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

Abstract

Designing Science Presentations: A Visual Guide to Figures, Papers, Slides, Posters, and More Matt Carter 2013; 384 pages Publisher: Academic Press, Elsevier ISBN: 978-0-12-385969-3 Price: $49.95 (softcover) ![Graphic][1] It happens at every professional meeting: we see an exciting title for a talk and go to the session room. Then our spirits fade because the visual aids on the screen are too confusing, too cluttered with text the speaker may or may not be reading, or too crammed with small graphs or a table with 50 numbers. Our interest wanes, and we are disappointed with what we thought we would gain from the talk. Matt Carter prepared Designing Science Presentations so that we can enjoy a talk or poster that teaches us something or sparks a new idea. The author explicitly states four major goals in his book: 1) impress upon scientists they should care about designing science presentations rather than just making them; 2) provide specific, tangible recommendations and advice for designing excellent science presentations; 3) highlight inspiring examples of good presentation design; and 4) make the content accessible for quick and easy reference to a point. I believe the author accomplished these goals. The content of Carter's copiously illustrated book is divided among six parts. Part 1 explores the concepts of scientists as designers, presentation goals, and what exceptional presentations share. Chapter 1 addresses the philosophy, purpose, and need for designing (not decorating) a presentation. … [1]: /embed/inline-graphic-1.gif