Resource

Resources for Finding and Preparing Presenters

This Resource is an assemblage of prior blog posts related to Finding and Preparing Scientists. They are written by a number of members and each has unique ideas to share. We hope these help you be more creative in choosing your scientists so that they represent all of STEM and and at all levels of education.

Finding Presenters in Small Town America

This assembly describes the many opportunities for finding STEM professionals in relatively rural settings… your presenters do not have to come from an academic institution. Science is everywhere!

10 Tips for Finding Great Teen Café Presenters

Finding great presenters who can make their research topic relevant and exciting to teens can be challenging. Here are some ways we have found them.

Seeking Presenters: Where To Look

“… there are great STEM professionals, and thus potential Teen Science Café speakers, all around you. Think outside the box and consider aiming for diversity when it comes to topics and careers. Also, strive for a diverse population of men and women of all ages and colors and with all kinds of outfits when seeking out a presenter. It’s good for teens to realize how science infiltrates so many fields, how it affects the world all around them. Teens may even be inspired to consider a life in STEM for themselves.”

Coaching Your Presenters

Preparing Scientists for a Teen Café

Few scientists, however lustrous their reputations as “speakers,” are well prepared to do an effective teen Café; they often need some preparation. So, once you have identified a presenter using the “10 Tips for Finding Great Teen Café Presenters”, what’s next?

Value of the Dry Run

“We have found that it is highly valuable—and indeed essential—for presenters to do a dry run with a small group of teens before presenting to a full house.”

10 Common Rookie Presentation Mistakes

This post refers to another blog post that “provides an interesting perspective for presenters to consider. They apply to most any type of presentation, especially teen science cafés. [It contains] some excerpts, a type of cheat sheet, laying out his tips. A link to the original blog is posted at the end of this blog.”

A Simple Strategy for Training Presenters One-on-One

“While some presenters are natural conversationalists and storytellers, most are not. What is familiar to most scientists—one-way transmissions of facts—is ineffective with teens (and most other audiences). And, while a more conversational, interactive approach may be unfamiliar to a presenter, our experience has been that with some focused training, she or he will rise to the occasion.”

Seeking Presenters: Where To Look

“… there are great STEM professionals, and thus potential Teen Science Café speakers, all around you. Think outside the box and consider aiming for diversity when it comes to topics and careers. Also, strive for a diverse population of men and women of all ages and colors and with all kinds of outfits when seeking out a presenter. It’s good for teens to realize how science infiltrates so many fields, how it affects the world all around them. Teens may even be inspired to consider a life in STEM for themselves.”

Presenters’ Guides to the Essence of a Teen Science Café

“[G]et your scientist-speakers in the right head space for thinking about how to present at a Teen Science Café. The Adult Leader or other coordinator could meet for coffee with the STEM expert first to talk about the program and its format, and then follow up by giving or emailing them this Guide. Or, the coffee meeting could be done virtually, through Skype. Consider as a third step inviting the presenter to meet for a dry-run with some of the Teen Leaders a week or two in advance of the café so the teens may give constructive feedback and help get the presenter comfortable conversing with teens.”

Guide and Pre-Work for TSC Presenters

Includes a short intro to what a Café is, a Preparation Worksheet to help Café scientist-speakers think about parts of their work and career that may be engaging to teens, and an Activity Development space where the scientist brainstorms potential hands-on activities to accompany the conversation piece.

Presenter Guidance from Café Scientifique New Mexico

A document titled, “Cafe Scientifique New Mexico Guidelines for Presenters.” Contains guidance to presenters about structuring their program to the teen audience.

Publication: Science Communication in a Café Scientifique for High School Students

ABSTRACT: The authors’ adaptation of the popular Café Scientifique model has proven to be effective for communicating science to a high school teen audience. Their process for achieving effective science communication between scientist-presenters and teens focuses on overcoming the “information deficit” mode of presentation that most scientists are trained for. Their coaching stresses that effective science communication requires engagement on a personal level that meets the audience where it is in terms of both prior knowledge and social context, while making connections to the teens’ daily lives. Scientist-presenters report strong satisfaction with the coaching process and the resulting quality of science communication.