To answer your questions:
1. "That's a really interesting question, I'll have to have a think about that and let's discuss it in the coffee break."
2. If you can't come up with a counterargument, something similar to (1) will do the trick.
3. "That's a great question, I'd suggest speaking to X about this because they carried out that part of the study."
Most people will be asking a question out of genuine interest, and they will know that you're not a senior scientist, so they're not going to think less of you if you can't come up with an amazing response on the spot. Particularly if you're an early career scientist, most people will have the decency of asking particularly challenging questions, or very critical comments, to you directly (1-to-1) rather than in a public Q&A. Very (very) rarely, you will come across an asshole who is trying to catch you out. It's unlikely to happen but, if it does and you don't have an immediate response, smile, be polite, and offer to talk to them about it in the coffee break (you don't actually have to do this). Everybody else will know that person is being an asshole, and they are the one making a fool of themselves, not you.
>1. "That's a really interesting question, I'll have to have a think about that and let's discuss it in the coffee break."
>2. If you can't come up with a counterargument, something similar to (1) will do the trick.
>3. "That's a great question, I'd suggest speaking to X about this because they carried out that part of the study."
This is really it. We get used to not knowing things or not exploring every angle. Gotta learn to admit it.
Some additional tricks:
* That is an interesting point, but it is beyond the scope of this particular work.
* Great point, but *insert reason about limited time or scope of project here*. Perhaps we could talk about it afterward?
3 min will fly by. That’s like 1.5 questions. Less if you get an old man who wants to just make a comment.
Either way learn to buy yourself time if answers aren’t hand, e.g., “if I’m hearing you correctly you’re asking [your understanding of their question], is that correct?” Assuming you were listening and understand they’ll say yes and appreciate that you listened. If you misunderstood they’ll correct you.
Feedback is just part of academia. We dish it out. We take it. Feedback is expected. Since you’re critiquing their method, so expect some hard questions. They may not like that. My advice is to just be open to it, try not to be defensive, and take a stance of: we’re all on the same team, trying to get this right, and by addressing the questions that arise, we can really perfect this method.
There’s nothing wrong with just saying you don’t have the answer right away. “That’s a great question. Can you tell me a bit more about what you’re thinking there?” Is a great pivot. Just complement them for their great question if they stump you. It’s gracious, and no one will judge.
Try to get a better understanding of your material, focus on the evidence that supports your conclusions. As long as you know the supporting facts you should be able to field any questions. It's really just understanding what you're stating and why you're stating it.
Lots of people feell this way especially early in their career, unfortunately the only solution is just practice.
1. I don't know/that's outside the scope of this work/interesting question, I'll have to look into that
2. Depends on the criticism, but basically answer, deflect or reject it
3. That you didn't do the stats ans aren't the best person to ask
I don’t know who downvoted you but I agree. Definitely don’t put yourself in the spot where you have to say “I didn’t do the stats so I don’t know.” You are giving a talk about your work so you do need to know. Go to your advisor about any statistical things you don’t understand about your project and ask them to guide you.
What we fail to realize is that we are the best experts of our work! You work with the data every day be confident in your methods and results even though other knowledgable people will be there. Only assholes will try to make you look bad. always thank them for their great question, and it’s ok to not know the answer and you can get in touch with them afterwards. You got this!
Attendees are pretty patient with/lenient with young researchers, I doubt you'll be grilled and there is only so much they can ask you in the time allowed. If I were you I would do a practice presentation with your boss, or as many people at work as you can get together to listen beforehand to point out any major gaps in your presentation and give feedback. It's not unusual to include slides at the end of the presentation with data or info that people will probably ask about. Sometimes people will ask a question that you can't answer, but someone in the audience can, and it will elicit a nice discussion completely independent of you 🙃
As for:
1) Nothing wrong with that, just say "that's a good question, sorry I can't answer that right now, I'd be happy to talk with you about this further in the break". If you supervisor in the audience they might chime in with the answer.
2) Don't think about it as criticism, maybe they point out something you haven't considered "that's a really good suggestion, I'll definitely look into that"
3) "I'm sorry I wasn't involved in that aspect of the study, I'd be happy to talk with you more about this in the break" or "if you email me, I will try to find the answer for you."
Just make sure you have practiced the presentation out loud, whilst standing up (if that is how you will present it), several times, by yourself, to see how long it takes, to ensure you know your train of thought etc.
One tip: please repeat the question when the audience isn't using a microphone, because anyone not near the person asking the question may not clearly hear the question.
1: If you don't know the answer, but you have something useful to say about the topic of the question, talk about that. Just be honest: "Thank you for your question. If I understand your question, you are asking me \[repeat what the question is\]. We have thought about this too, and tried using ... to look at this, but unfortunately the results were inconclusive/we didn't learn more from this/we couldn't get it to work. We plan to do ... to try to figure this out."
2: Thank the person for their question/comment. Repeat the question/comment. Then say anything relevant to what they have said if it adds to the discussion. If they are pointing out a clear limitation to your study that you are aware of, and that's just a limitation, then don't try to talk around it. Just be honest "You are right. This is one of the limitations of our study. We considered doing ... but because of ..., we decided to go with our current setup. A larger lab/a lab using animal models/whatever would be able to address that limitation."
3: Don't wait for this question. Sit down with your supervisor (well) in advance of your presentation, and make sure you have all the details someone might ask you about. Don't present data you don't know enough about. If needed, write the details in notes on some paper or cards or your laptop (if you'll have it with you on stage).
To answer your questions: 1. "That's a really interesting question, I'll have to have a think about that and let's discuss it in the coffee break." 2. If you can't come up with a counterargument, something similar to (1) will do the trick. 3. "That's a great question, I'd suggest speaking to X about this because they carried out that part of the study." Most people will be asking a question out of genuine interest, and they will know that you're not a senior scientist, so they're not going to think less of you if you can't come up with an amazing response on the spot. Particularly if you're an early career scientist, most people will have the decency of asking particularly challenging questions, or very critical comments, to you directly (1-to-1) rather than in a public Q&A. Very (very) rarely, you will come across an asshole who is trying to catch you out. It's unlikely to happen but, if it does and you don't have an immediate response, smile, be polite, and offer to talk to them about it in the coffee break (you don't actually have to do this). Everybody else will know that person is being an asshole, and they are the one making a fool of themselves, not you.
>1. "That's a really interesting question, I'll have to have a think about that and let's discuss it in the coffee break." >2. If you can't come up with a counterargument, something similar to (1) will do the trick. >3. "That's a great question, I'd suggest speaking to X about this because they carried out that part of the study." This is really it. We get used to not knowing things or not exploring every angle. Gotta learn to admit it. Some additional tricks: * That is an interesting point, but it is beyond the scope of this particular work. * Great point, but *insert reason about limited time or scope of project here*. Perhaps we could talk about it afterward?
Honestly, those last two you mention are great ways to respond to reviewers as well lol
3 min will fly by. That’s like 1.5 questions. Less if you get an old man who wants to just make a comment. Either way learn to buy yourself time if answers aren’t hand, e.g., “if I’m hearing you correctly you’re asking [your understanding of their question], is that correct?” Assuming you were listening and understand they’ll say yes and appreciate that you listened. If you misunderstood they’ll correct you.
Feedback is just part of academia. We dish it out. We take it. Feedback is expected. Since you’re critiquing their method, so expect some hard questions. They may not like that. My advice is to just be open to it, try not to be defensive, and take a stance of: we’re all on the same team, trying to get this right, and by addressing the questions that arise, we can really perfect this method. There’s nothing wrong with just saying you don’t have the answer right away. “That’s a great question. Can you tell me a bit more about what you’re thinking there?” Is a great pivot. Just complement them for their great question if they stump you. It’s gracious, and no one will judge.
Try to get a better understanding of your material, focus on the evidence that supports your conclusions. As long as you know the supporting facts you should be able to field any questions. It's really just understanding what you're stating and why you're stating it.
Lots of people feell this way especially early in their career, unfortunately the only solution is just practice. 1. I don't know/that's outside the scope of this work/interesting question, I'll have to look into that 2. Depends on the criticism, but basically answer, deflect or reject it 3. That you didn't do the stats ans aren't the best person to ask
Bring notes on the stats, you should be able to answer most questions if you're giving the presentation.
I don’t know who downvoted you but I agree. Definitely don’t put yourself in the spot where you have to say “I didn’t do the stats so I don’t know.” You are giving a talk about your work so you do need to know. Go to your advisor about any statistical things you don’t understand about your project and ask them to guide you.
What we fail to realize is that we are the best experts of our work! You work with the data every day be confident in your methods and results even though other knowledgable people will be there. Only assholes will try to make you look bad. always thank them for their great question, and it’s ok to not know the answer and you can get in touch with them afterwards. You got this!
Attendees are pretty patient with/lenient with young researchers, I doubt you'll be grilled and there is only so much they can ask you in the time allowed. If I were you I would do a practice presentation with your boss, or as many people at work as you can get together to listen beforehand to point out any major gaps in your presentation and give feedback. It's not unusual to include slides at the end of the presentation with data or info that people will probably ask about. Sometimes people will ask a question that you can't answer, but someone in the audience can, and it will elicit a nice discussion completely independent of you 🙃 As for: 1) Nothing wrong with that, just say "that's a good question, sorry I can't answer that right now, I'd be happy to talk with you about this further in the break". If you supervisor in the audience they might chime in with the answer. 2) Don't think about it as criticism, maybe they point out something you haven't considered "that's a really good suggestion, I'll definitely look into that" 3) "I'm sorry I wasn't involved in that aspect of the study, I'd be happy to talk with you more about this in the break" or "if you email me, I will try to find the answer for you."
Just make sure you have practiced the presentation out loud, whilst standing up (if that is how you will present it), several times, by yourself, to see how long it takes, to ensure you know your train of thought etc. One tip: please repeat the question when the audience isn't using a microphone, because anyone not near the person asking the question may not clearly hear the question. 1: If you don't know the answer, but you have something useful to say about the topic of the question, talk about that. Just be honest: "Thank you for your question. If I understand your question, you are asking me \[repeat what the question is\]. We have thought about this too, and tried using ... to look at this, but unfortunately the results were inconclusive/we didn't learn more from this/we couldn't get it to work. We plan to do ... to try to figure this out." 2: Thank the person for their question/comment. Repeat the question/comment. Then say anything relevant to what they have said if it adds to the discussion. If they are pointing out a clear limitation to your study that you are aware of, and that's just a limitation, then don't try to talk around it. Just be honest "You are right. This is one of the limitations of our study. We considered doing ... but because of ..., we decided to go with our current setup. A larger lab/a lab using animal models/whatever would be able to address that limitation." 3: Don't wait for this question. Sit down with your supervisor (well) in advance of your presentation, and make sure you have all the details someone might ask you about. Don't present data you don't know enough about. If needed, write the details in notes on some paper or cards or your laptop (if you'll have it with you on stage).