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

Front Cover
Designing Science Presentations
Designing Science Presentations
Copyright
Contents
About the author
Acknowledgments
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
			The written presentation
			The slide presentation
			The oral presentation (without slides)
			The poster presentation
		Advantages and disadvantages of different presentation formats
		Reasons for success and failure
		Summary: Designing for different presentation formats
2 - Visual elements in science presentations
	3 - Color
		Use color to communicate
		How to describe color
		How computers specify color
			CMYK
			RGB
			Hexvalue
		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
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
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
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
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
	1 - Recommendations for further reading
		Books about universal design principles
		Books about science/data presentations
		Books about slide presentation design
	2 - Using illustration and presentation software
	3 - Thoughts on how to design a presentation from scratch
	Index
		A
		B
		C
		D
		E
		F
		G
		H
		I
		J
		L
		M
		N
		O
		P
		R
		S
		T
		V
		W
Back Cover