Experience is a painful thing. Learning by experience is even worse. To cite experience as a qualification is to say that either (a) I personally have seen someone else make a mistake and have learned not to emulate or (b) I personally have made the mistake and have learned not to replicate.
Unfortunately, it has been experience (mostly of the a-type) that has led me to write this short guide to how to behave in a question and answer session (I’m sure there’s some b-type from my younger years in there somewhere, but they elude me now). Now, it may be that I’ve never actually been to a good Q & A session, but I definitely have been to some painful ones. Rather than castigate as unintelligent, I’ll assume it’s mere inexperience. Allow me to humbly share my experience and save you all the trouble.
Whether it follows a film screening or a philosophy lecture, the point of a question and answer session is to allow the speaker (lecturer, director, actor, artist, etc.) to speak (more). It’s an encore, really. That being said, the emphasis should be on the A, not the Q of the Q & A. So when you are forming your Q in your seat while you wait for someone else to ask the first question, here are five things to think about.
1. It’s not about you. Keep in mind you are part of an audience. If no one else in the audience is going to understand your all-too-specific question on how the film you just saw relates to that 1946 underappreciated classic by Ewan McGreggor’s third uncle, you should really think twice about asking the question. Even if you read in Film Comment’s more underground counterpart that the speaker happens to be an aficionado on McGreggor family lineage, there’s no reason to help the speaker disengage the audience.
2. Q-to-A ratio. Sometimes speakers are shy, especially when they aren’t lecturers by trade. It’s not always your fault, but one thing to think about is if your question can be answered in less than three words, try to reformulate. One way to do this is just to add the simple phrase “your thoughts?” to the end of any sentence. Let the speaker figure it out.
3. Your Q is but a means. Often enough, the most entertaining parts of a Q & A are the tangents within the A. Keep your questions broad. It may be that the speaker has a better sense of what’s interesting. Let the speaker navigate to those points.
4. Don’t pander. It’s not required to start your question with “I just want to say, I thought it was wonderful.” No one likes a speaker’s pet. No one in the audience cares. And the speaker probably only cares if you happen to represent the Nobel Committee. Be your own editor.
5. Taste is not a question. It’s okay if you don’t like what you saw or heard. Not every event is organized around a masterpiece. At the same time, what do you expect the speaker to say when you tell them that. Usually the A will be “okay” or “well screw you” and neither of those satisfies the Q-to-A ratio principle. This doesn’t mean that you can’t engage the speaker in a debate to clarify or press the speaker’s position. Implications are always interesting. Hold the speaker’s feet to the fire (whatever that means) if you want. Just make sure it’s not an us-versus-them scenario. If you go to hear Dave Eggers speak about Barthelme and you happen to think post-modern literature is nothing but self-aware (red) herring sandwiches, the odds are that lecture is not for you. As they say, Hegelians can’t debate Kantians because they aren’t philosophizing on the same playing field (i.e. Agora). Don’t talk through each other.
Addendum: Some things are best left unanswered. Some Qs to avoid in specific situations:
Following a film screening: What did the ending mean?
Following a history lecture: What about Hitler?
Following an ethics lecture: What about Hitler?
Following a reading of a piece of fiction: I know it’s fiction, but do you think that’s really possible?
Following a lecture that was over your head: Can you explain that again?
Following a John Kerry lecture: Apparently whatever that tasered kid said.
~Josh
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