An occasional column, in which Caveman and other troglodytes involved in cell science emerge to share their views on various aspects of life-science research. Messages for Caveman and other contributors can be left at [email protected].
Any correspondence may be published in forthcoming issues.
A speaker’s contract with the audience
I’ve had it with the big invited, rock-star speaker at meetings.
The last straw was at a small meeting last summer. Participation was limited, and the format was designed to provoke interactions and discussion between scientists from different disciplines. Talks were short (∼20 minutes), and the Chair of each session was asked to give a general introduction so that the subsequent speakers could focus on ideas, data and models.
I thought that it was a privilege to be asked to participate. Clearly, this was not the case for some of the big shots.
Three problems arose at this meeting that are symptomatic of meetings in general.
First, the Chair of each session did not present a coherent introduction, at least not one that summarized the topic in an unbiased manner or one that helped place the subsequent talks in any sort of context. The introduction invariably comprised short, seemingly off-the-cuff remarks about the speakers that did little more than announce the titles of their talks and their professional affiliations (which were noted in the program). Any summary was restricted to out-takes from the Chair’s talk. A consequence was that the subsequent speakers, who had not included an introduction (‘focus on ideas, data and models’), were left scrambling to put their talk in some sort of context.
Second, the Chair was usually the first speaker. Never have the Chair of a session as one of the speakers. The Chair’s talk invariantly went over time-well, who was there to keep track of the time? The consequence of the Chair’s speaking too long was that the rest of the speakers now felt that, if the Chair went over time, then they could too. However, the Chair, realizing that too much time had been taken, tried to reduce the time allotted to each speaker either by cutting the talk off early or reducing the discussion to one or two short questions. The former was simply unfair, and the latter was contrary to the purpose of the meeting (‘provoke interactions and discussions’).
Third, many of the invited speakers turned up the day before their talks and then left the following day. In one session, two of the speakers left immediately following their talks and were not available for the ‘round-table’ discussion at the end of the session (i.e. ∼40 min later!). These ‘shift’ changes in speakers, as one group rotated out and was replaced by the next, were very frustrating-with the decreased discussion time caused by the Chairs and speakers’ being present only for a short time, there was never time for discussion.
Those who went to the meeting to learn, discuss and interact were let down. What sort of level of arrogance does it take to go to a meeting to present a (canned) talk and then leave without answering questions, discussing ideas or contributing to the interactions? What’s the point?
I suggest that there should be a Speaker’s Contract with the Audience.
The speaker will attend the whole meeting and be available for discussions.
The speaker will prepare a talk that
reflects the theme of the meeting/session.
The speaker will keep to the allotted time.
The Session Chair will not speak in the session and will keep time fairly.
The Session Chair will provide a summary of the session that blends ideas, directions and the topics covered by the speakers.
The Session Chair will provoke questions and discussion, and have at least one question ready after each talk in order to start the question period.
The speaker should sign the contract in advance of the meeting. Speakers who break the contract will forfeit their honorarium and reimbursement (and probably should have to pay the registration of some of the audience!), and hopefully their lack of participation will be reflected in a decline in speaking engagements. Let’s put the audience first, for a change, and the rock-star speakers second.
Caveman
