First, Some Details!
Thank you for volunteering to give a talk at one of our Greenville Nerd Nites! Nerd Nite was founded by former ECU prof Chris Balakrishnan (Biology Department) when he realized how much fun it would be to share his nerdy research! Nerd Nite has since grown into a monthly event hosted in over 90 cities across the country. If you would like more details on the history of Nerd Nite you can check out the website here: https://nerdnite.com/
Here in Greenville (Nerd Nite 252) our events are completely free and open to the public. While we have close ties to East Carolina University (since it’s been traditionally hosted by academics there) we are very excited to branch out more into the Greenville community. We host our Nerd Nites at Tapped (which is technically in Winterville, but semantics…) At Nerd Nite 252 our evenings typically consist of a 15-20 minute warmup with our hosts, usually a trivia game, followed by a ~25 minute talk from our guest speaker. Talks are also followed up with an additional 5-10 minutes for questions. The talks are super informal, so light heckling and jokes are very common. You’ll find we take lots of breaks to provide ample opportunity to enjoy Tapped’s huge selection of beverages!
Now: What makes a Nerd Nite talk great?
If you’ve volunteered to give a Nerd Nite talk that probably means you’re very nerdy! (Awesome!) This is a key part of what makes Nerd Nite so great, it’s really about you sharing your passions with your community! Here are some additional tips to help your Nerd Nite talk go smoothly:
- Advertise before your talk on social media!
Like everything else in the 21st century to bring in a crowd it’s got to be on Facebook and Twitter! You can find Nerd Nite on Twitter (@nerdnite252) or Facebook. Since Nerd Nite is free and open to the public we’d love it if your friends or family came to see your talk!
- Plan a talk that is short and sweet!
Since Nerd Nite is a platform that encourages audience participation you can expect lots of questions or audience interjections. This is part of what keeps us all engaged and coming back for more! Plan to be stopped during your talk and still try to stay within the time limit.
- Bring props or activities to encourage audience participation!
If your talk lends itself to having props, then we encourage you to bring them! Nerd Nite says it starts at 7:45PM, but most of the audience won’t be there until 8:00PM. This means you’ve got lots of time to set up whatever you need to show off your passions.
Example: Bring in some pour-over coffee and actually make it while you tell everyone about it!
- Engage with our Nerd Nite community after your talk using social media!
After your talk is over you’ll probably find that the Nerd Nite Greenville team has posted a lot about what you said. Feel free to add more information – or point your audience to more resources about your topic! They’re there because they’re nerdy, too!
- Come to future Nerd Nites!
Once you’re done sharing your passions feel free to keep returning to learn more about everyone else’s passions, too!
What does the Nerd Nite team need from me?
Now that you’ve volunteered to give a talk at Nerd Nite we’ll need a few things from you to ensure that the night goes without a hitch!
- Talk Title – You’ve probably already given us this! If not, we need this at least 3 weeks prior so we can advertise.
- Short bio – (1-2 sentences) Try to keep it funny! – Send in 2 weeks prior to your talk.
- PowerPoint* (Max 15 slides) – Send in 1 week before your talk. We will have a laptop, microphone/soundsystem, projector/screen, bluetooth speaker available for your use. Feel free to bring your own laptop or other accessories. Our projector has a standard HDMI connection.
- Will you need special accommodations? (e.g. A table for props?) – Send in 1 week in advance of talk.
*If you do not want to use a powerpoint for your talk this is not a requirement!
We look forward to seeing you!
#bethereandbesquare
