Designing Science Presentations: A Visual Guide to Figures, Papers, Slides, Posters, and More

by Matt Carter

Designing Science Presentations guides researchers and graduate students of virtually any discipline in the creation of compelling science communication. Most scientists never receive formal training in the creation, delivery, and evaluation of such material, yet it is essential for publishing in high-quality journals, soliciting funding, attracting lab personnel, and advancing a career. This clear, readable volume fills that gap and provides 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. It provides pragmatic advice on the preparation and delivery of exceptional scientific presentations; demonstrates hundreds of visually striking presentation techniques, giving readers inspiration for creating their own; and is structured so that readers can easily find answers to particular questions.

Genres: Design, Writing, Science

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Matt Carter, PhD, is currently Assistant Professor of Biology at Williams College. His previous position was as a post-doctoral fellow in Richard Palmiter’s lab at the University of Washington using optogenetic techniques to study neural circuitry. He has authored the first edition of this book (Elsevier, 2009) as well as Designing Science Presentations: A Visual Guide to Figures, Papers, Slides, Posters, and More (Elsevier, 2012). He was the awardee of Stanford University’s Walter J. Gores Award for Excellence in Teaching, and two-time recipient of the Stanford School of Medicine’s Excellence in Teaching Award. He currently teaches courses at Williams in both Topics in Neuroscience as well as Neural Systems and Circuits.

Reviews

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great resource for science writing, presentations, posters, and lectures. I read through it, made a lot of notes, and will keep it as a resource as I design and redesign the things I'm writing! I will also be sharing it with my students and colleagues.

[K H · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent resource all around, from visual design of figures/presentations, getting clarity on your intent, and the actual delivery.

"Good design is a lot like clear thinking made visual."
- Edward Tufte

[Lola · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many tips, which although they may seem obvious, are not so easy to follow when you find yourself in the situation of making scientific presentations. It covers any typical format, including oral presentations with and without slides, posters or even written or paper presentations.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was extremely helpful for giving presentations about research, both in terms of designing a poster and presenting a poster. It takes you through how to turn a long research paper into a concise poster, including things like how to title your sections, where to place the different sections, and how to use charts effectively. I learned a lot that is applicable outside of the poster design world. I highly recommend!

[Manuel Frias · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good summary of how to present well whether you are a scientist or not. I liked the examples and the plain English style.

If you are a scientist and think you can not be ALSO a designer read this book. You will change your mind!

[lilian Zack · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gives many basics of different formats of the presentations. Many of them are very useful for me, for instance, the color, vision, layout, slide aminations. The author uses very clear and simple word to explain things. However, I think it would be better if the author could go further and deeper, or recommends other books or reference to guide us in the learning process. Basically, it tells me what is good and what is not good, but it doesn't tell me how to achieve the goal. This is the only thing I feel a little bit disappointed. Overall, it's a really good entry-level book I would say.

[Tevilla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Essential book for anyone who does presenting. Especially helpful for science related and not in anyway limited to that area. This is my new 'go to' books I work with scientists. I wish I could give it a six star rating.