Questions

Currently, The Q&A section focuses on public Q&A after e.g. a presentation. I may expand the section to include asking and answering technical questions of e.g. the type we see in Stack Overflow or explanatory questions of e.g. the type students ask when learning new material.

Questions, both asking them and answering them, are fundamental to all STEM disciplines. So it’s surprising that we seldom discuss how to do either, especially since “ask more questions” seems to be a recommendation for success that I’ve heard since I was in elementary school. Why and how should we ask more questions and for what purpose? In this section I’ll look at questions from both sides and address the reasons we ask them as well. The focus will be on public questions, which, after stage-freight, causes a great deal of stress when presenting.