Directions for Astronomy on Tap Speakers

The speakers are the main draw for the Astronomy on Tap events.

General Responsibilities

• Prepare and present some astronomy-related talk to the public audience
• Answer questions of the public regarding astronomy and science
• Sit on a short Q&A panel at the end of the session

Topic Choice and Talk Preparation

I recommend you prepare your presentation as though you are explaining an astronomical topic to someone seated next to you on an airplane with no background in science. When choosing a topic for a lecture, make sure it is a subject that intrigues you, a subject that will potentially intrigue a layperson, and it is a topic on which you are knowledgeable. Oftentimes the best topics are not related to your own research. We request a title (not an abstract) for your talk a month in advance so we can sufficiently advertise your event.

Audience

We anticipate anywhere from 50-150 attendees, which is near the capacity of the venue. Since it is near the beginning of the evening, there probably won't be too many drunk people present, but some people (even you!) may be tipsy. Don't worry too much--just have fun. The audience came to enjoy a drink and hear some science, so the format is pretty forgiving.

Drinking

Drinking alcohol is encouraged for both the speaker and the audience. Unfortunately, we don't yet have a deal where speakers get free drinks, but hopefully if these events are successful, we can get the management to kick in drinks at some point. Enjoy your drink(s) and your talk, but don't turn this into an episode of Drunk History. Or do, but no vomiting.

Resources

There is an A/V system with a standard VGA input port so you can plug in your laptop directly to it. The A/V system feeds to a few big screen TVs mounted on the walls around the bar, so everyone should be able to see what you're displaying. Using slides on the TVs will assure that people stay engaged through your talk, but I guess it is possible to do it all by hand. No chalkboards/whiteboards available. There will be a portable microphone/amp present to broadcast you, so you needn't shout, but that's probably OK too. These talks will not be recorded, but there may be occasional photographs taken for posterity.

Talk Duration

Prepare to talk for about 10 minutes, and we'll take a few questions at the end making the entire talk slot for 15 minutes. It's all pretty fluid, but 15 minutes appears to be a maximum amount of time that people want to listen to someone talk in a bar. If you go over that, you risk people starting to heckle and throw food, so watch out!

Arriving/Setup

The talks start at 7:30, so please arrive by 7:00 to assure we can get your talk working with their A/V system. This will also give you a chance to order a drink and relax a little before everyone arrives.