Poster Design and Delivery Training for Scientists & Researchers
From cluttered to clear: research posters that communicate and connect
Our longer-format poster design and delivery training helps scientists and researchers create visually engaging, clearly structured posters tailored to their intended audience. Using a blend of visual communication principles, strategic planning, and hands-on exercises, scientists and researchers learn to communicate complex information in a format that’s both effective and memorable.
Whether your participants are preparing for their first conference or looking to refresh their approach to poster design, our training formats offer practical tools, expert guidance, and a supportive environment to develop posters they can be proud to present.
Each format is tailored using insights from our initial discovery call and/or pre-training survey, with examples and language adapted to your group’s discipline, experience level, and communication goals.
Poster skills training: 1-2 day poster design, development and delivery workshop for scientists and researchers
→ Most popular format
Day 1 – Foundations and Planning:
This 1-day workshop covers the complete poster design process. Participants leave with a “sketch” of their poster (on paper), which they can revise, polish and digitalise after the session.
- Why posters and how they work as communication tools
- Visual communication fundamentals
- Poster planning and structure
- Content development: titles, key messages, data presentation
- Learning through critique of real poster examples
- Hands-on planning: sketching first drafts
- Peer feedback and refinement
- Delivery essentials: using posters as conversation starters
Day 2 – Digital Development and Polish (optional):
Add a second day if your group is preparing real posters for submission and wants to complete polished, presentation-ready posters during the training. Day 2 builds on Day 1 with:
- Digital poster development in PowerPoint or preferred software
- Software guidance and troubleshooting
- Individual poster critique with detailed feedback
- Structured peer review sessions
- Delivery coaching: presentation skills for poster sessions
- Promotion strategies for attracting attention
- Refinement time: transforming drafts into polished, presentation-ready posters
The two-day session is perfect for researchers and scientists preparing actual posters for upcoming conferences, with time to invest in creating polished, presentation-ready work. Excellent for building visual communication skills and creating a collaborative feedback culture.
Delivery:
- 1-day: One full day (6-7 hours) or two 3.5-hour sessions (online)
- 2-day: Two consecutive days (in-person) or 4 half-day sessions (online)
Tailor this training to your needs
Every group has different poster design needs and preparation timelines. We can adapt this training to fit your context:
Half-day introduction?
A focused introduction to poster design essentials covering core visual principles, planning basics, and analysis of effective examples. Great for beginners or short programmes.
Need critique and feedback on existing posters?
We offer a Poster Critique Lab (2.5 hours, depending on participant numbers): a live feedback session where participants present draft or finished posters for expert and peer review.
Want delivery practice?
We offer Poster Pitch Practice (2.5 hours, depending on participant numbers): practice delivering poster pitches and answering questions with live coaching. Great for pre-conference preparation.
Just need foundations?
Our 2-hour skills sessions on Visual Design Principles and Effective Research Poster Design skills sessions introduce poster essentials. See our other short format options →
Delivery options
In-person (recommended):
Across Europe (if we can get there by public transport, we’re happy to travel!) We can also combine 1-2 half-day sessions online with an in-person practice and delivery day.
Online:
Via Zoom, or your preferred platform. We run these workshops for institutions worldwide
Included in all formats:
- Pre-training discovery call and/or survey to understand your group’s needs and context
- Tailored examples relevant to the discipline(s) of participants where possible
- Hands-on practice with peer and facilitator feedback
- Post-session resources and frameworks
- Support for organisers in planning and participant communication
Perfect for:
- PhD students and postdocs preparing for conferences
- Master’s and bachelor’s students developing first conference posters
- Early-career researchers wanting to refresh or up-skill poster design skills
- Fellowship grantees preparing for fellowship poster sessions and presentations
- Interdisciplinary summer/winter schools
- Groups unfamiliar with scientific poster design conventions
- Research communication or transferable skills programmes
Short-format alternatives to long-format training
If your group needs immersive learning, with lots of time for application, practice, refinement, peer-sharing, and learning-by-doing, our long-format training is best.
But: in the real world, researchers and students need to balance limited time with skill development needs. That’s why we offer focused 2-hour skills sessions, too.
2-hour Skills Sessions
→ Single focus for large groups
Our short SciComm Skills Sessions are designed to introduce one specific skill in a short timeframe, online, for groups of up to 100 participants.
Build poster design skills with:
- Visual Design Principles for Researchers
(foundational design principles applicable across all visual formats) - Effective Research Poster Design
(2-hour essentials on poster structure, layout, and visual clarity) - Using Voice and Body Language Effectively
(confident delivery skills for poster sessions and Q&A) - Storytelling and Narrative Foundations
(narrative frameworks to structure poster content)
Even Less Time?
→ For events that don’t require training but benefit from expert input
We’re always open to contributing to sessions that need short, sharp input, without the interactive training element.
We draw on 20+ years of international communication experience, and nearly 14 years of working with scientists and researchers across a wide range of disciplines.
Get in touch to chat about whatever is on your mind and we’ll do our best to help.
Explore all training topics
Not sure which format or topic you need? Browse our complete catalogue of communication training, organised by category.
Looking for something different?
We’re always happy to tailor programmes to your context, or create custom-designed learning experiences to address specific needs.
Ready to plan poster design and delivery training?
If you want to offer practical poster design training to your scientists, research group, or students, we’d love to help.
Tell us a bit about what you need (purpose, number of participants, when, where, and anything else that might be useful), and we’ll respond with ideas and costs.
Alternatively, book a call, and we can talk through your ideas together.
