2. Step by step guide for speakers

Step 1: Contact the project organiser

The project organisers may have already approached you on their quest for speakers. But even if you heard about Café Scientifique via other means – from a student organiser, a colleague, web site, etc. the project team should still be your first port of call. Their role is to recruit teachers, schools and other agencies and to help support and sustain cafés in schools. They also organise the speaker induction and know the needs of each school (e.g. what topics interest the students) and can advise you further. You can contact us here.

Step 2: Attend an induction session

Depending on the recruitment of speakers and how you have been introduced to the project, the organisers can help you identify any training needs. The short session will be useful for speakers who have never given presentations in schools but also for experienced speakers who want to know more about the unique cafe sci format. The organisers also offer handy hints, e.g. how to give a presentation without using PowerPoint!

Step 3: Identify a topic and title

Naturally, the first café you deliver will be on a topic close to your area of expertise. If however, you are confident enough to speak on a variety of topics, please inform the project organiser (or the student organiser/teacher co-ordinator, once you have built a rapport with a school). The project organiser can help with suggestions for interesting, relevant and topical discussions and it will help if you can be creative and choose catchy, quirky, attractive titles for your talk. (See Example Topics). Remember, you won’t just be talking to science students, nor to just a single year group.

Step 4: Attend your first café

You won’t need to do anything regarding the school venue or organising the event itself – just liaise with the project organiser, respond to the student organiser promptly, turn up, talk and inspire!

Step 5: Talk to colleagues, advertise and check out this website!

Anyone with something interesting to say can be a speaker at a Café Scientifique. Think about others you know who could offer their expertise to such events. This is also useful in case of an emergency when you cannot make it to a café and need a stand-in.

Spread the word! The project organisers can provide you with publicity material to display in your institutions to help recruit more speakers. The project website will be here as a resource, supplying new ideas and as a medium for communication with other speakers. If there is a need, the ability for speakers to share their café experiences could also be explored.