Science Communications Tips
Checklist for Running a Fantastic Science Workshop
Mary Anne Moser
A learning experience in an informal setting is not a classroom. Event rules apply!
This checklist will help you shape and deliver a workshop with a user-focused approach that will earn you rave reviews.
If you don’t like checklists, simply do this:
Put yourself in the shoes of a workshop participant and walk through the entire experience.
- What do they receive from you before they leave their house?
- Did they get a reminder with suggestions for what to wear and where to park?
- Is the venue entrance clearly marked?
- When they step inside the door, does someone greet them? If so, what is the script for that person? (welcome, coat, bathrooms, seating, what to expect).
You get the idea – very detailed. Every minute of the experience has to be imagined through the user’s perspective, including their comfort, sightlines, audio, bathroom breaks and so on. The idea is to remove any barriers, and add delightful moments all along the way.
Don’t speed through this, it is the minute-by-minute consideration that separates okay events from great events. Oh, and the content of course!
Checklist
- Do a complete walk-through of the venue and understand where people will be seated and how they will move about in the space. Order AV and furnishings required.
- Time the entire workshop.
- Prepare welcome remarks. Remember land acknowledgement and thank you's (be generous and creative, not formulaic).
- Rehearse anything you are going to say out loud. You will want to skip this step, but don’t.
- If you have a slide deck, have someone proofread it.
- Arrange food and beverage (including set up and clean up).
- Plan décor, on and offsite signage, parking.
- Collect event supplies and bring a small emergency event kit (duct tape, scissors, extra cords, markers, post its, string, etc).
- Arrange photography and social media (if applicable).
- Engage and train greeters or other workshop support staff.
- Prepare a great music playlist (need background music for arrival, departure and hands-on times).
- Think about takeaways (those extras that make this experience stand out).
- Prepare evaluation forms.
- Send a reminder the day before with any special instructions about what to wear and/or parking.
- Confirm presenters, food and beverage
- Load in
- Tech rehearsal
- Set out welcome table, name tags if using, seating, signage
- Get ready to deliver! Have music and flair elements to say, "You have arrived!"
- Have takeaways and evaluation forms ready
- Send thank you or any follow ups that were promised during the workshop
Basics
Please make sure participants are not inactive or standing for more than 10 minutes at a time.
If you need to provide a monologue of information, ensure they are seated for this portion of the workshop. Within ten minutes of starting, ensure the participants have started to talk or do. Break up any lecture-style content into 10-minute segments or less.