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> But I was also pretty appalled at the question asking at the end of each talk. Almost without exception I've always felt like this. It is often downright emb
by tjoff 15y ago
> But I was also pretty appalled at the question asking at the end of each talk.
Almost without exception I've always felt like this. It is often downright embarrassing to witness how the speaker has to stay interested and answer irrelevant or extremely niche questions in front of an audience. It is so bad that I really wonder why anyone, audience or speakers, would ever want to have an Q:A after a talk. Yes it can of course be frustrating if the speaker omitted something important or just should clarify something but even in those cases it is seldom the case that such issues would even surface during an Q:A.
Yes, an Q:A with insightful questions could spark a really interesting discussion and really take the whole talk to the next level - but that is so seldom the case that it just can't be worth it, yet everyone insists on these Q:As.
- jamesbritt 15y agoIt is often downright embarrassing to witness how the speaker has to stay interested and answer irrelevant or extremely niche questions in front of an audience. The speaker has no such obligation. The speaker should consider the audience at large and politely defer niche or obtuse or self-serving questions.
- MichaelApproved 15y agoThough I personally feel this would be perfectly acceptable, the speaker might come off sounding like a jerk to some people. I suggest the moderator "take the bullet" and make a statement similar to this blog and cut out questions that don't follow the rules.
- jamesbritt 15y agoYeah, having a "designated asshole" to keep things rolling is a big help. Sadly, it's not always arranged.
- Protonk 15y agoA designated asshole is nearly mandatory, especially for mixed technical audiences and issues where someone can have an [opinion on the bike shed](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkinsons_Law_of_Triviality http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkinsons_Law_of_Triviality). Most people can't fill this role because they don't like conflict or have a reputation to protect (real or imaginary) but conferences should always assign a moderator to play the jerk.
- bm1362 15y agoI know this might be off topic, but did you just try to use Markdown?
- MichaelApproved 15y agoThat's how you link on Reddit. Maybe he thought it worked the same way here.
- jseliger 15y agoThough I personally feel this would be perfectly acceptable, the speaker might come off sounding like a jerk to some people. I have the same problem when teaching class, and I usually say, "That's a good question, but talk to me about it after class." Switch "class" to "the talk," and you can probably get the same effect.
- benihana 15y agoI think part of being a good speaker is knowing how to handle the - for lack of a better word - hecklers; the people who ask questions meant to show their expertise, or show they know something. A good speaker should be able to keep these people from disrupting what might otherwise be a Q&A session.
- mathattack 15y agoIdeally the moderator should shield the presenter, but it's not easy. Politicians are the best at this. If they're asked a question they don't want to answer, they just answer a different one.
- Swizec 15y agoWhenever I've given a talk anywhere (usually barcamps and similar smaller events), the Q&A has always been the most interesting part both for me and the audience. To the point where my Q&A's usually take up much more time than the talk that sparked them. There was even a time once when the discussion became so interesting we ate up the whole next session as well. The point of a Q&A, for me, is to really find out what about my topic interests the audience so I can give more relevant information than I could when just delivering a dry talk without the back and forth. But maybe I have a weird talk style since I usually ask a lot of questions of the audience as well, which primes them to pose better questions later on (or during the talk itself).