Research Posters: Helpful Resources

The Craft of Scientific Presentations, 2nd edition aims to strengthen you as a presenter of science and engineering. The book does so by identifying what makes excellent presenters such as Brian Cox, Jane Goodall, Richard Feynman, and Jill Bolte Taylor so strong. In addition, the book explains what causes so many scientific presentations to flounder. One of the most valuable contributions of this text is that it teaches the assertion-evidence approach to scientific presentations. Instead of building presentations, as most engineers and scientists do, on the weak foundation of topic phrases and bulleted lists, this assertion-evidence approach calls for building presentations on succinct message assertions supported by visual evidence. Unlike the commonly followed topic-subtopic approach that PowerPoint leads presenters to use, the assertion-evidence approach is solidly grounded in research. By showing the differences between strong and weak presentations, by identifying the errors that scientific presenters typically make, and by teaching a much more powerful approach for scientific presentations than what is commonly practiced, this book places you in a position to elevate your presentations to a high level. In essence, this book aims to have you not just succeed in your scientific presentations, but excel. About the Author Michael Alley has taught workshops on presentations to engineers and scientists on five continents, and has recently been invited to speak at the European Space Organization, Harvard Medical School, MIT, Sandia National Labs, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Simula Research Laboratory, and United Technologies. An Associate Professor of engineering communication at Pennsylvania State University, Alley is a leading researcher on the effectiveness of different designs for presentation slides.

Presentation Zen will help presenters see the process in a way that is different, simpler, more visual, more natural, more effective, and ultimately far more meaningful. Presentations are generally poor because their creators have learned bad habits and lack awareness and knowledge about what makes for a great presentation (and what does not). This book aims to help people break out of the rut of making typical PowerPoint presentations. This book provides an equal dose of inspiration and education. The content focuses on helping readers become (1) more aware, (2) more knowledgeable, and (3) more inspired. Presentation Zen is a provocative mix of illumination, education, and guidance. What may seem like common sense regarding presentations is not common practice. Presentation Zen is an approach to presentations that is appropriate for our age, an age in which design thinking, storytelling and so-called right-brain thinking are crucial. Those who are talented communicators and skilled in design and storytelling are increasingly in demand.Balancing the principles of design, the tenets of Zen simplicity, multimedia and cognitive learning theory, along with practical advice from the fie