The National Final

Although the National Final aims to find one winner, it is a showcase for all the finalists and should be treated as such. If they all perform well it reflects well not only on them but on the competition as a whole. It must be an event that works for the audience and lets everyone perform at their best.

Venue

Make sure the venue and event are up to the occasion. Everybody must be able to see and hear the judges as well as the contestants. Banners, screens with logos or a backdrop all add to a sense of professionalism and drama. Stage lighting and a good quality sound system are important for the same reasons.

Compère

A compère or host is vital at the finals to keep the whole event running smoothly. They will introduce the judges, contestants, let the audience know the outline for the event and let them know what happens next. The compère can also help fill the gap when the judges are out of the room and help the finalists to relax and enjoy the occasion as much as possible!

Judges

Please refer to previously mentioned judging criteria to help you choose the right judges for the National final. As done during the heats, a judging scoresheet with the contestant names and numbers already written on them should be given to each judge ahead of the competition.

See Appendix 3: Judging Brief and Scoresheet Template Judges write comments for content and mark each person out of 5 for the three C’s (content, clarity and charisma). A decision is usually not based on the scoring – the judges discuss, argue and finally reach a consensus on the session winners. Scoring and writing comments helps the judges to remember the individual contestants and their presentations.

Timings

Twelve finalists are sufficient for a two hour event. Any more will confuse the audience and draw out the event for too long. The exact number will be determined by the number of regional heats, video entrants and reserves selected. The finalists perform another three-minute presentation which should be different from all previous presentations. It can be on the same topic (e.g. particle physics) but not the same presentation. Remember these finalists have attended the Masterclass and received multiple feedback from judges, therefore their National Final presentations should be more polished.

Allow more time for feedback and questions from the judges than at regional finals, as the judges and audience want to know more about the contestants. Two minutes is time for questions. Questions to the finalists at this stage are more preferable as feedback is less useful at this stage of the process.

For each contestant, 7-8 minutes will include introductions, their presentation, feedback, applause and changeover. This means over an hour to get through all the contestants, and the judges will then retire to deliberate. Again it is vital to have that FameLab staff member with the judges to help them stay on task and on time. Twenty minutes is a good time to allow for the judges to reach a decision. Give them stern warning to stick to times, remember you have an audience who are waiting for them.

Meanwhile the audience would appreciate a stretch of their legs and/or a toilet break. It is plausible to include an interval act, a showcase or film of the heats or some footage of the Masterclass. A good compère may also be able to help fill this time. Don’t feel you have to keep them entertained for the whole time they are at the National Finals.

Audience Vote

An audience vote at the National Final is always great to involve the audience in the competition. This has to be thought through properly, so it fits into the timings of the event. A decision has to be made whether it counts towards the final vote of the evening because if it does then the result must be told to the judges while they are deliberating so they can include it. If this is the case, then the audience would still like to know who won their vote. If the vote does not contribute to the grand winner then it can be announced after the judges have made their decision and a separate prize needs to be considered. Time needs to be allowed for counting the votes and announcing the audience vote winner.

Another way to involve the public is with some kind of national vote before the final. Visiting a website to vote on audio podcasts or filmed material has worked for FameLab UK in previous years. This not only provided wider public involvement, it was also a good way to publicise the competition and showcase the finalists. Using a TV or radio programme and inviting votes by phone, text or online poll would be another option.

Announcing the National Winners

Upon the return of the judges, make the most of the suspense and drama around the announcement. Before announcing the winners, judges should give some general positive feedback about all the participants, (e.g. perhaps say what you were most impressed by) so that everyone leaves feeling positive!

Build up by starting with then the runners-up and then the winner of the audience vote and lastly the first-place winner, who should be allowed to make a few comments. Let a celebrity or important sponsor or partner present the prizes, even if they are token envelopes. Let the winner and audience enjoy the moment.

Prizes

The prize will depend largely on the country, the partners and the budget. Opportunities to appear on television can be a big draw to attract entrants, but can raise false expectations. If a winner is promised a TV presenting role which fails to materialise within a few months, disillusionment can set in not only for the disappointed individual, but among next year’s potential entrants. Radio is usually easier to deliver, and a more realistic target for a new science communicator, where they can hone their skills in a lower-risk setting. The offer of money, computers, books, tech, etc is always attractive. Live appearances at science centres, festivals, museums or other public venues should be relatively easy to deliver. If you can specify a spot at a specific event, that is even more concrete. Keep in mind the winner may not be up to delivering an hour-long event immediately. Keep the offer flexible, or make it a long way in the future but make sure the prize is delivered and it’s not too flexible and too far in the future to make it intangible. All National winners are asked to complete Country Winners’ Form. This information will be used by Cheltenham Festivals to produce a digital programme. This programme will appear on our webpage and shared with all finalists as a keepsake. It will include a bit about each country winner: their name, country, likes, dislikes, what they are working on and their social media contact.

A place in the digital International FameLab Final, hosted by Cheltenham Science Festival should be on your prize list for the winner. You might wish to also include travel to the UK and accommodation in Cheltenham to attend the Science Festival in June if your National Winner is not crowned International champion.

International Masterclass and Final

Each country winner will qualify for the International Masterclass hosted online by Cheltenham Festivals in the October of each year and entry to the International final hosted online by Cheltenham Festivals in the November. The winner of this final will be crowned the International winner and will be hosted at the Cheltenham Science Festival in the following June as agreed with the Host Organisations.

A primary aim of FameLab is to find, train and support talented science communicators to engage the public with research. To this end, we wish to create a supportive network between all the International finalists before, during and beyond the competition. We would love for them all to meet; we understand that this is tricky given the many different time zones. We encourage the cohort to set up their own chat, what’s app or email group to stay connected as they embark on this journey together. Hopefully as well as attend the Masterclass they will also be able to join an ‘informal’ session, which we suggest takes place at the optimum time for all – this is an optional session led by the finalist themselves.

International Masterclass

This session will include an interactive workshop to further build each International finalist’s science communication skills, opportunities to meet the fellow competitors from around the globe, socialise, and a brief technical support. The aim is to continue to equip them in their public engagement initiatives going forward as well as prepare them for the FameLab International Finals.

In this session they will polish their performance and get ready to take to the virtual stage with this short interactive workshop. The session will be led by a FameLab Masterclass Trainer who has helped scientists around the world increase the reach, profile and impact of their work. Through the session, International finalists will explore how to give a professional talk on camera as well as discover the next steps in their SciComm journey.

Run through / Dress rehearsal

Cheltenham Festivals will host a technical run through with our production team as guidance on the format for the final. This is to check connection stability and speed; we recommend each International finalists do this test in the location they will be for the live online final. See Appendix 6: Technical Guidelines and Set-up Instructions for more information.

International Final

Depending on the number of countries taking part there will be a live semi-final and final or just a live online final which will be streamed live. Cheltenham Festivals will be responsible for hosting, streaming and producing this final and details will be share each host organisation prior to the final.

There will also be a live chat available during the streaming, as well as an audience vote. Finalists will be required to log in 45 minutes before start time to ensure everyone is in the room.

Country video postcard

In order to ensure each country and Host Organisation is represented and platformed during the final, we ask each Host Organisation to produce a country video postcard to be played during the live online final. This video should include information about the country, the competition the National Winner and the Host Organisation. Templates and assets for inclusion in the country video can be found in the FameLab International Dropbox. See Appendix 7: County Video Guidelines