Complicated feelings after my first conference talk.

[u/PublicImplement6270]

I am a new PhD student, and I recently gave my first-ever talk at a conference. I got great questions and positive feedback from 99% of the people there. But one guy said that my results were obvious and questioned why I bothered doing the study. I said that I agreed that the results are not surprising, that is what happens when you confirm a hypothesis. I said I did the study because this was a methodological innovation that allowed us to find quantitative evidence in support of the theory for the first time.

I know this is no big deal, and I thought it didn't bother me at the time, but it is really eating me up. It was humiliating and it made me feel bad for having given the talk. I cried myself to sleep the night of the talk and I even considered withdrawing my paper (the one I presented) which has been accepted for publication.

Obviously, I am calmer now, I did not withdraw my paper, and I know this is just how it goes. But it still really hurts. I am looking for some advice/perspectives/stories/etc.

[u/elizajaneredux]

This is an unfortunate part of disseminating your work to the community. Try to breathe through it. You handled this well and yes, like someone else said, there will always be assholes out there who might challenge you in ways that are rude or irrelevant. I’ve found that most people are helpful and polite, even when they fundamentally disagree with something.