Many students don’t realize how important their interactions with judges are at sciencefairs. Sure, you’ve completed a rigorous research project that deserves to be heaped with awards. But that’s really only half the battle.
Impressing your judge with a great pitch and informative answers to their questions is the only way to ensure you get those awards that you deserve. To help you along, I’ve compiled a list of tips to follow to make sure that you are prepared for the challenging question-and-answer portion of your judging sessions.
1. Remain Calm and Confident When Talking to Judges
This is paramount. Even though judges are professionals in their field and may ask you challenging questions, you must remember that YOU are the expert on your project.
Even if a question throws you off, stay calm and collected and be confident in your knowledge of the project, and do your best to answer completely. Don’t ramble on, a short, precise answer is the best way to demonstrate how well you know the subject matter at hand.
2. Practice Your Science Fair Q&A Continuously
The only way to really prepare for Q&A sessions is to have people ask you questions and practice answering them. There are lots of options for this.
First, ask your family or people who don’t know a lot about your project. Give them your pitch and let them ask all their questions. This will help you practice the skill of explaining complex topics simply, and it’s more than likely that their outsider’s perspective will allow you a new insight into your research.
You can also use a generative AI source to simulate a Q&A with judges. Just type in your abstract or some information about your project and ask it to generate practice questions at varying degrees of difficulty. If you can’t answer a question, go back to researching and reading papers until you have a better idea of how to reply.
3. Don’t Be Afraid to Not Answer Judges’ Questions
There are occasions when you just don’t know how to answer a question from a judge. In this case, there are two important things to remember.
First, if you don’t know how to answer, don’t try to. Rambling on and on about something you have little understanding of is a red flag to a judge and could make you appear ingenuine about your research.
Second, stick to this answer: “That was beyond the scope of my research, but I am interested in pursuing that question in the future.” That is the most professional way to shut down a line of questioning, and it is completely acceptable in the scientific world. It allows you to keep the focus on what you do know, and it shows a level of maturity to the judges that you wouldn’t try to talk about something that you did not research.
4. Understand The Point Behind The Q&A at Science Fairs
The question-and-answer portion of judging is pretty confusing, so it’s important to remember why these judges are asking you questions.
Often, it is not because they can’t understand what you are talking about or need further explanation. Rather, they ask you technical questions because they want to see how you think as a scientist. They are evaluating based on your research, of course, but they are also trying to identify the students who could really make a difference as scientists, and a big part of that is finding students with superior critical thinking and communication skills.
Having those skills honed will win more awards than an extremely complex research project. When you are involved in Q&A with judges, focus on answering questions completely and as simply as possible, and try to avoid embellishing your answers with unnecessary jargon.
Be prepared to answer general questions that give insight into your thought process, like “How did you come up with this idea?” and “What kind of research would you like to focus on to continue this project?” At the end of the day, these judges want to have a conversation with you. They want to see the human aspects of your work. Keep that in mind and don’t turn into a scientific robot when they start asking challenging questions.
Manage The Q&A With Judges at Science Fairs
If you keep all these tips in mind, you will be in excellent shape for answering judges’ questions at science fairs. Even though it can be stressful, if you allow yourself to relax a little bit, conversations with judges can be enjoyable and extremely valuable for learning more about the field you are working in. Practice away, and you will be able to reap all of those benefits of judge interactions.
Get Expert Help With Your Science Fair Judging
Talking to judges is the most stressful part of science fairs. When you work with a ScienceFair mentor, you get in-depth, unique insights. All of our coaches are past ISEF winners who know how to stand out at competitive fairs and what can quietly cost points.
If you want targeted feedback on your pitch and project, mock judging sessions, and more, schedule a consultation call to connect with a team member and create a personalized plan tailored to your needs.
