Researchers, let’s set the scene.
It’s conference time, and you’ve just presented a full 15 or 30-minutes of incredible science. As your time slot comes to its end, you might think you’ve wrapped up your research presentation. But before you heave that sigh of relief and put down the laser pointer, there's still the inevitable to come:
Question time. 🙋✍️📊
Ah crud. What will be asked? How should you answer? 😰
Many of us find ourselves tongue-tied when confronting questions and even critiques from the audience. For many, the unpredictable nature of the experience can be intimidating. Nerve-wracking. Or just plain scary.
I’ve definitely been there, and you might have too!
It’s clear that understanding how to answer questions after a research presentation is a crucial skill that every researcher should feel encouraged to develop for their career. And trust me, it’ll be a handy skill outside of the job too.
So take out your conference notebook and let’s run through some key pointers to get you through that last stretch of your presentation. 👇
To prepare, or not to prepare?
That is the question. 🪶
Some might think that preparing for question time is a bit like trying to predict the weather—and where I’m from in Australia, this is really quite futile (like seriously, I’m experiencing 4 seasons in one day). But while you can’t anticipate every question, you might be able to prepare for some of the more likely ones. 🤔
For instance, you can do this by:
Identifying gaps in your research
Consider any gaps and pitfalls you’ll be presenting during your talk. Perhaps you’re not 100% sure on that conclusion you made on Slide 25 which might raise eyebrows. Or perhaps there’s only so much you can show in 15-minutes, but the audience wants to see more data to verify if your claims hold true. If either of these situations sound like you, you can prepare back-up slides with supplementary information that fill the gaps. This’ll also give the audience the impression that you’re prepared for any inquiry! Let these slides be your saving grace when it comes to question time. 😉
Practicing your talk beforehand with different audiences
Sometimes we can get so caught up in the small details of our research that we find it difficult to see the bigger picture. So if you’re going to a conference with a non-expert audience, it would be beneficial to know what the non-experts could be asking. So try talking to some! Likewise, it’s also good to practice with experts (such as your lab group) to get their opinion on what questions you might face with other expert audiences. By knowing your audience, you’ll know what to do. 🙂
Predicting the weather and questions aside, let’s not underestimate the power of spontaneity. Because in some cases, over-preparation may come across as a little bit too scripted or robotic. After all, you wouldn’t want to miss out on learning the precious skill of adaptability! In fact, you might just come up with the best answers if you try and listen to your audience in the moment. 👇
Active listening and reiteration
When an audience member starts speaking, that’s your cue to start actively listening.
Give the audience member your undivided attention to ensure that you’re hearing and understanding exactly what they’re saying. Your body language should also convey that you’re tuned in by nodding or maintaining eye contact. And once they’ve stated their full question, reiterate what you’ve understood of the question to confirm that you’ve processed it correctly. This also ensures that everyone in the room has a chance to hear the question clearly.
Reiteration allows you to clarify any uncertainties you may have. After all, question time isn’t an interrogation (let’s hope)—it’s an active conversation! Hence, active listening. 😉
Active listening is particularly crucial for answering those eager audience members who ask not only one, but MULTIPLE questions at a time. Oh yeah, I’m talking about those eager professors who are always ready with their notepads. Reiterate their questions one at a time, and answer them one at a time. This is because our brains tend to be less effective at multi-tasking. Though if you can somehow conjure up an answer that addresses both questions at the same time, more power to you! 🪄
But in some cases, what the audience says make not even be framed as a question, but a different beast entirely. 👇
Navigating criticisms and comments
Imagine Professor Big-Shot sitting in the back row who’s one of the biggest authorities in your field. They’ve been glaring at your slides a furrowed brow all throughout your presentation, so it’s a no-brainer that they’ll likely ask you a question. Heck, they might just be the first with their hand up. 👋
But what they end up saying may sometimes be more of a critique, and less so of a question. 😕
“I don’t think that the data on Slide 17 is convincing enough.”
“The methods in your second aim might not be appropriate for your model.”
I can’t vouch for every critic out there, but any decent human being would (disclaimer: should 😬) only give these comments if they can provide constructive criticism. Like, actual useful advice.
Sometimes, those confronting comments can actually offer genuine advice that sets you on new paths in your research. So try to take any prickly comments with stride, render your ego invisible, and tune in as best you can. After all, we’re all professionals here.
Though, if that person’s criticism is, well, just plain criticism (BOOOO! 🤷🏻), then perhaps invite them for a conversation outside of the session so you can explain your research stance. Turn a critique into a potential cause for a productive exchange of ideas! 😇
Criticisms aside, what about dealing with questions where you’re not too sure on how to answer?
Answering the unanswerable
There’ll be times when you’re hit with some really difficult questions. Difficult enough that you’ll just stand there and think to yourself: “How the HECK do I answer that?”.
Well, you’ve done the right thing by first thinking. It’s perfectly okay to take a moment to try and compose the answer rather than spit out complete nonsense. But if you still have no idea how to answer after a decent 5-second ponder, here’s two things you can do:
When you JUST DON’T KNOW the answer, say:
“That’s really interesting, but I’m actually not too sure. If you see me after the session, pass me your contact details and I’ll check this for you if you’d like.”
This will show the audience your acknowledgement of the question, while humbly recognising that you simply don’t know everything. At the same time, you’re also showing you’re eager to give them the answer they’re looking for. Plus it’s a networking opportunity!
And remember this: it’s okay for even the most tenured researchers to not know everything. Because in all honesty, it’s better to admit to not knowing than saying something wrong, misleading, or untruthful. Though, there’s also the other side of the coin to consider.👇
When you think the question is interesting enough to connect into something else that’s related!
If you’re asked a tricky question, like:
”Have you considered developing a CRISPR genetic knockout of X gene, in a [different species you know absolutely nothing about], to compare the effects to your model organism?”
The quick answer here would probably just be “No”, but you can still take interest in other aspects of their question. For example, you could reply with:
“No I haven’t, but I’ve been interested in trying that out with [a different organism than the one they named].”
“No I haven’t, though I imagine I would need to redesign parts of my project in order to give that a try in [the organism they named]. It would be interesting.”
The bottom line is, there’s ways to get out of the pitfalls of unanswerable questions. But how about getting out of questions that are less-so unanswerable but more-so completely off-target? 👇
Addressing out-of-scope questions
Sometimes you’ll receive a question that goes far beyond the scope of your work, particularly if you’re working in the ‘basic sciences’—where the objective of the scientific research is to understand, rather than to apply into real-world outcomes. Medical scientists in early stage research projects are a common recipient of these questions, where they’re often asked whether they’re working towards ‘curing’ a disease. While it would be nice, not every early stage project is suited to curing deadly diseases.
So if the question is not within your research niche, you can repeat after me:
“That’s interesting, though that might fall outside the scope of my research project. With enough time I’d be interested to broaden out and explore that in the future. Thanks.”
The end? Yeah, the end. 😅
Recognising a question as off-topic or out-of-scope is an important part of actively listening to your audience. In many of these cases, audience members often misconstrue a part of your presentation, or are simply curious about interesting fact you mentioned during your introduction that you never ever mention again. These blunders happen all the time. But what’s important is that you, as the speaker, remain polite and respectful in the way that you answer, and that you thank them for their question.
So… is it finally time to get off the stage and go to the conference dinner already? 🥂
What have we learned?
Navigating the Q&A slot after a research presentation can often be a mental mind game, but you’ll save yourself a lot of energy by following these key pointers we’ve discussed:
Prepare for predictable questions, but leave some room for spontaneity.
Actively listen to your audience and reiterate things in your own words.
Take criticisms with stride, and view them as constructive advice where appropriate.
And recognise when questions stray off-topic, to gracefully end your presentation.
Taking further steps in your science communication journey
Presenting your research leverages many different skills. From public speaking and storytelling through to poster design and the art of conversation, there’s definitely a lot to consider. That’s why Animate Your Science provides SciComm training through our online or in-person workshops where we train researchers across all of these skills and more!
Get in touch with us here to find out how we can bring science communication training to you.
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