Presenter Guide
Jump to relevant sections here:
- Presenter Expections and Resonsibilties
- Tips for Planning Your Program
- Tips for Promoting Your Program
- Preparing for Your Event
- Additional Resources
Presenter Expectations and Responsibilities
We are excited to have you on our team of presenters and want to help you make the most out of your Science Festival experience. We have a few expectations and requirements for festival presenters:
- Programs and events must be free to public and school audiences
- We ask that presenters help promote both their programs and the festival as a whole on social media and in your communities
- We also ask that presenters read through the festival Presenter Guide and the festival's Emergency Action Plan
Lastly, we ask that you use the Science Festival logo on any posters, flyers, and social media posts that you create. Please also include the statement "This is a collaboration with the MSU Science Festival" or "This is an official MSU Science Festival event". Promotional graphics can be found below under Tips for Promoting Your Program.
Tips for Planning Your Program
Define Your Goals
Before designing your educational program, think about what it is you want to accomplish during your presentation. There are many reasons toget involved in science communication and outreach. Consider the following:
- Increasing awareness about a particular topic or cause
- Encouraging the use of scientific evidence in decision-making
- Developing positive public perceptions of scientists and STEAM experts
- Motivating behavior change
- Influencing public policy
Define Your Audience
While the Science Festival aims to offer programming for everyone, designing your program for a specific audience will set you up for success in delivering meaningful and memorable programs.Consider the following:
- Age group
- Educational background
- Experience and interest level in science/your topic
- Cultural background
- Occupation
- Hobbies
Develop a Strategy
With your goals and audience research in hand, you can begin to develop a programmatic strategy. First, determine how you want to deliver your program. What type of program format will best support your goals and appeal to your audience? Learn more about public and school program formats below:
Additional considerations for developing your strategic approach:
- Style and tone: is your presentation light and humorous or serious? Defining the style and tone of your presentation can help inform your decisions around your venue choice and appropriate program elements
- Program elements and activities: decide how you will keep attendees engaged throughout your program and how you will motivate their involvement
- Key messages: leave a lasting impression on your attendees by offering 1-3 key takeaway messages
- Call-to-actions: call your audience to action by inviting them to learn more about your topic, adopt a new behavior, or advocate for a certain cause
- Additional post-program resources: keep your audience engaged after your presentation by sharing additional resources or recommending future workshops, programs, and events
Visit our Additional Resources section below for more science communication tips!
A note about using video in presentations: Please download any video material directly to your computer that you will be embedding on your presentation deck. Using YouTube or other media sites can cause lag, technical issues, and there may be inappropriate advertisements or other unwanted content. All presentation content must be family-friendly.
Tips for Promoting Your Program
As a Festival partner, we ask that you actively promote both the Festival and your individual event on social media and in your communities. Below are Festival logos and graphics you can use to create promotional materials, as well as suggestions on how to promote your event and spread the word.
2026 Promotional Graphics
- Social Media graphics
- Collage design pieces (found in our 2026 designs)
- "I'm presenting at the 2026 MSU Science Festival" customizable Canva templates (please make a copy before editing)
Festival Logo Package
Social Media
Follow our accounts below and share information about your programs on your organization's pages. You can use our logos and graphic templates above to create unique graphics and build excitement around your program! More templates and graphics coming soon.
Hashtag to use: #MSUSciFest
Facebook Events
We encourage presenters to create a Facebook event for their events, especially if you are hosting a Tour, Open House, NATM, SWAN, After Dark, or another signature event. If you are participating in our STEAM Expo Weekend events, please share our existing Facebook event (coming soon) on your pages and invite people in your networks.
For a comprehensive overview of how to set up and manage Facebook events, click here.
Press Releases
Build your own new release for your event and send it to your local news organizations two weeks before your event. Check media calendar deadlines for possibly longer lead times. Follow up to ensure the release was received and to answer any questions.
Community Calendars & Newsletters
There are plenty of free online community calendars across the state. Be sure to post in these ahead of time to help promote your event.
Use Your Networks!
Be sure to share information about your events and the festival with your friends, family, colleagues, students, and listservs.
Preparing for Your Event
In the weeks leading up to your event, the festival team will be hard at work finalizing event logistics and promoting your events. One or two months before your event is a great time to start preparing for your event and join us in spreading the word.
Review your Event Details
The full schedule of Science Festival events is published annualy in early February at sciencefestival.msu.edu/event/schedule. You can explore the schedule based on featured event series, recommended age groups, scientific discipline, by the date, and by searching using presnter names or other key words. Please be sure to double check your date, time, location, and event details. Please let our team know as soon as possible if you need to make any changes.
Prepare your Presentation Materials
Please take time to prepare for your event by reviewing, refining, and practicing your session with friends or colleagues. Visit our Additional Resources section below for helpful science communication tips!
A note about STEAM Expo Weekend: If you're hosting hands-on activities during Expo Weekend, you may be wondering how many attendees you might engage with and how many supplies to purchase. In 2025, the Expo weekend saw around 5,000 on Saturday and around 3,000 on Sunday. This year, we are estimating around 5,000 visitors per day. Of course not all visitors will make it to your booth, but we hope these numbers will help you plan. Another way to estimate material needs is to think about how many attendees your booth is able to accommodate per hour by taking into consideration the number of staff and volunteers at your booth and an estimated average length of engagement with each visitor.
If you run out of materials, please do not tear down your booth early. Not only is this is incredibly distracting to both your fellow presenters and visitors, you lose out on the opportunity to meet curious minds seeking out your booth. We suggest keeping a stash of materials so you can demonstrate the activity yourself. Even if visitors can't leave with something in their hands, they will have the opportunity to learn from you and potentially take home new ideas for future at-home activities. You could also consider creating print outs with material lists and directions for your activity. Should you need extra copies of printouts during Expo, please let our team know and we can make a print run for you.
A note about using video in presentations: Please download any video material directly to your computer that you will be embedding on your presentation deck. Using YouTube or other media sites can cause lag, technical issues, and there may be inappropriate advertisements or other unwanted content. All presentation content must be family-friendly.
STEAM Expo Weekend Information
STEAM Expo Weekend dates are yet to be announced, but we hope to finalize details soon. Please check back in the fall for additional information.
Festival Evaluation
The festival uses a digital survey through qualrics. QR codes will be posted at all Science Festival events and volunteers will be around at select festival events to help visitors complete surveys. A survey link will be added in March if you would like to help encourage your event attendees to complete this survey as well.
Additional Resources
Science Communication Resources
- AAAS Communication Toolkit
- MSU Libraries Science Communication Guide
- MSU University Communications Presentation Strategies and Tips
- TED Science Speaking Tips
- TED Better Slides for Presentations
- TED Science Told Through Stories
- Public Communication Tips
Design Resources
Graphic Tools
- Canva
- Inkscape: Draw Freely
- Glimpse: A Free Cross-Platform Photo Editor
- How to Create Twitter Poster
Royalty-Free Images
- Pexels
- Pixabay
- PhyloPic — Free Silhouette Images of Life Forms
- SciDraw | Scientific Drawings
- Noun Project: Free Icons & Stock Photos for Everything
Creating visuals
- Chemix - Draw Lab Diagrams
- BioRender
- Lucidchart: Online Diagram Software & Visual Solution
- Create Infographics, Presentations & Flyers
- AutoDraw
Considering color
- Colorgorical: creating discriminable and preferable color palettes for information visualization
- Coblis — Color Blindness Simulator
- iWantHue