CASE STUDY
Designing Scientific Posters with Confidence:
Annual Workshop for the Society for Experimental Biology
Client
Society for Experimental Biology (SEB)
Audience
Early-career researchers and scientists preparing for their first or second conference poster presentation
Purpose
To equip participants with the skills to design clear, engaging, and audience-focused scientific posters — and deliver them confidently in conference settings, both in-person and online.
Our Approach
Since 2020, we’ve been delivering SEB’s flagship annual poster design workshop as part of their professional development series. The two-part, online workshop takes place over two days (2 × 4-hour sessions) and is open to SEB members and conference attendees worldwide.
Each session includes:
- Practical theory with real-world examples
- Time to draft content and test ideas
- Peer-to-peer discussion and collaborative feedback
- Live reviews of real posters (including participant submissions)
- Structured exercises to help participants find their message, organise their content, and improve layout and clarity
Topics Covered
- Why posters matter, and how to use them strategically
- Crafting a message and choosing the right content
- Visual hierarchy, layout, typography, and colour
- Accessibility, clarity, and avoiding information overload
- Promoting your poster, including networking tips
- Poster delivery and engaging conversations
Highlights
- Global reach, with participants joining from multiple time zones
- Flexibility for drop-ins and those with limited internet access
- Accessible structure with printable materials for offline use
- Ongoing collaboration with SEB to create blog posts and design guides
Follow-up Support
We also provide support after the workshop, including:
- Post-workshop cheat sheets, design tips, and templates
- An offer for participants to submit their posters for individual design reviews, with detailed feedback from our team
Impact
Each year, the SEB workshop helps 40–70 researchers boost their confidence and sharpen their professional communication skills. Several participants have gone on to win poster awards, while others have returned to future sessions to refresh skills. The success of this workshop has led to ongoing collaboration with SEB to create resources like blog posts as well as other training initiatives.
I’ve been to several conferences but never felt confident designing a poster. This gave me a clear structure — and feedback I could use immediately.
Titles! I wish I’d done this session before I submitted my abstract.
I supervise a group of students and joined out of curiosity. I left with new ideas and was reassured to see that what I teach aligns well with best practice — with some fresh tips to add!
The session helped me think about how to promote my poster more actively — not just design it.
Curious? Want to know more?
Interested in learning more about our communication workshops, training and coaching for scientists and researchers? Take a look around, or get in touch – we’d love to help.
We believe that research matters. We also believe that good research deserves to be shared. What about you?
Curious about how our communication workshops, training programmes and coaching can help you, your research group or your institution get better about talking about your research with expert and non-expert audiences alike? Book a 30-minute call, or drop us a line.
