One of the major fears of academics and researchers who have done my Presentation Mastery program is presenting at conferences. The fears include many what ifs, from what if my voice dries up to what if someone asks a question I can’t answer.
Here’s a Neil Gaiman quote from his short story Fragile Things
‘I just get up and read the paper. Then people ask questions, and I just bullshit’, he said. ‘Actively bullshit, as opposed to passively. That’s the best bit. Just bullshitting. Piece of utter piss’.
‘I’m not really good at, um, bullshitting,’ I said. ‘Too honest.’
‘Then nod, and tell them that’s a really perceptive question, and that it’s addressed at length in the longer version of the paper, of which the one you are reading is an edited abstract. If you get some nut-job giving you a really difficult time about something you got wrong, just get huffy and say it’s not about what’s fashionable to believe, it’s about the truth
Neil Gaiman – Fragile things
Here’s a few tips about how to give a good presentation which may also help.
Bill Gates talking to Dax Shepherd on Armchair Expert in March 2024 after they have spent a week together in India. Bill takes an interesting perspective on saying “I don’t know”.
When you’re rich you don’t have to buy fancy clothes. I’m smart, so I can say I don’t know.
Bill Gates
He also talks about how he has learnt to adapt his presentations to the audience. There’s a story about how he used to say
That’s the stupidest idea I ever heard
But now only says it with select audiences.
