As a professional speaker, I’ve learned over the years the importance of a good introduction and how detrimental a bad intro can be to the start of even a good presentation. We’ve all probably been in an audience and experienced an introduction that is in itself a mini-speech. These are the intros that go on and on forever for the sake of… who knows. In extreme cases, the audience begins to grow restless… some want to throw things while others begin chanting, “Hey, we didn’t come to hear you!” The bottom line is that a speaker’s introduction plays a huge role in how the speaker is perceived by the audience (before the speaker ever steps onto the platform). In contrast, a great introduction is worth its weight in gold - long enough to cover the subject but short enough to be interesting (there’s a joke here, but not in this forum).
Yesterday, I had the privilege of speaking to the Colorado Chapter of the National Speakers Association (NSA Colorado) and I couldn’t have asked for a better introduction from Glenn Thayer. Sidebar… speaking to a group of professional speakers …
I love when our Boot-camp alumni teachers write in to tell us about how they are using science in their classrooms. Shirley Snowden attended our Anaheim Boot-camp last year and emailed us with a great story about her experience with Kid-Friendly Elephant’s Toothpaste.
Thought you’d enjoy a picture of one of my super scientists. We tried the kid friendly elephant toothpaste and the kid’s enjoyed it a lot. We did it over and over again. My friends are four and a half and they really like science!
The kids look like they are having a blast… When kids yell, “Do it again!”, it’s the ultimate compliment. Keep up the good work Shirley and happy experimenting!
We never miss an opportunity to teach a little science… even on St. Patrick’s Day. From Leprechaun traps, to green water, to Leprechaun eggs, we know how to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day at the Spangler Science offices… and trust that none of us will ever forget the day the toilet and faucet water turned green. Sometimes your creativity spikes and you find gold (pun intended) when you wrap your mind around a specific theme. So, here are some of our favorite tips and tricks for infusing a little science and a lot of fun into St. Patrick’s Day.
Here are just a few ideas to get your green juices flowing. If you already have science staples like Instant Snow polymer, True Colors tablets, UV Color Changing Beads or just some green food coloring, you’re well on your way to creating very cool Irish science experience.
Leprechauns Strike - Green Water - It’s not uncommon for those little Leprechauns to turn everything green… even the water coming out of your faucet. Here’s how it works.
Green Flowers - It’s as simple as adding a little green food coloring to the water, …
I’ll file this under the “Teaching Moments” category because it’s one of the greatest comedy teaching moments of all time with Johnny Carson and Dom DeLuise. The trick is great… but Johnny Carson’s reaction and the surprise ending is probably something Dom DeLuise never imagined in his wildest dreams. Really funny science.
As a professional speaker, I’ve learned over the years the importance of a good introduction and how detrimental a bad intro can be to the start of even a good presentation. We’ve all probably been in an audience and experienced an introduction that is in itself a mini-speech. These are the intros that go on and on forever for the sake of… who knows. In extreme cases, the audience begins to grow restless… some want to throw things while others begin chanting, “Hey, we didn’t come to hear you!” The bottom line is that a speaker’s introduction plays a huge role in how the speaker is perceived by the audience (before the speaker ever steps onto the platform). In contrast, a great introduction is worth its weight in gold - long enough to cover the subject but short enough to be interesting (there’s a joke here, but not in this forum).
Here are just a few ideas to get your green juices flowing. If you already have science staples like 
