At the beginning of September I was at Agile on the Beach 2016. It was just as good as I expected, which says a lot given that I had really high expectations!
Fantastic talks, learned tons, in beautiful sunny Cornwall – what’s not to like?
Well, one thing. It’s a pet peeve of mine: Despite most presenters doing a really great job, virtually none of them repeated the audience’s questions before answering them. For the camera and everyone sitting in row 5 or farther back the answer was meaningless.
“Mumble brumble bumble mumble?” – “Yes.”
Repeating questions was so rare that several people enthusiastically commended me on doing it in my talk (on what happens when the whole company becomes agile). Not sure I want my distinguishing trait as a speaker to be “at least she repeats the darn questions” that’s why I appeal to you to get into the habit of doing it, too, when you’re a speaker. (Or to continue if you’re already doing it. :))
If you’re in the audience, you can help by asking the speaker “Can you repeat the question?” after the first unrepeated question.
I had only resolved on doing so during the last talk and it went spectacularly wrong (the original asker repeated the question, again speaking to the front which did not help either me or the camera). After that disaster I didn’t wanna ask again. Instead I decided to bring a sign next time. It’s less intrusive than asking.
Please help spread the word! (Pun intended ;))