I would like to add my humble point of view on this issue ... Background: first time attendee & speaker at DebConf16 I agree with everyone that speaking, and later on, questioning, can drain a first time conference speaker. Worse still when English is a language one does not use daily. Then of course, a first time speaker will most likely not have much technical know-how of the subject, and it is to be expected that there will be some in the audience far more knowledgeable on the matter than he/she is. However, this in no way makes a new speaker intimidated. DebConf has a code of conduct, and the little I have seen (one DebConf attended, and a number of them watched), there is almost zero hostility from the audience. Norbert Preining wrote ... > Critical and tough questions are the best one can get, because the > challenge what you have done and might open new avenues. Personal > experience it is. Christop Biedl wrote .. > No doubt this is an issue. BUT: There are other, better ways to deal > with it than avoidance: By learning how to handle the situation. Being > able to preset your ideas, not necessarily in such a formal event as a > DebConf, is a key competence - we'll I'd say in your entire life. ... > may trust you will not experience anything bad. Enough people in the > audience have experience with presenting, they will at least be polite > enough to show respect you gave a presentation at all. It cannot be said any better than Norbert Preining and Christoph Biedl have already said. I personally found the whole experience to be a lot of fun. When I watch my talk at DebConf16, I always feel that I wasted everyone's time and mine, because the delivery was really bad (I was struggling to find words to express myself), and the content was definitely underwhelming. However, the Q&A was the best part of my talk, and gave me a very personal 'feel' of the Debian community. In the end, I learned a lot from it. Adding the option to have no public Q&A for first-time speakers is probably going to be helpful. At the same time, perhaps along with such option, there could be a note that briefly explains the possible benefits of allowing Q&A and that offers mentorship from a more experienced speaker. It would have to be worded in such a way that someone who really prefers no Q&A is not left feeling guilty. Just my two cents Sicelo
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