Talks & workshops in schools

Doing a session in a school is easy to arrange. Some schools pay speakers to visit, and others make use of STEMNet volunteers and university outreach initiatives.

Be aware that school students might not have been briefed on what to expect, or even know about it at all in advance. Find out whether your audience will have CHOSEN to come, or whether they are being MADE to come.

There are also different types of audience you might face within the school context. A small group session and a larger session will feel very different.

• A talk to a small audience (e.g. one class, an extra-curricular group) - You might be able to have discussions more easily in smaller groups, but you'll have to set the tone carefully. - Check the tech setup - classrooms all vary in what tech they can offer you. - Beware - difficult classes in their 'home-territory' can represent more behavioural challenges than in other situations.
• A talk to a larger audience (e.g. assembly hall, lecture theatre) - You'll probably need amplification and a good projector. Get there in advance to set up and check details. - Discussion-based activities will be harder to arrange. This probably needs to be more of a show, and you'll have to work harder to produce interactivity (but you should still do this!).

Uni-based events/competitions/open-days

School students (and others) visit universities for in-house activities. These could be organised by the uni, or organisations like the AMSP who run events in unis for students thinking about maths at A-level/university.

• Often a better tech-set-up available and a mixture of schools present. There's more of an 'event' feel which makes the audience more expectant, but also possibly more nervous to contribute.
• Getting students mixing with students from other schools can be a huge highlight and a hugely daunting thing at the same time. Behaviour will tend to be slightly better if they feel out of their usual comfort zone, but they may also be more reluctant to volunteer. Give them a bit of time with a low-stakes task to get to know each other?
• Often events like this will have 'keynote' talks (to large/all audience) and 'workshops' (to smaller groups). Make sure you know which you are doing!
• Bear in mind that many students may have been required to attend, even though it's not an event in their own school. Sometimes the teachers have been instructed to specifically bring keener pupils - you should clarify with the organiser ahead what the setup is.

Science festivals (talks, workshops, activities)

There are dozens of well-established science festivals in the UK (and elsewhere), and they generally try their best to include maths events, although sometimes struggle through a lack of knowledge of who's doing maths things, and how to fit them in to their programme. You can often arrange informal chats with Festival organisers, or submit event ideas to open calls, and their audiences will often include a segment of dedicated maths fans who'll be excited to see their subject represented.

• Each festival will likely have very different aims/target audiences. Good communication with organiser is essential (as ever!)
• Venues likely to be public and audiences more varied, but they will likely have CHOSEN to attend, rather than being forced to. They may also have paid for a ticket which will raise their expectations.
• Events don't have to just be in the format of a talk or workshop - they could include drop-in stalls, competitions or treasure hunts, large-scale engagement projects, science/art crossovers and walking tours.

Maths Weeks

Maths Week events exist in Ireland, Scotland, London and England, and involve coordinated events across a particular week, often funded centrally, but also organised by schools and other venues as part of the umbrella of 'Maths Week'.

They can often feel a bit like a festival, but may include school visits and other school events, adult events and media features.

Science events at non-science festivals/holiday camps

Music festivals like Green Man, BlueDot and Deer Shed have dedicated science areas and put on science/maths talks and workshops. Holiday camps and theme parks like Butlin's and Alton Towers have also started putting on science shows and weekend events.

• Remember your audience is likely much more mixed in expectations, and will appreciate a solid hook to get involved.
• They'll also expect some degree of entertainment, so shows which include demos and interaction are better for this.

Masterclasses

The Ri Masterclass programme has been running since 1981 and organises Saturday morning workshops for keen students from the local area, usually happening at a local Uni or centralised venue.

• Often a Saturday morning longer session, with an expectation of interactivity.
• Year 6 (usually shorter after-school workshops), Year 9 and Year 12 series run in different parts of the UK, and each school is invited to send 2-3 of their strongest maths students - so they're all keen, but ability can still vary within the group.
• Pay attention to *task* design, not just presentation content - these students are capable of getting to more complex ideas like mathematical proof
• Be aware stronger students are likely to be interested in maths content online and may have seen plenty of YouTube videos - you might find they're more likely to 'know it all already' and spoil answers for others, unless you caution them against it, or give them problems they won't have seen before.

Theatre shows

Organisations including Maths Inspiration, Maths in Action and Maths LIVE! organise large-group theatre-based shows for school groups, which sell blocks of tickets to schools and create an experiential day out for students.

• They tend to have a big audience, seated in theatre style
• This is much more of a performance than a lecture
• A non-interactive talk is tempting, since you can't get them to do much from their seats, but unlikely to be very successful - the fact that students are having an exciting day out, and that you might not be able to see the whole audience clearly, means you need to hold their concentration, or else behaviour will deteriorate quickly. Interactivity is helpful but needs careful planning.
• Know your tech requirements in advance - theatres often have elaborate setups, but also helpful tech people who understand what VGA and HDMI mean and can help you. They'll often have a tech time ahead of the show for you to go in and check everything works, and will help you fit a microphone etc.

Other ways to get involved

There are many other formats and methods of getting into engaging the public with maths, beyond the usual 'doing a talk to a room full of people'.

If you're lookign to branch out or find opportunities to practive, there's a whole host of live events/competitions/organisations you can contact:

• Bright Club (comedy nights performed by scientists)
• Science Showoff (similar to Bright Club but with less of a comedy focus)
• FameLab (competition for scientists to do a 3-minute presentation)
• 3 Minute Thesis (as above but focused on current PhD researchers)
• Images of Research (photography competitions, which run at many universities)
• Pint of Science, Scibar events, PubhD, Skeptics in the Pub and IMA Branch talks are all forums for giving talks to adult audiences, often in social venues like pubs.
• The STEM Ambassador scheme matches up keen STEM people with opportunities, which could be anything from festival volunteering to schools talks and national events.

Other formats you could consider:

• Research projects involving the public - e.g. Turing's Sunflowers
• Theatre projects, art pieces/exhibitions and music
• Writing - from books to blog posts. The Carnival of Mathematics collects maths blog posts and includes some great examples.
• Podcasting
• Making YouTube videos
• TV appearances
• Puzzle writing - for competitions, print and events

Everyone has their own style and you may do one, some, all or none of these.