Being a professional academic ¨C does it have to mean being boring? This is the question asked by Ellen Spaeth (), a University of Edinburgh PhD student researching music listening in the treatment of anxiety, in a on the Thesis Whisperer blog.

In it, she recalls a presentation she made recently at a ¡°relatively informal¡± conference for students at the university. ¡°The emphasis was on getting experience of presenting in an academic setting, and as such, all attendees were asked to complete feedback forms for each presenter,¡± she says. ¡°I¡¯d already given a similar presentation at an external conference the previous week, and had been complimented on both content and delivery. I¡¯d been really nervous before this, so I was delighted to do it again.¡±

According to Ms Spaeth, the presentation went well. ¡°I made some jokes (which people seemed to appreciate), and the audience looked interested and engaged. I even had some thought-provoking questions. In keeping with this, my feedback was mostly complimentary.¡±

However, some of the feedback forms ¡°ALSO contained a warning¡±, Ms Spaeth says, that ¡°I should probably be more serious and sedate in a more formal setting, if I wanted to be taken seriously as an academic¡±.

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She concedes that the presentation was ¡°not serious¡±. ¡°It was not sedate. I probably did talk too fast. My bugbear is with the idea that to be professional, you need to remove what might be your best assets,¡± she writes. ¡°The things that set you apart from the crowd.¡±

She asks her readers a question. ¡°What does it really mean to be professional?¡­To me, being professional means being efficient and getting the job done, while maintaining a respectful attitude. It means engaging your audience, or at least increasing the odds that they¡¯ll stay awake (unless you work as a lullaby-creator).¡±

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For Ms Spaeth, the problem is not that the warning was wrong or offensive. The problem, she says, is that ¡°it was probably right¡±.

¡°I¡¯ve always been branded as ¡®enthusiastic¡¯, which is both positive and negative. I do try to tone it down at times, while still being me ¨C it¡¯s all about keeping a balance. And obviously, it¡¯s important to know your audience.¡±

However, the idea that ¡°trying to be LESS engaging, enthusiastic, and innovative will be good for my academic career scares me¡±, Ms Spaeth concludes, before asking what others think.

The blog clearly caught the attention of the academy, eliciting almost 50 comments in the first 24 hours.

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, who runs the Educational(ism) blog, believes that some audiences are more tolerant of a lighthearted presentation style than others. ¡°I¡¯ve found that presenting to an education specialist audience can be vastly different to an ancient history specialist audience,¡± he says. ¡°Education specialists, for me, tend to be more approving of the energetic, outgoing, enthusiastic presentation.¡±

Benjamin Habib, lecturer in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at La Trobe University in Australia, urges academics to keep it real. ¡°If you¡¯re bubbly and fun, go with that¡­if you¡¯re a more subdued person, go with that instead. Be true to yourself,¡± he advises.

Send links to topical, insightful and quirky online comment by and about academics to chris.parr@tsleducation.com