How will the role work?

We'll provide you with the training and resources you need to start delivering presentations or talks on behalf of the Marine Conservation Society. We offer three talks for adult community groups and one assembly for schools, created to be simplified or extended depending on both your knowledge and that of the group attending. Once trained, we will add you to our list of community presenters. This means we can get in touch with any opportunities or upcoming events in your area which the host has asked the Marine Conservation Society to attend. Alternatively, you can seek out your own opportunities by connecting with local groups in your area. These could be local conservation groups, WIs, museums, libraries, businesses etc. Use the flyer (see "Tools and information" below) to contact community groups in your area and ask if they'd like you to visit. For further details read the full role description under "Tools and information".

What should I expect?

Talks are often organised several weeks or months in advance, so we hope to give you plenty of notice. Depending on where you live, the number of opportunities may vary (for example, if you live in a town lots of local groups, requests might be more frequent). We will not ask you to travel more than an hour, and we can cover your expenses if cost would be a barrier to participating. Remember, when you’re in the role, you’ll be acting as a representative for the charity, our values and our personality, and it will be important to consider what could risk the charities reputation.

What support is available?

The Ocean Voice online training is available below whenever you want to refresh your knowledge. We have provided a promotional flyer and PowerPoints to help you deliver a talk (see "Training library" below). The Volunteering and Citizen Science Team are always happy to be contacted on seachampions@mcsuk.org.

Please read the community presenter role description here. Fill in and return this expenses form before your event if travel costs are a barrier to taking part. Promote your talk locally using this flyer. Introduce yourself to community groups using this email template. Or introduce yourself to schools using this template.

Wrap up and thank the talk organiser using this email template. Please share this feedback form with the group so that we can record our activities within local communities. Please log your activity after an event to support our reports to funders.

Presentations and notes

Below are PowerPoints and speaker notes for our three talks. It's important that you make the talk your own so that you feel comfortable. You may sometimes want to make the talks longer or shorter and you may not use a PowerPoint. However, please do not add new slides or edit the pictures, fonts, colours on the existing slides as it's important that the Marine Conservation Society's brand is recognisable throughout a talk when a PowerPoint is used. An Introduction to the Marine Conservation Society - Presentation An Introduction to the Marine Conservation Society - Speaker Notes Ocean Pollution - Presentation Ocean Pollution - Speaker Notes Climate Change - Presentation Climate Change - Speaker Notes School Assemblies Primary School Assembly - Presentation Secondary School Assembly - Presentation School Assembly - Speaker Notes Add-on slides Beachwatch add-on - Presentation Beachwatch add-on - Speaker Notes Welsh Language bookend slides

A yellow Snakelocks Anemone sits on top of kelp in Scottish waters. The sea is light blue.

Community presenter resources

Find all the necessary resources needed to help support you as a Marine Conservation community presenter

If you need any help or advice please contact [email protected]

How the community presenter role works

We'll provide you with the training and resources you need to start delivering presentations or talks on behalf of the Marine Conservation Society.
We offer three talks for adult community groups and one assembly for schools, created to be simplified or extended depending on both your knowledge and that of the group attending.
Once trained, we will add you to our list of community presenters. This means we can get in touch with any opportunities or upcoming events in your area which the host has asked the Marine Conservation Society to attend.
Alternatively, you can seek out your own opportunities by connecting with local groups in your area. These could be local conservation groups, WIs, museums, libraries, businesses etc. Use the flyer (see "Tools and information" below) to contact community groups in your area and ask if they'd like you to visit.
For further details read the full role description under "Tools and information".

Talks are often organised several weeks or months in advance, so we hope to give you plenty of notice.
Depending on where you live, the number of opportunities may vary (for example, if you live in a town lots of local groups, requests might be more frequent).
We will not ask you to travel more than an hour, and we can cover your expenses if cost would be a barrier to participating.
Remember, when you’re in the role, you’ll be acting as a representative for the charity, our values and our personality, and it will be important to consider what could risk the charities reputation.

We get lots of requests from local community groups wanting to know more about the Marine Conservation Society and our work. We've created three talks so that we can help people across the UK learn more about the following themes:

An introduction to the Marine Conservation Society
Ocean pollution
Climate change and the ocean

Talks have been created to last approximately 30-45mins. These talks can be adapted in length based on a group's needs, but PowerPoint presentations and some suggested speaker notes are provided below for guidance. Slides can be removed to reduce the talk length if needed.

Online Training

Training for this role consists of two online sessions, outlined below.

Training 1 of 2: What is Ocean Voices? (Monday 26 October, 6:00pm to 7:00pm)
This session will introduce the Ocean Voices programme, provide an overview of the Marine Conservation Society, explore the volunteer roles available, and cover the practicalities of volunteering as an Ocean Voice.
Training 2 of 2: Speaking for Our Ocean (Monday 2 November, 6:00pm to 7:30pm)
This session focuses on the key skills needed for the role, including science communication, speaking in the Marine Conservation Society's voice, understanding different audiences, delivering events, engaging with the media, and supporting fundraising activities.

To attend these sessions, please complete the form below. Once we receive your application, we will send you the registration details.

If you're interested in becoming an Ocean Voices volunteer but cannot attend these training dates, we still encourage you to complete the form. We'll add you to our mailing list and let you know when the next training sessions are available.

Zoe Lyons, a Marine Conservation Society staff member, and Cully from Cully and Sully, sit on stools in front of a large screen, giving a talk to an audience. All three people are smiling broadly.

Marine Conservation Society hosting an event with Zoe Lyons and Cully from Cully and Sully. | Image credit: Rose Bainbridge

You can also watch these recordings to top-up your skillset:

Learn about delivering school assemblies from our Learning Officer, Stephen. Watch now.
Hear from experienced Community Presenter, Debbie, who shares her top tips! Watch now.

Tools and information

Please read the community presenter role description here.
Fill in and return this expenses form before your event if travel costs are a barrier to taking part.
Promote your talk locally using this flyer.
Introduce yourself to community groups using this email template.
Or introduce yourself to schools using this template.

Below are PowerPoints and speaker notes for our three talks. It's important that you make the talk your own so that you feel comfortable. You may sometimes want to make the talks longer or shorter and you may not use a PowerPoint.

However, please do not add new slides or edit the pictures, fonts, colours on the existing slides as it's important that the Marine Conservation Society's brand is recognisable throughout a talk when a PowerPoint is used.

School Assemblies

Add-on slides