Rant on motivation in academic talks

Right then…

Given that people tell me I need to actually write something in order to have a blog, and given that most other blogs I've read appear to contain a rant on something or other, I thought I would have a rant myself.

It is something I have long since been irritated by, and is namely the lack of motivation or background or introduction (of any sort) endemic in most academic presentations and talks.  I'm sure this is a problem elsewhere as well, but academia is my arena.  The number of talks I have attended that have jumped straight into their particular subject is depressing - with no mention whatsoever of the purpose of that particular project.  When an introduction is included, it still more often than not does not give motivation or purpose.  Larger questions like "What is the point of this work?" and "Why should I be interested in what you're about to say?" often remain unasked and unanswered.

I have long since wondered why this is, and why I always try to buck the trend.  I think it might be for one of two reasons (or possibly both): either the speaker assumes everyone else is as intelligent as they are and therefore inherently understands the topic, or the speaker is afraid that giving too much background makes them look simple.  Personally, I always try to give some sort of introduction and motivational background - even if it is necessarily brief, if time is short.  If that makes me look simple, it's probably because I am - but in my opinion an audience should never be either underestimated or overestimated.  I would never want to patronise an audience and be too basic, but nor would I ever assume an audience understand the finer points of my work.  Admittedly there is a fine line between the two, but it's a line that needs to be approached.

I think this is particularly important in the current economic climate, when pretty much every funding body is wanting value for money.  The vast majority of us are funded by research councils, and in order to obtain funding a large amount of emphasis is put on Impact - who are the beneficiaries (academic or otherwise) of the research, how will it benefit the scientific community and society in general, what are the larger implications and applicable outcomes?  The idea that we are locked away in our white ivory towers, undertaking brilliant science solely for the benefit of science itself, is long dead - although many might wish it wasn't.  Personally, I don't fall into this camp - science should always have a purpose other than pure scientific interest.

Lastly, I should point out that not everyone is like this in their talks.  I recently attended a talk of one of my PhD students and, if he's reading this, well done matey.  It is very possible to give a good introduction, including motivation for your work, without being patronising and appearing simple.  I'm also under no false pretences as to the purpose of my own work, and have recently become somewhat disillusioned as to whether it has a point or not.  I appreciate we can't all win the Nobel Peace Prize, although we should all try, however as explained above I'm very aware that there needs to be a point to any research.  And that this point should always be at the forefront of any research agenda, and should be reflected in any deliverable - be it a presentation, paper, poster or discussion.

Rant over.

Hello

Hello, and welcome to my own brand-new blog.

I'm a little bit dubious as to the purpose of this, and whether or not anyone will ever read anything from here, however we'll see.  It's something I've been told I should do, both from a career and a social media perspective.  Quite what I will write here remains to be seen…

It should be noted that this is entirely separate from the other blog listed under my name, which is the official Climate Change Research Group (CCRG, one of the research groups of the Royal Geographical) blog, accessible at http://ccrg2013.blogspot.co.uk/.  The CCRG blog is primarily designed for members of the group, to discuss any issues loosely related to climate, geography and academia.  My personal blog, however, is just my own and will probably cover any subject matter, both serious and less so.

I suppose I should also note that, in either of the above blogs, anything I post from now on is entirely based on my own opinion, and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the CCRG, the RGS, my employer (the University of Reading), or indeed anyone else.  Just so that's clear.

That'll do for now...