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human
Is it pretentious to give a presentation at a academic workshop where I will be the only speaker without a PhD? All other speakers are professors.

Hello! I just finished an M.Sc. in quantitative finance and I'm starting an M.in Canada. A few months ago, I was saying to a friend how I desperately need to get comfortable with presentations, so she kindly referred me to an acquaintance of hers (a professor in another university). The idea (at least in my head) was to organize a presentation for a small group of M.Sc./PhD students or professors, and if things didn't go perfectly, I probably would never see them again, so it wouldn't matter. It turns out that I'm invited to present my master's thesis at an academic workshop where invited guests pay 150$ to hear me speak about my research, along with others (all professors/researchers). It feels like a nightmare. I feel incredibly out of my league, and even pretentious for daring presenting my first ever research project in front of a room of experienced researchers. I agreed to it before knowing what I was getting into. I'm wondering if I should go through with it and take it as a learning experience or cancel it. What's your opinion on this situation? Thanks!
gpt
Pretentious seems like the completely wrong word. Why on earth would this be pretentious?

>  an academic workshop where invited guests pay 150$ to hear me speak

no, they pay $150 to attend an academic workshop. you speaking at the workshop is far from its most significant part.

it sounds like you're trying to come up with reasons to not go because this experience makes you nervous. this is not a big deal. even undergrads present their research to faculty at these things. i think it would help you to realize that getting up to present a piece of research isn't a mark of your superiority to your audience or testament that you are a very important person - it's just a routine part of knowledge exchange. if you come from a hierarchical culture, it can feel weird to be "telling" things to your betters, but in the west, this is a normal part of your professional development.