How to concentrate during conference talks where the quality of the presentation is poor?

Question

I have read a lot of tips on how to give a good conference talk: know your audience, give context, don't talk too fast, give your talk a clear structure or story, minimize text on slides, etc.

However, more often than not, presentations I've been to break most of these tips (quickly flipping through walls of text and equations while droning on in monotone), and I find it very difficult to concentrate on the talks.

Any tips on how to pay better attention and be able to learn something from these types of presentations?

Answer 1

For me the best approach depends on whether you can actively pay attention to the speaker’s voice or not. There are two very different methods to get the most out of those two scenarios:

Problems with the speaker

This is the case where the speaker is monotone, has nothing interesting to say, or at the very worst, just has absolutely no clue about public speaking (fills sentences with awkward "um"s, stutters, or loses focus and goes off on tangents).

In this case, it's probably best to get as much as you can from the presentation. Focus specifically on that and tone out the speaker, which if monotone shouldn't be all that difficult.

While doing this, take notes and work out some of the problems or exercises, if any, for yourself. Make up an exercise if none are given, or otherwise start trying to make sense of the material and put it to use in any way you can. This way you will have something to do and stay engaged, while still learning the material.

And there's always caffeine.

Problems with the presentation/content

Maybe you have a great speaker, but nothing being spoken goes with the slides, or (my personal pet peeve) the font on the slides is too tiny or poorly formatted to get anything from anyway. In this case, just ignore the slides altogether as they will only serve as a distraction.

Focus on the speaker, take good notes on what is being said, and really think about the concepts in your mind. Mull them over and write down questions you might have, even if it's not an open format where you can ask them during the lecture. This way your mind stays engaged. Take on thought experiments with the material – if this happened, what would the result be? Or: if I used this idea here, how might it help? Find ways to immediately apply what you are learning, and if that's not possible (if it's more theory-based stuff) just follow along the best you can.

If chewing gum helps you to think, do that. Grab an energy drink or whatever helps you stay focused. I find it's a lot harder to pay attention when the speaker is boring than when the presentation is boring.

Problems with both

In your worst case scenario, the speaker is lackluster and the content is dull and dry, with a presentation that is difficult to follow. You can try the following tips:

• Use an actual pen and paper for notes. The act of writing can help you remember things better.

• Try to remember earlier parts of the presentation, especially any bits that you found interesting or wanted to go back to later. The act of remembering solidifies concepts in your mind. If you go a week without using a password, that's when you forget it. The same applies to anything you learn.

• If it's a Q&A format, ask questions. Don't make up nonsense if you can't think of any, but it will help you concentrate just by trying to come up with some.

• Act as if you are the official meeting notes taker. Record any dialog that goes on if questions are asked. This can help you organize your notes, and will also serve to jog your memory when going over it later.

• Put away your phone or anything that might provide a distraction. Turn your laptop or other device on airplane mode to keep it from buzzing or blinking unexpectedly.

• Close your eyes. This is a known technique for helping your other senses get more information. Sure you might be lulled to sleep, but depending on the situation, it might help you concentrate on the speaker better. Listen to the speaker's exact tone and phrasing.

• Breathe deeply, through your nose. If you are feeling sleepy, this can help you stay awake. Make sure when you breathe, your stomach expands and not your chest. When you take good, deep breaths through your nose from your diaphragm, you get much better breaths and feed your brain with oxygen.

• Other answers mentioned taking a break. Go grab a bottle of water or energy drink, or take a short walk. Read some of your notes aloud while on your break.

Answer 2

When I attend talks where the quality of the presentation is poor, I like to use it as an opportunity to learn about what not to do in a presentation.

I have an ongoing list of "things not to do in a presentation", with examples from talks I've attended. I just take out the list and add to it whenever I attend one of these presentations. I find it helpful for improving the quality of my own presentations - more helpful than just reading tips others have written about presenting, because when I refer to my list I am reminded of exactly why and how a presentation is made worse by [insert bad thing here], from personal experience.

Usually as a result of taking notes on the presentation technique, I end up also paying attention to the content of the presentation, which is a nice side benefit.

P.S. I also have a list of "effective presentation techniques" and I add to it whenever I attend a talk where the quality of presentation is very good.

Answer 3

Just a couple of tips that have been useful to me:

• Take notes, even if you aren't going to keep them. Taking notes helps me to keep concentrated. In fact, if the presentation is boring or I'm very tired, taking notes helps to keep me awake.
• If the speaker is failing at communicating his knowledge but his knowledge is actually interesting to you, then you can try to ask questions to get as much as possible of that knowledge. Doing it in a way that also benefits the audience - as Coder's answer says - is great, but often difficult.

Answer 4

You can probably look at following possible ways to concentrate and keep yourself motivated:

1. Ask questions: Let see you see a text/equation where you may not be interested in getting a top class answer. Just ask it. For example, you may ask what is the use of that parameter in this context? Does it have an effect on the underlying problem? -- You may also get an awesome answer.
2. Write ideas in a paper: When someone of other field is giving a talk, although you find something uninteresting, you may sometimes relate your research problem with the presenting one. Keep notes, try to formulate new ideas. And, possibly at last, during break you can open scope of collaboration with the presenter.
3. Take a short break: Although people around you may not feel so formal about it, but still you can go for a small break or a walk. Then come back for the presentation.

Remember the following talks:

1. Many authors think that the presentation in the conference is just a formality. Anyway, the paper is going to be published in the conf. proceedings (I am talking here about Comp. Sc.)
2. Talks in conferences should not be storytelling conferences. Because you are there to share ideas and findings with other experts. Sometimes, it is okay. However, some serious people just ignore these small things and just get moving with the flow like teaching in classroom.

Answer 5

Your question really resonates with me.

I have a terrible time at conferences. Maybe I'm highly distractible, but id rather recall that scientists are experts at science, not communication. Echoing colleagues above, learn what not to do.

Aside from that, when a talk is unintelligible or boring to tears, keep in mind that it's their fault, not yours. There are many TED talks on trivial topics that hit home due to eloquent presentation, and vice versa.

When you find yourself disengaging, make it an effort to jot down one important fact. At least you'll have that.

If it seems relevant to you but you are just 'done' (last day of conference? Late dinner with colleagues?) write down their info and request their talk after the fact. You can review on your own time.

It's not just you. We're all battling an assault on the senses. Some people just don't want to admit it.

Answer 6

You can:

• Take notes, related to the talk or not;
• Translate what the speaker is talking to a foreign language. This is a very good exercise and helps your concentration;
• Pay attention on the delivery, not on the content of the speaker. How is the posture, rhythm and the voice of the speaker? If they are also poor, at least you can learn about what not to do for public speaking.
• Chew some gum, for staying awake.

Answer 7

My daughter was in the army for a while; when class got too long or too boring, it was permitted/expected/encouraged that you stood up, walked around, did knee bends; anything that would keep you from dozing off. You were there to learn; and you did what it takes to do that.