I attended a fantastic flash-bang show in Leicester the other day. It was given by Dr. Sarah Heath, who along with my PhD supervisor Prof. Pat Bailey, introduced me to this method of public engagement when I was studying in Manchester.

Since then, I have dabbled a bit in this area, and developed my own demonstration lecture incorporating some ideas from Pat's, Sarah's and other demo's I've been lucky enough to witness live.

During a chat with Sarah whilst cleaning up, I confessed to never having worked up the courage to try the infamous "Barking Dog" experiment. The closest I ever got to doing so was whilst helping Sarah with the lights in Leicester and that was pretty darn close!

Sarah made the point that she too felt nervous about this experiment, but was lucky to have been formally trained many years ago at Manchester by an experienced practitioner. She commented during her show, and I agree, that there are fewer and fewer people around with the confidence and experience to safely carry out some of the more dramatic experiments (the Barking Dog and anything to do with red and white phosphorous come to mind).

I know that the Internet is a fantastic resource, but for some of these experiments you need more than a You Tube video and a chemistry degree. You need to be hand-held the first few times you carry out the reaction (in the controlled environment of a lab) and even more so the first time your carry it out in the the uncontrolled environment of a public lecture.

Add to this the ever increasing regulation (which affects both what chemicals you can now buy and store in your lab, to what you are permitted to carry in your car, to what you can safely perform in an external and internal environment) and the time commitments involved (a days preparation before, the day itself and a half a day of clean-up after) and it is no wonder that there are fewer and fewer young chemists out there with the experience and ability to conduct these impressive demonstrations.

So I ask you to roll the calendar forward twenty years. Who will be available to perform these experiments, and will they even be allowed to? We all know how inspirational these demonstrations can be, so imagine the knock-on effect a decline in demonstrators/demonstrations would have on the uptake of our profession? I can't believe that You Tube (despite the best efforts of Martin Poliakoff and his team) can be a substitute for seeing the power of chemistry in real life.

I know the RSC takes pride in putting on courses for chemistry teachers who are struggling to get to grips with the practical side of the subject. Perhaps these courses represent an ideal opportunity to train a new generation of demonstrators, who are already in a ideal position (schools) to reach our target audience?

I for one have decided to overcome my fear of the Barking Dog, and have arranged to meet up with Sarah sometime in the near future in Manchester and learn from the best. I figure if I can conquer the Dog, I can go back and look at a few new You Tube videos and see what else I can master!