Do you have a science story you’re dying to share? Are you looking to sharpen your science storytelling skills with supportive feedback from expert performers and science communicators? Or maybe you’d just like to hang out with the Story Collider gang on a Thursday night and enjoy some new and original stories?

If so, join us for our second-ever science story slam! Our community of storytellers offers a warm, supportive environment in which storytellers of all backgrounds and levels of experience can experiment (pun not intended!) with personal narrative.

If you’re interested in telling a story, you’ll have the opportunity to put your name in the virtual hat at the start of the show.  Five lucky storytellers will get the opportunity to share their stories on screen. (For more guidance on telling a story at one of our slams, see our advice at the bottom of this page.)  If you would prefer just to be a part of the audience, that’s fine too! The theme this month will be "Second Chances."

Our two coaches -- representing expertise in both story performance and science communication -- will offer each storyteller advice and encouragement to help them bring out the best in their stories.

Reyhaneh Maktoufi is a Ph.D. candidate in Media, Technology, and Society at Northwestern University. Her main fields of interest are science communication, curiosity, and public engagement with scientists. She is currently a Rita Allen Foundation Civic Science Fellow, and has previously been a visiting researcher at the Adler Planetarium, where she studied science communication and facilitated workshops on communication skills. Before starting a Ph.D., Rey has been working as a health communication facilitator and campaign manager in Tehran, Iran. She also produces comics and videos about science and the science of science communication. In her free time, Rey enjoys staring at a wall and making up stories in her head or play bad ukulele and scare off birds while singing high pitch.

Lily Be’s passion is giving voice to EVERYONE that is never heard, anyone that is "othered," and anyone that feels like they don't matter.  Their stories and these people matter.  In addition to winning multiple Moth Slams and Grand Slams, Lily has performed at virtually EVERY storytelling venue in Chicago and has been acclaimed as an actor, writer, director and producer of her own one-woman shows. Over the last ten years, she has hosted hundreds of storytelling workshops at Northeastern University, Northwestern University, DePaul University, Loyola University, University of Illinois-Chicago, Harold Washington College, Malcom X College, Truman College. Second City, iO Chicago and Hairpin.  Lily has been invited to be an artist-in-residence several times, including the prestigious Ragdale Foundation, has been sent to Paris to begin one of several memoirs, and has become a master sound editor for her own podcast series.  She recently celebrated the six year anniversary of her own storytelling show, The Stoop. When you meet Lily Be, ask her about her greatest accomplishment, her son the scientist and playwright.

Erin Barker is the artistic director of Story Collider, as well as a writer and editor, and the first woman to win The Moth's GrandSLAM storytelling competition twice. She has appeared on PRX'sThe Moth Radio Hour, and one of her stories was included in The New York Times-bestselling book The Moth: 50 True Stories.

Stories should be five to six minutes long. (You’ll see a warning flash on screen when you have one minute left.)

Stories should have a beginning, middle, and end, and should involve some kind of personal change, whether it’s big or small.

Your story must be a first-person narrative -- in other words, it must be about you!

Because this is Story Collider, your story should be connected to, or inspired by, science in some way.

Try to have a pair of headphones handy, in case we experience feedback.

If you can, test out your camera and microphone ahead of time, here: https://www.crowdcast.io/setup

If possible, try to make sure you’re in a low-traffic area with minimal ambient noise.

If you’d like to be really thorough, you can find our full setup guide for storytellers here!

Science Story Slam: Second Chances