tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439168179960787195.post8986091984847704502..comments2024-03-28T17:13:01.117+10:00Comments on Condensed concepts: Advice for undergrads giving research talksRoss H. McKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09950455939572097456noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439168179960787195.post-52062894905896494072015-05-25T10:44:55.907+10:002015-05-25T10:44:55.907+10:00Thanks for the helpful comment.
This is wise advic...Thanks for the helpful comment.<br />This is wise advice, particularly about listening and slowing down.<br />Often I think undergrads don't understand the question [maybe partly because they are so nervous] and so don't actually answer. Sometimes the best answer is much simpler than the highly technical and long winded one that they give.Ross H. McKenziehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09950455939572097456noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439168179960787195.post-84679507731648111282015-05-24T05:34:36.896+10:002015-05-24T05:34:36.896+10:00I think answering questions is a particularly impo...I think answering questions is a particularly important skill, and it's often difficult to answer because the typical audience of practice talks frequently knows the subject much better than the ultimate audience and will ask very different questions.<br /><br />My natural tendency is to say too much in response to a question, which invariably goes off on a tangent and often increases some confusions even as it decreases others. So my advice is to stop; listen; pause to play the question over in your head and listen again (and/or repeat it out loud to the audience); work out the exact question being asked and the answer; answer the question; force yourself to stop talking.<br /><br />And if people ask something like "but your method would be inapplicable in situation X, wouldn't it?", and they are correct, be as factual as possible. Say "yes, it doesn't work in situation X. It works in situation Y". Try to avoid the words "but" or "only" or a similarly defensive or self-deprecating answer. Perhaps some information about why Y is a good assumption, or why you chose to study that situation when you could have studied others, but only if you can get useful, unarguable information across quickly.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com