When I was a kid, I was told by my physics teacher that there’s no such thing as a stupid question. Clearly, he hadn’t been to enough scientific meetings!
Actually, it’s a philosophy I’ve adhered to pretty closely over the past thirty years. If someone wants to expand their knowledge or understanding, the fewer barriers that are put in their way the better. Honest questions should never be seen as an opportunity to ridicule or belittle the questioner, or parade the ego of the questioned. If anything, I would prefer to look foolish in helping someone increase their understanding, and I have little time for people who use the apparent foolishness of others to emphasize their own smartness.
But…
It’s a philosophy that wears a little thin at scientific meetings.
Having been to more meetings than I’ve had hot dinners, I’ve had plenty of opportunities to watch the antics of people in the question and answer sessions that invariably follow presentations. To be sure, plenty of people have honest questions at these gatherings. But we’ve probably all experienced the person who hijacks the microphone (for the hundredth time it seems) and launches into a 10 minute tirade which – if you can understand it – seems to have little bearing on the issues in hand, while preventing others from entering the conversation.
So I thought it about time that we had some sort of code of conduct for questioners at meetings – before I or someone else snaps and does something we will probably live to regret.
If I was to draft out such a code – and I’m only doing this because a Google search on “code of conduct for asking questions at scientific meetings” comes up with zero results – it would look something like this:
- Do say who you are and where you are from. You may be a big shot, but there will still be some ignoramuses in the audience who don’t recognize you.
- Do keep the question short and to the point. Remember, every minute you are talking is a minute less for someone else to talk.
- Do provide additional information if it is relevant to the talk, and to the audience. But do keep it short – anything over 60 seconds and you become a bore!
- Do ask clarifying questions. But only if you genuinely want to hear the answer.
- Do ask relevant questions. Questions about the mating habits of lesser-spotted dogfish are great – just a little out of place at an astronomy meeting!
- Do give others the chance to ask questions. Especially if time is tight.
- Do think about whether your question is better asked in private than in public. If 90% of the audience do not need to hear the answer, maybe you shouldn’t be at the mike.
- Don’t use the microphone as a soap-box. It’s tedious, embarrassing, and demeaning.
- Don’t give a lecture. It’s the height of bad manners, and a really fast way to loose friends and influence.
- Don’t ramble. If you can’t say what you want in 60 seconds, don’t say it.
- Don’t hijack the microphone. If time’s running out and there’s a long line of people waiting behind you—get out of the way!
- Don’t be arrogant. Okay so you may be smarter than the speaker, but this is neither the time nor place to show off.
- Don’t ridicule the speaker. There may be rare exceptions to this rule, but attempts at public humiliation are just really, really bad form – and usually backfire.
- And finally, don’t hesitate to ask tough questions. Because at scientific meetings at least, this is an essential part of testing and building on people’s research.
I must confess, I’m guilty of all of the “don’t” above (apart from the last one maybe), and often struggle with the “do’s.” But the more meetings I attend and the lower my tolerance gets for inappropriate and inept questions from the audience, the more I feel it’s worth making the effort to improve things – starting with myself.
I still believe there is no such thing as a stupid question. But there are some pretty dumb ways of asking them. I remain a staunch advocate for responding to sincere questions with humility and honesty – especially in private.
But at public meetings, the smarter we get at asking questions, the better!
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Why is it that whenever a group of people get together for whatever reason they seem to forget basic good manners and common sense? Apparently this happens in the scientific world just like anyplace else. And I was hoping the scientists had figured that out.
But I suppose you can’t get a room full of very bright, very driven individuals with high egos states and expect it to be too docile. 
You got quite a nice list! Perhaps some points could be joined in one, making the list itself more concise (numbers 2 and 10, for example, could possibly be together).
Months ago, I found in a colleague’s bookmarks these also nice tips on asking questions to panels: http://www.howtoaskquestions.com/.
I think you are right that with some more thought and time, the list could be made more concise (I clearly didn’t listen to my own advice!)
And thanks for the link to How To Ask Questions – this is a great resource, even if it does contradict point #1
I do agree with you – introducing ourselves when addressing a question is not only advisable but also helpful (panelists can put both question and answer in context).
Oh how striking a post… I can’t count the number of times someone violated #8 and I was about to literally yell to shut up…
Maybe an additional (sort of summarizing) Do: Do add a question mark to your speech. If there is no question mark, you are likely to be advertising your own instead of discussing the presented work.
Good one