Why to ask questions at conferences | Hacker News Reader

Why to ask questions at conferences

cecinestpasun.com

111 pointsakkartik26 comments

This courtesy was drilled into me over and over again by my mentor. Asking a great question is shows respect for the speaker, who not only took time out of his day to show up, but put a lot of time into putting his presentation together and showed the nerve to stand in front of a crowd to air his ideas.

It's also an opportunity for you to challenge the speaker if there was something you disagreed with. Phrased correctly, a question can make both the speaker and the audience re-think something that was stated earlier.

One thing I see missed sometimes is proper form when asking questions. Standing up, stating your name and where you're from, and thanking the speaker for coming and for taking your question add just a few seconds to your question, but they can go a long way to making the speaker feel welcome. From the tech conference videos I've seen, I think this is something we can improve on in the hacker culture. We know what it's like to offer up our work without appreciation to people who don't understand what we do -- but I want to work on being more appreciative of my fellow developers.

"One thing I see missed sometimes is proper form when asking questions. Standing up, stating your name and where you're from ..."

Is it okay to say where you work - the name of the company? Or is it better to leave it out? Can it be considered rude and something like trying to get some free marketing for the company? I am asking because I am not sure, and I heard both opinions so far...

It's fine to state where you work if:

- It's relevant to the question (i.e. the question has to do with a particular application at work).

- You're at an industry/trade show (where "where you work" is more important to fellow attendees than "who you are").

- It provides information the speaker needs (i.e. so that she'll know you're a colleague/partner/competitor).

It's not okay if:

- You waste any more time on your employment than "I'm So and So, developer at Initrode, and I'd like to know..."

- You're going to hijack the time to talk about your company.

- You're trying to "get some free marketing".

Once upon a time, my dad told me that I should always make a point to ask at least one intelligent question at every conference. I think it's great advice.

Worth adding that your question should be concise and clear. Far too many times I see cretins asking so-called "questions" that are nothing more than an excuse to ramble on about their own opinions on the topic.

Tip: If your "question" begins with "I believe that" and doesn't end with a question mark within about 20-30 seconds, it's not a question. Keep it to later or earn the hatred of everyone else in the room. I was at a singularity conference (UK Humanity Plus) a few months ago which seemed filled with idiots who didn't know how to ask concise questions - or thought that the question time was their chance to ramble on about their views on the topic at hand. I really honestly believe that those people should be forcefully kicked out of the room and barred from later talks. Wankers.

Twenty years ago, when I was in college, I went to hear William F. Buckley give a lecture. At the end of the lecture there was question time. The second or third person at the microphone started their question and it turned into a 90 second monologue weaving obscure historical facts together with personal conjectures. At the end of the "question" Buckley leaned into his podium microphone and simply said, "My, aren't we educated." It was beautiful.

Awesome. I'll keep that one in mind for when I'm a world famous intellectual giving a talk. grin

Also, asking questions in a public forum is a good hack for practicing public speaking, if you need practice.

No, it's not. It's the difference between lightning and a lightning bug (with apologies to Mark Twain).

ok. we'll agree to disagree.

I believe if you desire to speak in public but fear it, asking a question at a microphone at a community meeting is a good first step.

Getting onto a panel discussion is also good practice in a lower-intensity setting. You get to sit at a table, which is inherently more comfortable than standing at a lectern, and you're sharing the heat with three or four other panelists.

How to get on a panel, though? Maybe I could be the token irrelevant person?

If you have something constructive to add to the discussion, you're not irrelevant. :)

I personally find asking questions more nerve racking than giving a talk. With a talk I've probably practiced it 20 times and have pretty pictures to help illustrate my points. For questions you have to think rather quickly to make yourself not sound like an idiot in the 20 second window you have, possibly on a topic of mere interest, but little expertise.

One of the reasons to have a notepad out during a presentation is to write down questions as they occur.

Generally, I find interesting questions hit me in the middle of a talk. That's usually where the presenter is rushing through a little, or sketching out main points that may not all get followed up later.

During most talks, that means I'm actively sitting there trying to work out what question I'm going to ask.

I am utterly fascinated by this self-editing process involved in question asking. It has its roots early in child development and we learn that through better questions, we'll often get better answers. The self-editing forces us to reconsider our basic assumptions and in regards to the speaker's. What we don't know becomes preeminent.

A good moderator will have a question ready for each speaker, just in case there are crickets.

I've certainly seen dumb and ideologically or politically motivated questions, but I think almost any discussion is better than no discussion. And if you can't publicly discuss your topic, you've no business presenting on it.

At least in the PL conferences I've been to, the session chair is expected to have a softball question for the speaker if there are no questions being asked. That question usually serves the same purpose as the one that this individual has.

I'm opposed to this, because a lot of times the personalities who do this are asking the question not because they want an answer, but because they want to show off in front of a large room.

You're also putting the speaker on the spot; rarely does the public question result in a meaningful conversation between the asker and the speaker.

If you want to show interest in the speaker's topic, talk to him after the presentation. It's a lot more comfortable for all involved, particularly those in the audience who genuinely aren't interested in anything either of you have to say.

It sounds like you're opposed to bad questions, not questions. If you're listening to a talk that's at all interesting, you ought to be able to manage a good question by the end of it. If the audience genuinely doesn't care about good questions, then that's their fault for sitting there.

You're not putting anyone on a spot they aren't already on. Speakers love questions.

You are right to save the off-topic or minutiae questions for later, but if you don't understand something, you are certainly not alone. So ask.

I'm really conflicted on this topic: I do agree there is much value to be had from asking at least one question per conference... but what would happen if all attendees had the same attitude.

Aside from massive lines to the microphone, the main concern is that really important/pressing questions might be lost because more eager beavers got up to the mic to ask their token 'must as at least one' question first.

Note that that's not what the author of the article says.

"If it looks like nobody is going to ask a question, I get up and ask my prepared question. If someone actually does run to the microphone, I won't try and beat them (unless I have a question that I really want to ask). It's not that I need to ask a question -- I'm happy as long as someone asks a question."

How about those guys that ask a question, and then another question, and another after that, and then some more... And all of the questions are not so much related to the topic as they are to something specific they are currently doing and cannot solve at the moment. In the mean time, the rest of the room is rolling their eyes and waiting for the whole thing to finally finish.

One should always be aware of the significance of the question, time constraints of the talk and the rest of the people in the room.

Or how about those guys who ask a question, then follow up with another question without really listening to the answer. They're up at the microphone not because they really want an answer, they simply want to ask 'gotcha' questions.

Question Etiquette #457 State your name [not titles] and affiliation - it helps the speaker try to pitch her/his answer. Thank the speaker - without flourish - for the talk. Ask one tightly framed question - one - of minimal duration and wherever possible phrase it such that the speaker is able to extend an undeveloped point or elaborate on an intriguing element of her/his talk. Sit down, maintain eye contact, and say thank you again when the speaker has finished.

I talk at conferences a lot (like 20 presentation in May/June much), and I know I've done it right when I get a lot of questions.

If I don't get any questions, I go back and review my material because questions means that people's brains are working and no questions means that for some reason I switched everyone in the room off.

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