Academic Presentations and Posters
Recommendations and Resources
Last updated: March 2025
General presentation advice: presenting academic research, communicating to a lay audience
- Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science - Stony Brook University
- 12 Tips for Scientists Writing for the General Public - American Scientist
- Presenting in the Sciences : A Guide - Tulane University Library
- Houston, We Have a Narrative- Why Science Needs Story (book) - Randy Olson,The University of Chicago Press
- Conference Sessions Do Not Have to Suck - Inside Higher Ed
- Poster Presentations: Tips and Tricks - Inside Higher Ed: Gradhacker
- There's a movement for better posters at science conferences - Inside Higher Ed
- On Research Presentations at Conferences - Inside Higher Ed
- Communicating Research to a General Audience - Inside Higher Ed: Gradhacker
- Making Data Talk: A Workbook (Communicating Public Health Data to the Public, Policy Makers, and the Press
- National Cancer Institute - How to write for a non-academic audience: Communicating about research is more important than ever - American Psychological Association
- How to Prep for a Presentation - Lifehacker
- Art of the Conference Paper- advice from a graduate student - Inside Higher Ed
- Giving a Good Scientific Presentation - American Society of Primatologists
- Effective Presentations for Chemists and Other Scientists - Lab Manager Magazine
- Informative Speaking - Colorado State
- Dos & don'ts of giving a good 15 minute talk - Australian National University
- Ten Secrets to Giving a Good Scientific Talk - NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research
- Dazzle 'em with Style: The Art of Oral Scientific Presentation - Book
- How to Give a Bad Talk- Oral Presentation Advice - UC Berkeley
- How NOT To Give a Scientific Talk - York University
- Presentation Zen - Garr Reynolds
- Presentation Skills - Decker Communications
- Presentation Tips - Garr Reynolds
Presenting with PowerPoint:
- Effective Virtual Presentations - Think Outside the Slide
- Effective Hybrid Presentations - Think Outside the Slide
- How to build a slide deck in PowerPoint that isn’t god awful - CSS Tricks
- PowerPoint Accessibility Tips - Penn State Accessibility Group
- 48 Effective PowerPoint Presentation Tips - Envato
- Simpler is Better in Presentation Slides - Dr. Paul Gordon Brown
- PowerPoint Does Rocket Science--and Better Techniques for Technical Reports - Edward Tufte
- How to Make a Great Talk
- American Society of Plant Biologists - Oral Presentations and Writing for PowerPoint - George Mason University
- Some Tips for Preparing a Research Presentation - Swarthmore
- Learning from Bill Gates & Steve Jobs - Presentation Zen
- Life After Death by PowerPoint - Funny video clip: How NOT to do PowerPoint
- 14 Tips for Better Presentation Slides - Viget Labs
- PowerPoint Is Evil - Edward Tufte in Wired Magazine
Visual communication and design
- 11 Design Tips for Beautiful Presentations - Visage
- 10 tips on how to make slides that communicate your idea, from TED's in-house expert -TED
- Selecting the correct font size for slides - Think Outside the Slide
Academic poster design
- Posters with a Powerful Point: A practical guide to designing academic posters - University of York
- #betterposter: There's a movement for better posters at science conferences. But are they really better? - Inside Higher Ed
- Better Posters - A resource for improving poster presentations
- Create a More Impactful Scientific Poster with UX Design Tips - Mike Morrison, YouTube
- How to Create a Better Research Poster in Less Time - Mike Morrison, YouTube
- Visual and UX design principles can improve the effectiveness of poster sessions - Derek Crowe
- How to Choose the Best Layout for Your Scientific Poster - Animate Your Science
- A Graphic Design Revolution For Scientific Conference Posters - Forbes
- How to make an academic poster - Annals of Medicine and Surgery
- How to design an award-winning conference poster - Animate Your Science
- Poster Perfect- How to drive home your science with a visually pleasing poster - The Scientist
- How to design an effective scientific poster - The Planetary Society
- Designing conference posters- excellent tips and examples - Colin Purrington
- Better Posters: A resource for improving poster presentations - Blog from DoctorZen
- How to Choose the Best Layout for Your Scientific Poster - Animate Your Science
- Conference Posters - Organizing Creativity
- Creating Effective Poster Presentations: An Effective Poster- excellent overall - NC State
- Designing Effective Posters- online tutorial - Kansas University
- Intro to Designing Conference Posters - University of Minnesota
Designing accessible academic posters and presentations
- Guidelines for Creating Accessible Printed Posters- Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD)
- AAA Presentation Guidelines for Success and Accessibility - American Anthropological Association
- Virtual Presentation Accessibility Guidelines - American Anthropological Association
- How to design a colour blind-friendly scientific poster- Animate Your Science
Designing posters for specific disciplines
- Neuroscience Poster Design
- Presenting Conference Papers and Posters in the Humanities - Texas Tech University
- Developing Poster Presentations in the Social Sciences - George Mason University
- Poster Presentations in the Natural Sciences - George Mason University
Poster and presentation design information from UNC sources:
- Designing Effective Posters - University Libraries
- Design Guide: Presentation Slides - University Libraries
- Poster Design and Images: Design and Presentation- UNC Health Sciences Library
- Working with Images - Fair Use guide - University Libraries
- Presenting Qualitative Research with a focus on posters- UNC Health Sciences Library
- Academic Poster Examples - Carolina Digital Repository
- Elliott Moreton, UNC-Chapel Hill Posters
- Poster Design and Printing Resources - UNC School of Pharmacy
- Creating an Effective Poster Presentation for Graduate Students - Center for Teaching & Learning
Poster design software
Using Canva to design posters
- Canva for Academic Presentations and Posters: Creating a Scientific Poster with Canva - University of South Carolina
- How to design a research poster using Canva - Fresh Spectrum Data Design
Using PowerPoint to design posters
- How to create beautiful and effective academic posters in PowerPoint - BrightCarbon
- Creating a research poster in PowerPoint - Indiana University
- Designing Effective Posters Using PowerPoint and Adobe InDesign - UNC-Health Sciences Library
- Creating Posters with PowerPoint - Northwestern University
Using InDesign or Illustrator to design posters
- Designing Effective Posters Using PowerPoint and Adobe InDesign - UNC-Health Sciences Library
- Designing a Poster with Adobe Illustrator - Whitman College
UNC computer labs with design software:
- Media and Design Center - Labs, Software and Equipment: Academic Poster Design
- UNC Library Data Services
- Medical Campus/Health Sciences Library Computer Labs
- SILS Lab Facilities and Equipment
- House Undergraduate Library Design Lab
- University Libraries Media Resources Center Media Lab
- School of Journalism Park Multimedia Lab
- School of Education Technology Services
Poster templates:
- Poster Templates - UNC Health Sciences Library
- Google template search
- PowerPoint Poster Templates - Penn State
- PowerPoint Poster Templates - Rice University
Poster examples:
- Academic Poster Examples - Carolina Digital Repository
- Poster Sessions Flickr Group - Colin Purrington
- Academic Poster Examples - UC Davis
- Pimp My Poster Flickr Group
- Poster Examples - NC State
Printing resources:
- At UNC-Chapel Hill
- Poster Design and Images: Poster Printing- UNC-Health Sciences Library
- UNC Print Stop and Copy Center
- Health Sciences Library Media Design Studios: Poster Printing
- UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy- Poster Printing
- UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center Digital Imaging Facility
- UNC Computer Science - large format color printer (plotter and 11×17 printer)