Terrified of being a discussant any tips?

[underestimation]

Hi everybody, I am shortly going to act as a discussant at a conference. There will be many very eminent academics and my own research is only tangentially linked to the subject. I am absolutely terrified and I am someone who regularly speaks to very large audiences etc. Does anybody have any advice on how to be a good discussant? What is my role? Am I meant to summarise? Criticise? Add to? And what if I don’t understand and say something really stupid? Aaaaaaargh xx

Sounds great, good luck!

I was a discussant a few years ago on a subject only vaguely related to my research.

Here's how I prepared for that:
Firstly, I took a good guess at who'd be in the audience and who'd be likely to ask questions (i.e. who are the eminent people that are going to be there). I did some research on those people (areas of research, political perspectives, big theoretical contributions etc.) so I was prepared for who might be asking me questions and what agenda they might have.

Secondly, I spent a good few days acquainting myself with the "core" research of that field so that I could talk in very general terms about, for example, particular theoretical changes that'd happened.

Thirdly, when I was introduced I made sure the host was clear about my research area so the audience knew I was only vaguely related to the topic of the talk.

If I were you I would get in touch with the conference organiser and ask if they have any particular ideas of how they see the discussion being structured. For example, do they want you to be the critical voice? Do they want you to be an advocate? Do they want your summary with two or three points for discussion?

If not, then I would just be willing and open to have a frank discussion. So, be honest about the good points of the talk, the bad points, the points you'd like to discuss more, the points you think there could be more research on etc.

I think there's two ways to approach these kind of events.

i) from the perspective "what would a senior man do?" - just bullshit and bluster through, bringing everything back to your research and own agenda.
ii) or just be yourself. Have open and frank discussion but be honest when you don't understand something and pass the buck (by saying something like "I'm not the best person to answer this point, perhaps we could pass over to one of the other discussants whose work is more closely related"

I took the second approach when I was a discussant and it worked really well for me. I don't think I came across as forthright and as much like a "future leader" as I'd have wanted but I felt much more comfortable and actually started some very good collaborations on the back of it.

Hi Bellahadid. Thanks so much for responding, this is so helpful. I genuinely don't understand why I have been given this role. The conference is packed full of eminent professors who are NOT acting as discussants, so it's not as though it's a full programme for them. I think that's a good idea to get in touch with the organiser though. Can I ask that she hand the role over?!!? (I know I can't).

Another tip is to see if you can get the papers a few days earlier and then prepare a précis that you either use to shape a few summary points of common areas between them or, if you’re lucky, to identify points that you can tie into your own expertise.

And don’t fall into the imposter syndrome trap. They invited you for a reason!

Imposter - thanks for responding. Genuinely, I am an imposter especially in relation to the company at this event. I have actually just asked whether I can see the papers in advance - there are four and I have seen none of them. I wonder whether I could ask the speakers to send something over to me if the organiser doesn't have them? GOD. I need to pull myself together. What's the worst that can happen (other than making a terrible fool of myself and never being able to show my face again). Which would in fact be a blessed relief.

Completely reasonable to ask the speakers to send something or at least to have a chat on the phone if they've got nothing prepared.

Agree about imposter syndrome... you have been asked for a reason

Ask the speakers themselves if you get no joy with the organisers. Suggest they send an outline even if the paper isn’t ready. Also a nice way to introduce yourself and, if you like, ask if there’s anything in particular they’d like to be brought up in a discussion. Though perhaps you don’t want them to lead things too much.