I wrote recently on Why my ideal conference may not be yours, and finished with an invitation for reflections on being a good participant. David Casacuberta, who organised the Barcelona congress that prompted my post, has now risen to the challenge with thoughts on being a good speaker, in a comment. I have reposted below so that it isn't missed.
I should add that after John Moore's complaints about lists on blogs, supplemented by Chris Corrigan, I'm a little wary of 1-10 points. I think David's should go through though.
From David Casacuberta
Why my ideal speaker may not be yours
Couldn't resist David invitation, so here it goes my own list
Before the conference
1. Timing is key. Some days delay in sending just one piece of info (for example, an abstract) stops the whole process. Let us say a programme should be ready by May the First. If one speaker takes one week in replying, then everything is stopped, we cannot finish the programme until we have confirmation, no possibility to print catalogues, difficult to close the timetable... A nightmare
2. Fit your discourse to the audience. Some speakers have a "ready to read" presentation that they deliver everywhere, no matter what the background of the speakers is like. It is easy to get angry if you are a, let us say, a philosophy of science expert and suddenly the speakers starts to talk at you like you were a first year student. Or even worse, you go to an introductory conference and the guy starts to deliver an esoterical discourse
3. Don't get too picky with language. This is more a Catalan problem I guess. It is common, and understandable, to mix Catalan and Spanish in local or national conferences in Catalonia. After all, almost everybody here speaks the two languages. However in an International Congress, to stick to Catalan when there is not enough budget for two simultaneous translations is a little absurd.
Nevertheless, we got lots of complaints from people (which of course were perfect Spanish speakers) because there was no simultaneous translation from Catalan to Spanish and they wanted to speak in Catalan. Some of them spoke in Catalan anyway and then we got complaints from the people from the rest of Spain that couldn't understand Catalan.
I guess it is the problem when you mix language, with culture and politics...
4. Read the information attached before asking. I know, I know, it sounds rude, but sometimes is annoying to answer to simple things that are already stated in the call for papers or in the further documentation.
5. Choose your communication channel with the organisers properly. If there is some sudden problem that needs a fast response, please do not use e-mail. It is not always reliable for many different reasons. A phone call in those cases is more than welcome.
During the Congress
6. Don't forget you are not the only speaker. Organising a Congress is hard and there are lots of problem. You may think that you have a problem, but it could be nothing compared to other speakers that are having real difficulties. Organisers are humans too, and they cannot solve everything inmediately.
7. Respect the other speakers. It feels odd when someone is speaking and the guy beside him is furiosuly writting with his laptop. You suspect that the other speaker is not really taking notes but doing something else. If you are the one speaking and you actually see that they guy is really writing an e-mail message the feeling is quite worse.
During the lecture
8. Don't read. With the easeness of publication that Internet gives us, it doesn't make much sense to read a conference. Indicate the public the URL of the text and try to explain something else.
9. Try to finish on time. When you are a moderator it is very rude to say to someone, hey your time is up. Move over Rover and let the next speaker take over. As a matter of fact it almost never happens. So, some speakers use this "facility" in order to talk talk and talk. Congresses need a very tight timing. If you speak like a quarter more everything is going to slow down and delays will accummulate.
10. Save some time for questions. To me, it is one of the greatest part of a talk,when the audience has some time to ask. That why you can see what was really more important to them, which subjects are less clear, who is doing similar stuff, and so on. Of course you'll always find the boring guy with a 10 minutes question which is not a question at all but an opportunity to say "How smart I am". But of course this is another story, the ideal audience...
Despite my pointy Listhunter General hat, I have to admit this is a good list.
I vehemently endorse point 8. If I chaired a conference I would want to tell speakers that they may not read a script. Period. This is a conference, a chance for humans to interact live with other humans. If I want to listen to a gramaphone, I can stay at home. If they want to read a story, they can do that with their children. I ahhor scripted talks, they are simply not good enough.
Likewise I'd be very militant about timing. In my experience only a tiny minority of speakers keep to time. Nearly all of the rest insist that they are good timekeepers. As a rule of thumb, the ones who say they are good timekeepers are the ones to watch especially closely. I would announce a blanket policy; I've give you a discreet but clear 5 minute warning and when you alloted time is up, I'll stop you. Over-running is extremely discourteous to other speakers and to your audience.
Posted by: Johnnie Moore (London) | May 06, 2004 at 11:24 AM