BIG Little Event Information
Thank you so much for coming to the Little Event. I hope you enjoyed your day.
In my session we covered three key pieces of advice and I left you with one plea. I was asked about YouTube videos so I have included some interesting links at the bottom of the page.
In my session we covered three key pieces of advice and I left you with one plea. I was asked about YouTube videos so I have included some interesting links at the bottom of the page.
1. Story Audience Science
We all want to be good but what is good? And we all want to get better but how can we get better if we don't know what good is?
If you ask three simple questions you will on the right track. What's the story? Who's the audience? and Where's the science?
If you ask three simple questions you will on the right track. What's the story? Who's the audience? and Where's the science?
2. Demo Chains
Something to avoid is what I call single concept- single demo.
Instead you should try to build demo chains. Find out what the common preconceptions and misconceptions are for your audience and then work out how you can address them with a selection of demos that lead to a fuller understanding.
Chaining demos together, showing two or three preparatory demos before revealing the final demo, keeps the time spent just talking to a minimum. Aim for show AND tell (not show then tell or worse tell then show).
Instead you should try to build demo chains. Find out what the common preconceptions and misconceptions are for your audience and then work out how you can address them with a selection of demos that lead to a fuller understanding.
Chaining demos together, showing two or three preparatory demos before revealing the final demo, keeps the time spent just talking to a minimum. Aim for show AND tell (not show then tell or worse tell then show).
3. Evaluate
Reflective practice is so important. We should always be aiming to get better not stand still or get worse.
Here is one article about this. Here is another.
Here is one article about this. Here is another.
A plea
I ended by making a plea- make us love your science as you love your science.
The original speech Alan Alda made can be found here [pdf]. The bit I read was this:
"You're graduating today partly as Feynman's heirs in this gloriously courageous willingness to be unsure. And just as he was heir to Newton, who was in turn heir to Galileo, I hope you'll think about devoting some time to helping the rest of us become your heirs... Whatever you do, help us love science the way you do."
This is what I wrote about this.
The original speech Alan Alda made can be found here [pdf]. The bit I read was this:
"You're graduating today partly as Feynman's heirs in this gloriously courageous willingness to be unsure. And just as he was heir to Newton, who was in turn heir to Galileo, I hope you'll think about devoting some time to helping the rest of us become your heirs... Whatever you do, help us love science the way you do."
This is what I wrote about this.
Feedback and Questions
I would be very interested to hear from you if you have any feedback about my talk. As I said it was the first time I'd crammed all that material into one one hour session. Whatever feedback you'd like to give, positive and negative, will help me deliver better sessions in the future.
If you have any questions you'd like to ask, if I can, I'd be very happy to answer them.
If you have any questions you'd like to ask, if I can, I'd be very happy to answer them.
YouTube Links
There are lots of interesting examples of live science presenting on the web.
Two of the largest resources are the RI and Steve Spangler. The RI put on the Christmas Lectures and these can all be found on their RI channel. Steve Spangler is an American presenter who has appeared on many TV shows. I especially like his enthusiasm without resorting to unnecessary hype and the way he links demos together. I have written about him here and you can find his Spangler channel here.
Two other interesting channels are Veritasium and Smarter Every Day. The early Veritasium videos were produced on the basis of the presenter's PhD research about how to make effective science videos. The videos where he addresses the pre and misconceptions are the ones I like the best. Smarter Every Day is a lovely channel that explores some amazing science in a very accessible science.
One more interesting set of videos is from Julius Sumner Miller. These are obviously dated but a great resource for classic demos and for seeing how things used to be done. Go easy on him, he was one of the first.
If you have any interesting resources and you'd be happy to share them send me an email and I'll add the link to this page.
Two of the largest resources are the RI and Steve Spangler. The RI put on the Christmas Lectures and these can all be found on their RI channel. Steve Spangler is an American presenter who has appeared on many TV shows. I especially like his enthusiasm without resorting to unnecessary hype and the way he links demos together. I have written about him here and you can find his Spangler channel here.
Two other interesting channels are Veritasium and Smarter Every Day. The early Veritasium videos were produced on the basis of the presenter's PhD research about how to make effective science videos. The videos where he addresses the pre and misconceptions are the ones I like the best. Smarter Every Day is a lovely channel that explores some amazing science in a very accessible science.
One more interesting set of videos is from Julius Sumner Miller. These are obviously dated but a great resource for classic demos and for seeing how things used to be done. Go easy on him, he was one of the first.
If you have any interesting resources and you'd be happy to share them send me an email and I'll add the link to this page.
