single time. I still say, “No, sorry, remember, we talked about this, we’re not doing private questions.” And they say the same thing every time – “yes but it’s just one question…”

By writing this blog post, I don’t expect anything to change. The people asking these questions aren’t listening to my instructions right there in front of the room, spoken out loud. They’re sure as hell not reading blog posts like this proactively, and filing that information away in their mind for whenever they see me at a pre-conference class. But those of you who are loyal long-term readers, the ones who really do pay attention, will see what happens, and you’ll smile and nod at me when it happens, because you’ll remember this blog post. And we’ll share a smile and a chuckle while I try to politely pack up my laptop bag and go home.

Wanna see me in action? I’m teaching an all-day training course at SQLBits called Dev/Prod Demon Hunters, and here’s how it’ll work.