How to deal with rude interruptions in a seminar?

Question

The following situation has occurred several times with B (the same person, in the audience), A (a speaker, different from time to time), and C (the audience, mostly the same).* A is presenting some topic at a seminar* A presents some background material X* B interrupts, says something like "how many in C already know about X?" (suggesting that A should skip it).* C, who is generally quite annoyed with B, answer in some half-hearted way, usually letting A go on with the background materialI find the behavior of B rude (I can explain in more detail if this is disputed). If it is rude, then what is a good way to call it out? I will soon be A, and would like to deal with this in a light-hearted way but still sending a clear message.EDIT: Thanks for the many comments, and sorry if I did not make the question clear enough from the outset. It turns out there are actually three questions:1. Is B's behavior rude and underhanded?2. If someone is rude and underhanded in this way during a presentation, should one call it out?3. How to call out improper behavior / make it stop (in this particular case)? Given that the obvious methods (raised eyebrows, few answers from C, et.c.) have all failed.baldPrussian gives good suggestions in his answer, but I don't think they work in my particular situation. The polling is seldom actually carried out, and I think little is lost in thinking of the polling requests as slinging insults or statements-of-superiority-of-B at the A. Of course the simplest thing is just to ignore B, but that feels wrong (in the same way lying feels wrong).

Answer 1

I have experienced this behavior on a few different teaching occassions. My problem was becoming so caught up in the student's witty behavior and genius writing, that I failed to react until the end -- at which time I had the student temporarily suspended.

Your challenge, as I see it, is exceling where I did not in acknowledging that your teaching and presentation skills are credible. Also refusing to stand by and let anybody else stomp on your parade!

Experienced teachers/presenters do not "feed" the rude behavior by recognizing it. In fact, they ignore the rude comment, not even looking at that student. Then, when class is over, they respectfully take the student aside and tell him to write or type his comments and questions on his paper or laptop, then turn the questions into her at the end of class.

It is obvious that the student seeks verbal interaction or attention from you. If your class is mandatory for him to take, you can tell him that he is welcome to take an "F" or sign out of the course, but that his disrespectful behavior will not be tolerated.

You can also do a presentation for the whole class on "active listening." You can use this to your advantage by redirecting bad behavior into something positive. If he is a younger student, find out what he is interested in and somehow refer to that topic in your presentation. Tell him beforehand that you will do this when he least expects it, but only when he is acting respectful of you.

Answer 2

If this is an ongoing classroom situation, you ignore the behavior when it happens and speak to the student afterwards. You don't have to be rude about it. You can say, "I need you to keep a lower profile - it distracts me." Or you can say that it distracts other students. Tell him/her you are very willing to answer all of his/her questions during office hours, after class, after school, or after the lecture. Once I was giving a one-time speech at a very large conference and one woman kept calling stuff out. I ignored her and eventually she stopped. Depending on the venue, disruptive audience members will be asked to leave. Sometimes people are unable to keep it in. And sometimes they are there to harass. It takes practice not to let this get under your skin, and it is ALWAYS unsettling. Concentrate on the subject matter, on your good, friendly, confident delivery, and deal with it later if possible. In a worst case scenario (classroom) you can ask a student to leave the room and that you will speak to him/her later on. And remember, your safety is very important. If a student, or listener uses abusive, offensive, or threatening language, you have the authority to dismiss him/her. If he/she won't leave, call security.