Designing Science Presentations

A Visual Guide to Figures, Papers, Slides, Posters, and More

2nd Edition - November 28, 2020
Author: Matt Carter
Language: English
Paperback ISBN:
9 7 8 - 0 - 1 2 - 8 1 5 3 7 7 - 2
eBook ISBN:
9 7 8 - 0 - 1 2 - 8 1 5 3 7 8 - 9

Designing Science Presentations: A Visual Guide to Figures, Papers, Slides, Posters, and More, Second Edition, guides scientists of any discipline in the design of compellin… Read more

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Designing Science Presentations: A Visual Guide to Figures, Papers, Slides, Posters, and More, Second Edition, guides scientists of any discipline in the design of compelling science communication. Most scientists never receive formal training in the design, delivery and evaluation of scientific communication, yet these skills are essential for publishing in high-quality journals, soliciting funding, attracting lab personnel, and advancing a career. This clear, readable volume fills that gap, providing visually intensive guidance at every step—from the construction of original figures to the presentation and delivery of those figures in papers, slideshows, posters and websites.

The book provides pragmatic advice on the preparation and delivery of exceptional scientific presentations and demonstrates hundreds of visually striking presentation techniques.

Cover image
Title page
Table of Contents
Copyright
About the author
Acknowledgments
Part 1. Using design principles to present science
1. Scientists as designers
The elements of a science presentation
Good scientific content does not speak for itself
What is design?
What design is not
Well-designed presentations translate complex information into a simple message
Design is ultimately about the audience
Design is about more than just following “the rules”
Any scientist can learn to design excellent presentations
Appreciate good presentation design from other scientists
Design is a continuous process
Summary: Thinking like a designer
2. Design goals for different presentation formats
Each presentation format has unique goals
Advantages and disadvantages of different presentation formats
Reasons for success and failure
Summary: Designing for different presentation formats
Part 2. Visual elements in science presentations
3. Color
Use color to communicate
How to describe color
How computers specify color
A color wheel can be helpful in selecting colors
Choosing color combinations using a color wheel
Choose warm colors for the foreground
Ensure foreground and background colors have high contrast
Use color to highlight salient information
Emotional associations of different colors
Prepare for color in a colorless environment
Black and white are colors, too
What you see on your screen might not be what you get
Summary: Design principles for color
4. Typography
Decisions about text matter
Characteristics of a font
Choose the right font for the job
Considerations for casing
Choose font styles to increase legibility
Font considerations for numbers
Sizing up a font
Making the best use of bullets
Be deliberate about typesetting
Summary: Design principles for typography
5. Words
Word choice matters
Try to avoid colloquialism and slang
Avoid wordiness
Singular versus plural
Choosing the active versus the passive voice
Choosing verb tense
Commonly misused or incorrect words
Understanding the distinctions between similar words
The burden of proof
The meaning of Latin abbreviations
Guidelines for writing about numbers
Summary: Design principles for word choice
6. Tables
When to use a table instead of text or a figure
Anatomy of a table
Logically formatting a table
Text and number alignment
Choosing to add gridlines on tables
Reduce table size for slide presentations
Summary: Design principles for tables
7. Graphs
When to use a graph
Anatomy of a graph
Categories of graphs
General design considerations for graphs
Designing line graphs
Designing bar graphs
Communicating maximum information in bar graphs
Designing histograms
Designing scatterplots
Designing pie charts
Help your audience visualize what is most important
Reduce clutter, decoration, and distractions
Use figure legends to convey supporting details
The best graph titles are often conclusions
Summary: Design principles for graphs
8. Diagrams
When to use a diagram
Clearly define the purpose of a diagram
Showing relationships and sequence order in diagrams
Considerations for labeling diagrams
Designing Venn diagrams
Designing flowcharts
Designing tree diagrams
Designing timelines
Designing pictorial diagrams
Designing maps
Designing sequence maps
Designing circuit diagrams
Designing pathway diagrams
Designing procedural diagrams
Summary: Design principles for diagrams
9. Photographs
Why show a photo?
Assume that representative photographic data will be harshly judged
Be picky about composing and finding images
Crop photos to emphasize what is most important
Frame your content using the “rule of thirds”
Adjust image settings to your needs
Adjust data images ethically
Ensure that labels are secondary to content
The differences between image file formats
Ideal image resolutions for different presentation formats
Summary: Design principles for photographs
Part 3. Expressing scientific ideas in written presentations
10. Research articles
The purpose of a research article
The structure of a research article
The title should emphasize what is most important
Effective abstracts tell a complete story
Effective introductions lead to a specific research goal
Materials and methods sections allow studies to be reproducible
Provide your results section with context
Achieve harmony between figures and text
Use your discussion section to add reflection and insight
Avoid common reasons for rejection
Summary: Design principles for writing research articles
11. Review articles
The purpose of a review article
Choose a way to make sense of the literature
Strategies to improve the readability of your review
Writing a review article from scratch
Summary: Design principles for writing review articles
12. Research proposals
The purpose of a research proposal: to justify
Pleasing your reviewers
The structure of a research proposal
Your experimental design must show logical thinking
Enhance the visual design of your proposals
Summary: Design principles for writing research proposals
Part 4. Designing slide presentations
13. The use of slides in oral presentations
The purpose of slides as presentation tools
Slides are for the audience, not the speaker
Design a slide presentation from an audience's perspective
To design for your audience, know your audience
Compose ideas before you compose slides
The relationship between slides and oral delivery
There is no correct number of slides
Exceptional slide presentations require time and effort
Summary: Design principles for using slides
14. The structure of a slide presentation
A good scientific talk is a good scientific story
Good science stories should convey the scientific method
Consider storyboarding a talk to preview its structure
Set the tone of your talk with a title slide
Start a talk by progressing from general questions to specific goals
Clearly emphasize your scientific goal and why it is worth pursuing
Prepare for inevitable shifts in attention
Organize the presentation of data into individual segments
Consider uniting sections of a talk using a “home slide”
Deliberately emphasize one to three take-home messages
Conclude a talk by transitioning from specific details to a broader scientific context
Briefly acknowledge your contributors
Answer questions while showing a summary diagram
Example outline of a structured talk
Summary: Design principles for slide presentation structure
15. Visual elements in slide presentations
Optimizing visual elements on slides
Add design instead of decoration
Choose the most optimal slide size for your screen/projector
Choose inconspicuous backgrounds
Optimize color choices for slides
Assemble a unifying tone using a color palette
Choose fonts that are most legible
Keep text to a minimum
Minimize the use of lists and outlines
Use slide titles to make a point
Optimize tables and graphs for slides
Try to only present one table or graph per slide
Animate data in tables and graphs for emphasis
Optimize diagrams for slides
Optimize photographs for slides
Optimize videos for slides
Summary: Design principles for visual elements in slides
16. Slide layout
Be deliberate about slide layout to tell a better visual story
To be deliberate about slide layout, avoid universal slide templates
Design a natural flow of information
Emphasize important visual elements
Align visual elements for harmony
Align visual elements using a grid
Embrace simplicity
Split busy slides into multiple slides
Achieve harmony with photographs
Summary: Design principles for slide layout
17. Slide animations and transitions
The benefits of using slide animation effects
Don't be an animation show-off
Use animation to introduce concepts at a time of your choosing
Use animation to relate the big and the small
Animate movements naturally and intuitively
Animate diagrams to bring dynamic processes to life
Use animation to direct the audience's attention
Use slide transitions minimally for emphasis
Use transitions to create scenes and panoramas
Summary: Design principles for slide animations and transitions
18. Delivering a slide presentation
To seem like a natural, design and rehearse
Strategies for dealing with anxiety
Place yourself front and center
Immediately gain rapport with your audience
Aim to be present
Don't use slides as presentation notes
Work toward eliminating verbal distractions
Strategies for answering audience questions
Summary: Design principles for delivering slide presentations
19. Using technology to present like a professional
Bring your own power and projection cords
Know how to calibrate your laptop with a projector
Know how to control your presentation with your keyboard
Use personal display settings to see the next slide
Learn the light switch before your talk begins
Have a way of keeping track of time
Use a laser pointer to focus the audience's attention
Use a remote slide advancer to move more freely
Considerations for presenting while traveling
Summary: Design principles for presentation technology
20. Considerations for different categories of slide presentations
The research seminar
The panel/symposium talk
The data blitz
The lab meeting presentation
The journal club talk
The course guest lecture
Summary: Design considerations for different categories of slide presentations
Part 5. Designing oral presentations without slides
21. Presenting without slides
You never needed slides in the first place
Communicating structure without slides
Plan figures ahead of time
Be deliberate about maintaining an audience's attention
Make any presentation notes brief
Summary: Design principles for presenting without slides
22. Considerations for different categories of oral presentations without slides
The chalk talk
The round table presentation
The elevator speech
The speaker introduction
Summary: Design considerations for oral presentations without slides
Part 6. Designing poster presentations
23. The composition of a scientific poster
The purpose of poster presentations
The sections of a scientific poster
The first step: writing an abstract
The best poster titles are conclusions
Background/introduction sections should be concise and informative
Highlight your research question/goal/hypothesis
Determine if you need a methods section
Use results sections to declare major conclusions
Highlight the major conclusions
De-emphasize acknowledgments and references
Reduce the amount of text as much as possible
Ignore the trend of “Billboard” or “Poster 2.0” posters
Advice on composing a poster from scratch
Summary: Design principles for poster composition
24. The visual design and layout of a poster
There are multiple ways to design a scientific poster
Design an intuitive order of information
Visually unite the content within each poster section
Choose fonts that are easy to read
Choose backgrounds that aren't distracting
Eliminate extraneous visual elements for clarity
Let your text and figures breathe
Align visual elements for harmony
Choose the right poster printing material
Summary: Design principles for poster layout
25. Presenting at a poster session
Posters are ideal for interactions with other scientists
Anticipate the presentation venue
Plan to look (and smell) your best
Display your poster professionally
Prepare for potential problems with a poster repair kit
Be deliberate about being friendly and approachable
Present your poster by giving a brief “walkthrough”
Know where you stand
Providing supplementary information
Summary: Design principles for presenting a poster
Appendix 1. Recommendations for further reading
Appendix 2. Using illustration and presentation software
Appendix 3. Thoughts on how to design a presentation from scratch
Index

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Matt Carter