You’re organising your first Lunchbar. You’ve crafted a compelling title, booked a brilliant speaker, snapped up a super venue, and printed out posh publicity. Do you want the good news or the bad news? The good news is the Lunchbar will be a complete success if the CU get behind it. The bad news is …

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You can imagine the slightly condescending tone: “God gave you two ears and one mouth, so use them in that proportion“. But it’s the best advice I know for starting to write a Lunchbar talk. Our two greatest needs are to know what we’re talking about, and who we’re talking to. Therefore, before speaking we start …

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It’s 7am, and I pull back the curtains in Lydia’s nursery.  The sun pours in, and a beautiful blue sky sits above the allotments opposite our house. ‘Good news for our BBQ this evening’, I say to Jane, as she unpops Lydia from her sleep suit. But by 11am, in traditional British fashion, dark grey …

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A guy gets into a cab in New York City and asks the cab driver, “How do I get to Carnegie Hall?” and the cab driver replies, “practice, practice, practice.” 1. On one level a lunchbar talk is like a piano recital; it’s a cultural product. The pianist would have some natural ability and would …

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This is embarrassing, and probably inappropriate. Though I’ve spoken at lots of student events in various places on various topics to various groups over the last four years, the people who engage (and talk to me afterwards) have been disproportionately girls. Should I admit that? Not sciency blokes, not sporty blokes, but rather stylish and …

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