One of the talks I could not fully prepare for was on Ljubljana’s main square.

No slides, no microphone, just a few printed pages with pictures. And no idea who the audience was going to be.
Just my voice trying to compete with all the background noise from a guitar, a church, and dozens of people walking around and talking, minding their own business.
My talk was a bit later in the day, and the topic wasn’t exactly everyday conversation (viruses in water, the problem of clean water, and plasma systems for inactivation of viruses in water – basically, the work I do at NIB), so I assumed there would be mostly adults.
But I was very wrong. There were quite a few kids there, as well as adults.
And I was thinking: how the heck am I supposed to explain my work to such a diverse audience?
So I went back to basics and started asking them questions to see what they already knew — and what I needed to explain. Based on their responses, I adapted my talk.
I tried to make it as engaging as possible and just have a conversation with them.
Having prepared some basic talking points and the areas I wanted to cover was still very helpful, even though I didn’t know exactly how the talk would go. Or in other words – preparation is always worth it.
And one more thing – never underestimate kids. Sometimes they know more about science than adults! 😄