And the Winner Is ...

STEM Public Speaking Grand Final 2022

Written by Georgie Aiuto

Edited by Yvette Marris

It is already November! Wow, the year has gone by so fast. 

A month ago, the Let’s Torque crew held the Grand Finals for their STEM Public Speaking competition. It had been a massive year with three workshops building our fellow undergraduate’s Science Communication comprehension, workshops for John Monash Secondary School, multiple blogs, podcasts and other online content. But all of our work had come to a head for our final event of the year. 

Held at Royal Society of Victoria (RSV) in Melbourne, five incredible Grand Finalists presented their speeches to a sold out audience that Monday night. Hosted by Clare Mullen, a Senior Climate Science at the Bureau of Meteorology and a professional science communicator, these finalists went head to head for the 2022 Championship.

The grand finalist presented their speeches: 

• Amelia Safai with “Therapeutic Cloning - Will a sheep save lives?”

• Bianca Mazzucheli with “Auditory Sensory Prevention Technology”

• Breana Galea with “Designing our Destiny’s presentation: How Protein Predictions can Change the World.”

• Reah Shetty with “Revolutionising Society with a Chip”

• Nicholas Tze Hoe Chan with “Teaching ML to Smell: making machine learning more versatile”

Getting to the Grand Finals was no easy feat. Participants not only had two rounds of elimination, but also submit a compelling proposal of their STEM idea and its applications economically, environmentally and socially. They were really pushed to think outside the box, and they did so terrifically. The semi-final, held at the University of Melbourne’s busy on-campus bar, challenged them to communicate their ideas to the general public in a noisy and crowded setting. Once again, competitors excelled. 

Finally making it to the Grand finals at RSV, the finalists were presented with a new challenge, to give their speech in a professional lecture style room in front of an audience of 50 people. Here, we were fortunate enough to have three extraordinary professional science communicators to be our judges.

Alanta Colley; a comedian, science communicator and storyteller. With a background in International public health, her shows have been; 'Parasites Lost', 'Days of our Hives', and a recent science comedy debate series 'Sci Fight'. 

Chris Thompson; the Director of Education at the Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University and publisher in the fields of spectroscopy and computational chemistry. More recently in the field of science education and is co-author of Australia's most popular foundation chemistry textbook. 

And Sara Webb; a researcher focused on observational transient astronomy and a passionate science communicator who has presented on various national/international TV news programs, ABC radio, Joy FM, TikTok, face-to-face, and online presentations.

Not only did we have the incredible Grand Finalists’ presentations, but we also hosted three guest speakers to discuss their career and how science communication has helped them with their journey. 

Phoebe de Wilt; a Meteorologist at the Bureau of Meteorology took us through her personal science journey and how she was offered a role in various science communication jobs due to her passions for sharing her work to those who it affects, and being weather - that is everyone! 

Daniel Langley, a senior scientist at Universal Biosensors presented about his journey through various disciplines of science. A lot of his work overlapped with quite a few of the grand finalists topics, such as proteins and cloning. 

And finally, Ruwangi Fernando, an IT specialist and co-founder of STEMSisters and iSTEM explained the importance of communicating sciences to diverse audiences and how she strives to support women of colour in all STEM fields. 

All these incredible presentations were followed by a networking session for everyone to expand their connections. We were also treated with light refreshments and canapés. Let’s Torque crew member Jess has this to say about the event:

“The grand finals was an excellent evening! It was fascinating to hear all the speeches, and I got to hear about a whole variety of topics that I didn’t know much about - plus all of the participants were excellent speakers. It was also so valuable to be able to hear from industry professionals, and what brought them into science communication - the food and networking opportunities were great fun.”

Now, for the moment you’ve probably been waiting for (you might have even scrolled all the way to the button just to read this part), the winners of the 2022 STEM Public Speaking Competition! 

People’s Choice: Breana Galea with “Designing our Destiny’s presentation: How Protein Predictions can Change the World.”

Runner Up: Reah Shetty with “Revolutionising Society with a Chip”

And the grand winner of 2022…

Amelia Safai with “Therapeutic Cloning - Will a sheep save lives?”

Winners in the various categories were awarded an array of prizes, from cash to book vouchers, and some coveted memberships to some of Melbourne's greatest science establishments.

All these incredible speeches are uploaded to our YouTube Channel. Check out the playlist right here.

Sad you missed out? Stay tuned for next year’s competition or look out this November to see how you can join Let’s Torque’s 2023 team. 

Let's Torque Workshop 2 Wrap Up

Being the Best Science Communicators We Can Be… 

Tips and Tricks to Communicating your Passion

The Dreaded Public Speaking Anxiety…

If you were to Google: Public Speaking Anxiety, you would find that it comes up with approximately 123,000,000 results.

When talking about public speaking anxiety, performance anxiety, glossophobia, whatever you want to call it, there are two pathways a lot of these results go down. Either how to get rid of it, or why it happens. 

We read about the physiological symptoms that we are all too familiar with, the pounding heart rate, the restless stomach and the excessive sweating. We read about the negative mental state: “What if I fail?”, “What if everyone laughs at me?” “What if I forget my speech?”.

Then, we learn that these responses are part of the evolutionary mechanism to protect us from harmful situations, the sympathetic nervous system kicks in so that we can either fight the threat, run away, or freeze - which people generally don’t want to do during a presentation. 

As young adults, most of us have experienced public speaking anxiety in one form or another. Finding a way to approach it in a way that is unique can be quite challenging. No one wants to hear the same old rhetoric about the nervous system, and the fight or flight response. I certainly don’t. 

Our workshop, “the Science of Language” was designed to approach performance anxiety as a tool, and remind us that that pounding feeling in the chest isn’t something to fear - but something to learn from.

We were fortunate enough to have guest speaker, comedian Alanta Colley, https://www.alantacolley.com , join us and share some of her hilarious stories. As a comedian, public speaking pretty much comes with the territory, and we were excited to hear some of her tips. 

Having traveled the world, Alanta tells the story of the time she was working in Uganda, teaching water safety, resulting in her contracting not one, but multiple different parasites. Despite this being a pretty terrible experience all round, she was inspired to combine science and her love of comedy, creating a show all about the incident. 

She talks about how when public speaking, like in life, failure can actually be funny, and a great way for your audience to relate to you. It shouldn’t be something to AVOID AT ALL COSTS. 

Additionally, ditching the jargon, when speaking to non-experts and adding personal anecdotes is another way to captivate the audience. 

Though the audience is important to consider (RE: Workshop 1), these tips also focus on YOU, the speaker, and take some of the pressure off.

… And How you can BEAT IT

With that being said, here are some tips that we went through in the Workshop. 

Tips to give a great presentation

1. Practice in front of a mirror

2. Record yourself

3. Avoid sounding scripted

4. Using audience interaction: ask a question, Get them to raise their hands, an activity

5. Try an entertaining sentence opener, a story, or a fact 

6. Dressing the part! 

A lot of these tips aim to not only engage the audience, but help warm up the speaker as well.

Group exercises to improve public speaking confidence 

• Over communication: participants would tell the same story in different ways: shy, passionate etc. 

• Mini-Speech: participants would be tasked with having to talk about a science topic they were passionate about, with little to no preparation. 

• Telephone: focusing on body language communication, without words 

To learn more about Public Speaking Anxiety, check out this website

https://nationalsocialanxietycenter.com/social-anxiety/public-speaking-anxiety/#:~:text=The%20fear%20of%20public%20speaking,or%20negative%20evaluation%20by%20others. 

We look forward to you joining us for the third, and final workshop leading up to the Let’s Torque Public Speaking Competition, WS3: Design, Delivery and Display. 
https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/920635?bof=1

Let’s Torque Workshop Wrap Up

At our first workshop for 2022, Science Beyond the Lab, we had the fantastic A/Prof Chris Thompson share some of his Science Communication wisdom and ran some pretty fun activities. In case you couldn’t make it, here is a wrap up of what happened.

So, what did we learn?

Why does Science Communication matter?

Despite the fact that not everyone is as science-mad as the rest of us, there’s no denying that science plays an integral role in the way we live our lives - from the technology that permeates our everyday lives, the medicine we take, to the discoveries that are yet to be made that will revolutionize our way of living.

There is simply no avoiding it. And yet, for something so inescapable, accessibility and understanding is still a huge obstacle. At Let’s Torque, we believe that scientific knowledge shouldn’t just be limited to those who have already committed themselves to the field.

Science communication, as described by Sam Illingworth and Grant Allen, is an umbrella term that centers around four key pillars - Informing, Educating, Raising Awareness and Sense of Wonder. 

So, who are we doing this for?

So science has a universal presence but how do we harness it to produce real change? By targeting and aligning three main stakeholders: the general public, policymakers and business leaders and aspiring scientists. Without the support of all three, it would be impossible to get enough support - either in the form of public interest, or financial backing. We’ve seen this interrelation clearly in the last two years, with the COVID-19 outbreak. When the interest of the general public, aspiring scientists and policymakers all align, the advancements in science and technology are monumental.

The general public is the most important stakeholder, as what we do must help people and in turn pressure from the ground up drives influence and change - particularly when policymakers and businesses are looking for a financial motive to invest in an issue.

Finally, the future of society, health, technology and the environment are dependent on passionate and articulate scientists who can effectively communicate the importance of their work to the rest of the stakeholders.

Workshop Activities

With all this in mind, we shaped our workshop with the goal of exploring Science Beyond the Lab. 

The first activity was called the Abstract Prompt - where we gave participants a list of technical abstracts for articles, typified by jargon, and were asked to write a new title, to be captivating and engaging - without compromising the scientific integrity.

Huge shoutout to Joshua Nicholls - Head of Education 2022 and Winner of Let’s Torque 2021, for this example!

Participants did an incredible job with this activity. Using language tips and tricks, such as word play, alliteration and rhyming, the groups were able to flex their writing skills as well as their knowledge of science. The results: a series of very funny and engaging titles, from a range of frankly quite overwhelming abstracts.

The following activity was an activity about understanding the Audience and how that might shape how you pitch the information. Groups were assigned an audience and new article at random - and were asked to plan and present how they might communicate the information in the article.

Combinations of articles and audiences included an article about evidence against the proposal that vaccines caused autism to be explained to Karen, a middle aged, suburban mother of three. Or an article about the potential therapeutic benefits of Naltrexone to help with alcohol addiction, to be explained to a disgruntled bartender.

The resulting skits were, again, hilarious and engaging. It was fantastic to see participants really understanding the importance of knowing the audience in order to effectively communicate scientific concepts. 

“The event was in general really fun and an eye-opener for me into science communication” Sirui Fang, a second year Bachelor of Pharmaceutical Science at Monash University told us, “and the activities we had, made the day more interactive and engaging”

Overall, it was a great evening and the team at Let’s Torque is so grateful for all those who showed up and got involved! The online resources are now live on our website and we encourage you all to follow us on social media and stay tuned for updates about the next workshop on May 30th.

2021 Let's Torque Grand Final

Amidst the excitement of Science Week, Let’s Torque held their annual STEM public-speaking competition.

We were honoured to witness the sharp and engaging presentations from some of the finest undergraduate science communicators!

Our fantastic judging panel featured esteemed science communicators: Catriona Nguyen-Robertson (@CatrionaNR), Dr Leonie Walsh (@lkw_sci) and Dr Shane Huntington (@DrShaneRRR).

The keynote address from Zoos Victoria’s wonderful Dr Marissa Parrott (@drmparrott) discussed the need for effective science communication to tackle misinformation and spark environmental protection.

It was inspiring to learn about the widespread impact of campaigns such as “When Balloons Fly, Seabirds Die”. Although this began as a call-to-action initiative discouraging plastic balloon use, the campaign succeeded with the recent statewide balloon ban.

Moving on to the competition. Another special thanks to each of the grand finalists for your enthusiasm and diligence behind the scenes. We are deeply grateful for your swift adaptation to the online transition of competition.

Fourth-place finalist, Luke Antzoulatos provided an insightful introduction into the novel application of nanoparticles against bacterial infection. Will a “cocktail” of nanoparticles become a remedy in the near future?

Nano-Terminators - Luke Antzoulatos

Sticking to the theme of a small-scale concept catapulting into far-reaching effects, audience favourite, Georgina Aiuto pondered how a snappy second affects GPS accuracy. Following the 2019-2020 bushfires, conservation of native animal populations may depend on how we define a “second”…

Take a Second for the Future - Georgina Aiuto

Just narrowly short of first-prize, Sanjeeban Chattopadhyay’s impactful delivery addressed a fresh solution to urban flooding. To keep your stroll in the streets flood-free, permeable pavements can absorb and redirect excess rainwater.

Permeable Pavements: A Key Design for a Water-sensitive Future - Sanjeeban Chattopadhyay

Finally (drum roll please), our first-place winner, Joshua Nicholls glimpses into the technical advancement of the bionic eye. Although replicating an organ is its own feat, it will have profound benefits for the visually impaired community.

Bionics: Seeing into the Future - Joshua Nicholls

Deepest gratitudes to RSV and our advisory board, as well as the Let’s Torque team for pulling this event together.

Missed the livestream? Don’t fret! Watch the 2021 Grand Final here.

2021 Semi-Finals

In the lead up to the exciting GRAND FINAL, let’s look back on our semi-final.

As well as the Olympics, early August held another spectacular competition.

Let’s Torque had the chance to meet our talented semi-finalists and listen to their stunning presentations.

Topics ranged from the recycling of cells from umbilical cords for medical application to the novel use of nanoparticles to fight against bacterial infection!

Although our fierce competitors were behind monitors, their charisma and passion were received loud and clear.

The snappy 4-minute time-limit definitely proved to be a challenge. However, our semi-finalists successfully assured us of a fascinating future for STEM ahead.

A warm congratulations to our semi-finalists, we’re incredibly proud of you all!

Get into the spirit of Science Week and join us this Saturday (20 August) for our GRAND FINAL from the comfort of your own home.

Don’t miss your chance to watch the next generation of STEM communicators.

• Georgina Aiuto - "Take a Second for the Future"

• Joshua Nicholls - "Bionics: Seeing into the Future"

• Luke Antozoulatos - "Nano-Terminators"

• Sanjeeban Chattopadhyay - "Permeable Pavements: A Key Design for a Water-sensitive Future"

Judging some of the most promising future STEM solutions will be the esteemed: Catriona Nguyen-Robertson, Dr Leonie Walsh FTSE, and Dr Shane Huntington OAM.

Visit our Facebook event for more info and to find the link to our livestream. Hope to catch you there!

Workshop 1 - 2021: Science Beyond the Lab

Let’s recap our very first (and technically second) workshop of 2021!

Jack from Let’s Torque introducing Workshop 1.

On a chilly April evening, we were lucky enough to host Workshop 1 and take shelter within the cosy function room at the Royal Society of Victoria (RSV).

We had the wonderful, singing scientist Catriona Nguyen-Robertson as our guest speaker. The PhD candidate and lecturer at The University of Melbourne is known for outreaching STEM online towards fresh, non-traditional audiences through her catchy scientific earworms.

It was inspiring to hear Catriona share her own passion, visions and some first-hand experiences as an avid science communicator!

Workshop 1 focused on exploring and appreciating the importance of science communication. As well as how to tailor complex scientific concepts towards varying audiences.

Interestingly, as science progresses into more specialised and complex forms, a study finds that research papers are becoming more difficult to read. This is problematic as it can catapult the general public away from trusting and engaging with STEM.

Miscommunication or a lack of understanding of science can erupt confusion and conflict within society and politics. This can be seen in the varying responses to COVID-19 globally.

Catriona Nguyen-Robertson (on right) helping some workshop attendees reinvent lengthy scientific abstracts and press releases into captivating headlines.

Caitlin from Let’s Torque introducing Workshop 1.

Royal Society of Victoria (RSV)

Contradictorily, while scientific papers with amusing titles are more likely to attract everyday audiences, readers find these papers to be less credible.

Attendees were tasked to solve this conundrum. Each group was missioned to create both informative and compelling headlines from a set of abstracts and press releases.

While it was tricky enough to translate the strings of jargon and convoluted concepts into a snappy sentence, the twist was that each group had a unique target audience. They ranged from extraterrestrial life to Medieval peasants to modern day toddlers.

This lead to some very creative and entertaining answers…

Thanks again to Catriona for spending her Wednesday evening with us! Thanks to RSV for the lovely venue!

To meet both the flattering popularity of the workshop and gathering limits, the team swiftly adapted our ONE 90-minute workshop into TWO back-to-back sessions. Despite the all the chaos and coordination, it was rewarding to see it all through! Thanks to all the Let’s Torque team members for their efforts behind the scenes and in front of the scenes!

Finally of course, thank-you to everyone who attended!!

The Let's Torque Team (from left: Eloï, Mitchell, Matthew, Jack, Caitlin) with Catriona Nguyen-Robertson

We’re excited to launch our official second workshop in the lead up to our STEM public-speaking competition! Just a reminder to submit your Talking Points before the June 30 deadline.

Workshop 2: Science Speaks Louder than Words will deep dive into the overlooked non-verbal aspects of science communication. Come along to learn how you can enhance your communication skills and engagement with your audience. We’ll explore the design psychology behind successful visuals and how to employ effective physical communication such as through body language, stance and posture.

Episode 2: Talking STEM with Dr Jen Martin

Talking STEM is back with our second episode, interviewing Dr Jen Martin! She founded and teaches the University of Melbourne's award-winning Science Communication Teaching Program.

Jen talks about science every week on Triple R community radio and was named the 2019 Unsung Hero of Australian Science Communication.

Listen as we discuss Antarctica, climate change and possum sex!

Download on Spotify or Apple Podcasts

Episode 1: Talking STEM with Dr Djuke Veldhuis

In our first episode, we interview Monash University’s Dr Djuke Veldhuis who has wide interdisciplinary experience in Archaeology, Biological Anthropology, and Science Journalism.

We discuss her career with FameLab, the broader scientific and social impact of COVID-19 and climate change and her tips for scicomm students!

Download on Spotify or Apple Podcasts