sciencecafes.org | 4. Host Your Café

4. Host Your Café

Set up the room

Use these resources on the day of your café to help everything flow smoothly:

Preparation checklist
Have a sign-in sheet ready to collect emails

Welcome the guests

Get the audience involved immediately and try some ice-breakers

Show a video clip

Jump-start the conversation with a clip from the series:

1. “Making Stuff: Stronger” Clip

Ride along with David Pogue in a demolition derby to investigate the strength and toughness of steel car bodies.

2. “Making Stuff: Smaller” Clip

Zoom in on a miniature magnet-powered robot! Learn how materials scientists are building microrobots that could one day travel inside the body to deliver medicine or perform surgery.

3. “Making Stuff: Cleaner” Clip

Materials scientists are designing new kinds of batteries that could power the next generation of electric vehicles, including an electric motorcycle that can accelerate to 60 mph in less than one second.

4. “Making Stuff: Smarter” Clip

David Pogue investigates smart materials that can respond and change, including a mixture of cornstarch and water that exhibits some very strange properties.

Have a conversation

Use these tips to prepare yourself and your speaker for talking with the general public.The goal of the Making Stuff outreach campaign is to help people appreciate and gain a better understanding of the material world. As you (or your invited speaker) prepare your 10- to 12-minute presentation, consider organizing your remarks so that the audience will leave understanding the Big Ideas. Use the Conversation-Starter Questions as a way to kick off a general discussion.