Is it professional to include personal details in a talk? FemaleScienceProfessor asks. Earlier this year, she writes, she heard a talk in which the speaker included details from her life that weren't relevant to the talk, such as including pictures of her children and spouse. "Although we professors shouldn't hide the fact that we have families and medical issues and so on, I don't think we should make our personal lives a significant part of our research talks to professional audiences.