Q&As = rude?
This post from Jamie Notter really got me thinking. He’s talking about someone who made a presentation, then asked if anyone had any questions. No one did, but later, the presenter was inundated with IMs from the younger folks in the crowd, who thought it would be rude to take up everyone’s time with their questions in person.
This had never occurred to me! Sometimes they’re right, actually, and the questions can be someone showing off their knowledge, trying to catch out the presenter, off topic, or just plain dumb. But since that Q&A often is the only interactivity we have in sessions, we need to think about this. I’d be curious if PCMA breakout session leaders get a bunch of IMs or e-mails later from those who didn’t want to ask in person? I know if I think my question is questionable, I try to ask the presenter afterward in private. Is this really any different because it’s a little further off in time and distance? I’m not sure, but it’s chewy food for thought.
As is this morsel from Jamie: “notice that the younger generation did not assume that learning required a group of people to be having a synchronous conversation in person. In fact, they thought it was “rude” to make people learn that way (I’m extrapolating a bit here, but you see my point).”
Update: Check out this post full of tips on how to get people “talking” during a webinar (thanks for another great post, Ken!). While most are very specific to the online environment, this last tip applies to face-to-face presenters as well, I think:
- “Keep your energy up, up, up! If you give a big sigh at the end of your presentation and read off questions in a bored tone of voice because you’ve heard them all before, nobody is going to want to play with you.”
January 18th, 2009 at 9:34 am
Wow! You must really be successful in reducing your comments by “requiring” so much information about the commenter!
Anyway, one downside of using texting etc to transmit comments and questions to the session chair or panelist is that someone listening later to a podcast of the event will not hear them. I’ve been listening to a lot of panel discussions via podcast and it’s always frustrating not to be able to hear a question. Having it read back by the chair is not the same.
ps - some of your captchas are totally illegible
January 18th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
I never thought of Q + A sessions as a waste of time. In fact I always thought of them as a great learning opportunity. Chances are if one person has a question, then many more people want to ask that same question.
January 19th, 2009 at 11:40 am
Dennis, thanks for your texting thoughts. Good point! (And I’ll let our tech guy know your displeasure with the commenting system. Maybe he can make it easier.)
Tradeshow, I agree wholeheartedly. The interesting thing about Jamie’s observation was that some people, specifically young people, don’t see them that way. Which is something we all need to be aware of, I would think.
January 20th, 2009 at 1:07 am
Wow, that is a lot of fields to leave a comment.
Good point though on young people and very true on how younger people today just don’t like to have “real” conversations. I just got my son a cell phone and he never talks on it, but his thumbs work overtime on texting. Good thing I was smart enough to get the unlimited texting plan.
Anthony
January 21st, 2009 at 3:03 pm
I am a member of that “younger generation” and I found this quite interesting. I have always felt the same way. I much prefer to ask questions in private, over email, or in general not in front of the group. And as you point out, it is not because I’m shy (I consider myself to be quite outgoing and talkative), but because sometimes I feel like I could be wasting others’ time. More than that though, I simply prefer to learn that way. I am more likely to walk away fully understanding something if I ask or discuss it personally (electronically or not).
So, I’ve always chalked it up to learning style, but after reading that others of my generation do the same thing, I wonder if being rude has more to do with it than I thought.
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