How to concentrate during conference talks where the quality of the presentation is poor?
When I attend talks where the quality of the presentation is poor, I like to use it as an opportunity to learn about what not to do in a presentation.
I have an ongoing list of "things not to do in a presentation", with examples from talks I've attended. I just take out the list and add to it whenever I attend one of these presentations. I find it helpful for improving the quality of my own presentations - more helpful than just reading tips others have written about presenting, because when I refer to my list I am reminded of exactly why and how a presentation is made worse by [insert bad thing here], from personal experience.
Usually as a result of taking notes on the presentation technique, I end up also paying attention to the content of the presentation, which is a nice side benefit.
P.S. I also have a list of "effective presentation techniques" and I add to it whenever I attend a talk where the quality of presentation is very good.
Just a couple of tips that have been useful to me:
- Take notes, even if you aren't going to keep them. Taking notes helps me to keep concentrated. In fact, if the presentation is boring or I'm very tired, taking notes helps to keep me awake.
- If the speaker is failing at communicating his knowledge but his knowledge is actually interesting to you, then you can try to ask questions to get as much as possible of that knowledge. Doing it in a way that also benefits the audience - as Coder's answer says - is great, but often difficult.
You can probably look at following possible ways to concentrate and keep yourself motivated:
- Ask questions: Let see you see a text/equation where you may not be interested in getting a top class answer. Just ask it. For example, you may ask what is the use of that parameter in this context? Does it have an effect on the underlying problem? -- You may also get an awesome answer.
- Write ideas in a paper: When someone of other field is giving a talk, although you find something uninteresting, you may sometimes relate your research problem with the presenting one. Keep notes, try to formulate new ideas. And, possibly at last, during break you can open scope of collaboration with the presenter.
- Take a short break: Although people around you may not feel so formal about it, but still you can go for a small break or a walk. Then come back for the presentation.
Remember the following talks:
- Many authors think that the presentation in the conference is just a formality. Anyway, the paper is going to be published in the conf. proceedings (I am talking here about Comp. Sc.)
- Talks in conferences should not be storytelling conferences. Because you are there to share ideas and findings with other experts. Sometimes, it is okay. However, some serious people just ignore these small things and just get moving with the flow like teaching in classroom.