A couple of years ago, I mused about what I called "TMI Talks" -- professional talks in which the speaker inserts a lot (too much?) personal information that is not at all relevant to the talk topic. Is this unprofessional and annoying (particularly if the talk isn't very good otherwise) or is it a nice example of showing that scientists (and others) are human and there is more to life than just research? Curmudgeon that I am, I came down on the side of believing that most of this personal info should be left out of professional talks. A bit is OK, but not a lot.
Today in Scientopia, I discuss a somewhat-related topic, related to the relentless out-of-context mention (by men and women) of their parenting activities. Annoying or cute? Unprofessional or a normal part of the slow move towards more family-friendly culture in academe? Does it matter (to you) if it's a man or a woman bringing up baby (in conversation)?
Today in Scientopia, I discuss a somewhat-related topic, related to the relentless out-of-context mention (by men and women) of their parenting activities. Annoying or cute? Unprofessional or a normal part of the slow move towards more family-friendly culture in academe? Does it matter (to you) if it's a man or a woman bringing up baby (in conversation)?
It depends. If it's my talk, sure! My kids are adorable. Anybody else's kids have no place in professional talks. But worse than personal information, please please avoid any sports references. Those really make me cringe!
ReplyDeleteI guess you can group me in with "curmudgeon". A screen background, great. Not during the talk, though, please. My time really is at a premium. Unless the kid has a direct relationship to the research subject. I've seen that, and it can be incredibly moving, to understand the drive behind the research.
ReplyDeleteI haven't done this in a talk other than to thank my family for their support at the very end of my dissertation presentation, but I have used pictures of my family in class. When relevant. When was having a discussion with the class on the use of hand sanitizers and anti-bacterial soap, I put in a picture of my daughter whose backpack has 11 (that's not a type) little bottles of hand sanitizer attached to it. I used this as an example of how hard it is to change behavior, apparently, I fail in my own household!
ReplyDeleteIf it's rarely and tastefully done, and puts a human face to the topic, I don't mind. But there are certainly limits!
I'm not sure such things should be in a seminar. Individual meetings with faculty that usually take place at a seminar visit, yes, possibly, if it comes up naturally. Dinner after the seminar? Absolutely. But not during the talk. That being said, I think it is all well-intentioned, and indeed a move toward a more family-friendly culture in science. That's all well and good, but it is not relevant to the talk. It is often show-offy: "See, I am an awesome scientist AND I have a fulfilling family life with adorable kids!" or an excuse: "Sorry my talk sucked, but this lovely baby keeps me up nights and is making me all jacked up on oxytocin!".
ReplyDeleteI have a few scientist friends who are childless by choice, and really are not interested in hearing about other peoples parenting activities during talks. I understand this.
I don't like it. It isn't relevant to the topic and it is likely to put someone in the audience off, e.g., people without kids, people without spouses/partners, people without dogs/cats. I also could do without pictures of the beaches, mountains, resorts near the speaker's institution.
ReplyDeleteA clear Please Don't! from my point of view. Why should babies be allowed and cute, but dogs, cars, or current love affairs be taboo? I mean, where does it end? I'd say, right here and now. If scientists honestly seek a more human-friendly working environment, they should hang out for fun after work, share a laugh, ask about each other's lifes, talk about something else than their current paper for once, etca. The list goes on forever, but personal powerpoint information is definitely way down the line for me.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I've ever mentioned my family life in a talk, but I have mentioned my kid in class. This comes up in relationship to child-related topics and only as an example. In smaller classes I have talked about my child more in informal before and after class settings.
ReplyDeleteAt conferences? I can't remember this ever happening. As far as the premium of my time, 20 minutes of poor research is waaaay worse than 1 minutes of family time. I imagine.
I have found that a small number of students get annoyed at any recognition of your own humanity. For instance, if you say "sorry I had to have the TAs show a relevant film in class on Wednesday, I had a stomach virus." (I had two students complain about this specifically on midterm evaluations last fall, but I had no complaints about using my kid as a reference point twice.) The fact that I would excuse them from class if they were similarly afflicted doesn't seem to register.