Conference gave me a talk instead of a poster, but my results don't feel ready

Question

PhD student in Astronomy here, roughly 2 years or so from graduation. I'm going to a significant conference in my subfield this week, and my abstract was accepted for a talk! I initially expected to get a poster slot, so I was excited as this will be my first time giving a talk at a conference (I've done a couple lunch seminars before).

However, now that it's only a few days out, I am extremely nervous. I didn't make nearly as much progress as I thought I would have made when I initially submitted the abstract, and I'm not particularly confident about my results.

I'm terrified that I'll go up there and folks will think "not only is that result wrong, very little substantial work has been done!" I worry that giving a talk about a potentially flawed work-in-progress will do more harm to my reputation than the visibility will do me good. And, with postdoc apps on the horizon, this makes me worried. Do I have reason to be concerned?

Answer 1

My first suggestion is that you find a way to talk to your advisor, both about whether you should withdraw, and if not, what to say in the talk.

My next, and best, however, is that you be honest in any talk about the state of affairs. If you haven't reached conclusive results, then say so, and indicate that it is still a work is progress. Give the state of the study and what your current expectations are, assuming that is possible.

Even if it looks like the results will be negative, say so. Negative results can be as valuable as positive ones, if they redirect people away from failed approaches. What we learn is important, even if it isn't what we expected to learn.

Give some estimate about when more might be known, even if it is a bit uncertain. Plan on speaking with interested people after the talk, which can lead to future projects and collaborations. Have fun.

Note that with only a few days to go, it might not be possible to withdraw as it would leave a hole in the program. You might, however, inform the conference committee of your misgivings. Depending on the field, and the conference, this situation might be common enough to not be an issue.

Answer 2

Ultimately you have three options:

1. Give the talk. You can explain that your results are partial and/or preliminary. If you are feeling brave you can welcome feedback.
2. Write to the conference organisers explaining that you would really rather have a poster, and asking if they can accomodate you
3. Withdraw completely

The fact that the conference is only a few days away may limit option (2), as the conference organisers are less likely to be receptive to something that affects their programme at the last minute.

The only person who can give you really good advice on these options is your supervisor, because they know both your work and the norms for the conference. For example, at the conferences I go to it is fairly common to have talks about planned work, or work in progress, without results - but I don't know if this is the case at your venue.

Having said that: If you give the talk, the best case is that it goes over better than you expect, and might yield long-term benefits. The likely worst case is that the audience is bored. Unless conferences in your field are much more vicious than mine, it is unlikely that anybody would hold it against you long term. So you probably have more to gain than to lose.