From traditional science posters to social media slides with the AIDA framework.
Carousel and slide posts, many people love them, we science communicators should adore them. These posts are essentially a modern day slideshow and are especially useful for presenting complex scientific topics in a format that is easy to digest and visually engaging. With this blog let’s explore how to create these ‘carousels’, and how you can turn those traditional science posters into actual engaging social media posts using the AIDA method.
Why work with Carousels / Slides?
Carousel posts have been around for a while, but are still loved by many creators for holding the viewer’s attention over multiple frames, which ultimately means deeper engagement for your post. They offer several key advantages:
Sustained Engagement: Instead of a single frame, you encourage your followers and viewers to interact with the additional content by swiping through these slides. This increases the time spent on each post, which is good for the algorithm, but it also allows your viewers to engage longer with your work.
You can include different media: Carousels are very practical, in that they can include various types of media, such as text, images, video clips, and infographics. You’re not bound by just one slide and you can play around with different kinds of media in a sequence of frames.
You can go deep: They allow for complex ideas to be segmented into more manageable parts. This is great to break down scientific concepts into understandable bites for a lay audience. But, more about this below.
Poster presentations, reimagined
There are times and places for traditional poster sessions, but social media isn’t one of them. That doesn’t mean however, that you can’t translate the content of these posters into a more modern look and feel. So, how?
Create a condensed, engaging version of your poster for sharing on platforms like Linked In, Instagram, TikTok (yes they have slideshows now too!), and Twitter/X or Threads.
To start of, you can do this you can use this first template for Instagram carousels below. For example:
Depending on the platform, you might need to adapt the ratio for each of these slides. Here’s what I recommend:
Instagram: 4-10 slides in a 1x1 (1080 X 1080px) or 4x5 format (1350px X 1080px)
LinkedIn: 4-10 slides in a 1x1 (1080 X 1080px) format
Twitter/X/Threads: 4-6 slides in 16x9 (1080px X 1920px) format
Applying the AIDA Method to Scientific Slides
If you want to go one step further, you can start to incorporate the The AIDA model or framework in your slide sequence. This framework makes your separate frames more structured and guides you viewer through the sequence to maximize engagement and impact.
Attention
Why should I (the viewer) care?
The first slide must capture attention immediately. Psychologically, people are wired to notice what stands out or what breaks the pattern of their everyday sensory inputs. A striking visual or a startling statistic that challenges preconceived notions can act as a strong hook. For example:
An intriguing question or statement that challenges common knowledge.
A striking image or graph that highlights an unusual or unexpected aspect of the research.
Interest
Give me more!
Once attention is grabbed, the following slides need to maintain interest. This involves providing new and relevant information that adds depth to the initial hook. We are naturally curious beings, particularly if topics can be linked to our lives or experiences. Detailed explanations, data visualizations, or interesting facts related to the initial statistic or image help keep the audience engaged. You can also split this up into multiple frames to build up interest.
Bullet points summarizing the research findings.
Short explanations describing the methodology or implications.
Desire
I need details
The desire phase involves making the information personally relevant or creating an emotional connection. We are more likely to be invested in information if they perceive it as directly impacting them or if it evokes an emotional response. This can be achieved by demonstrating how the scientific findings affect the viewer’s environment, health, or community.
Demonstrating the relevance of the research to global or local issues.
Highlighting the impact of these findings on future policies or everyday life.
Action
What do I do now?
Finally, the action step should clearly tell the audience what they can do with the information presented. This leverages the psychological principle of consistency, where if people commit mentally to an idea or goal, they are more likely to take congruent action.
The call to action should be simple and direct, such as encouraging your viewers to read more detailed studies, engage in the comment section, or share the information to raise awareness. By providing a clear, easy-to-follow action step, you use the momentum of engagement and guide the audience towards a meaningful response.
Inviting them to read the full research paper or a summary you made for a lay audience for a more in-depth understanding.
Suggesting ways to contribute to your cause, like participating in community initiatives or changing personal habits.
Let’s see what that would look like for a 7-slide carousel:
Now you!
From here it’s up to you to start experimenting with slides and carousels. Like all skills in science communication, you’ll get better at finding the story within each post and apply the AIDA method to each paper you come across.
If you want to practice here are a few ideas:
Start with just transforming your old posters into new slides using the first model we discussed.
Pick a paper (you wrote or find interesting) and write an outline and summary based on the AIDA model
Once you have that outline, note down how many slides you want to create and try to fit the content over these different frames
Use Powerpoint, Keynote or an app like Canva or Adobe Express to create a visually interesting template frame. From there add the text and visuals where needed.
CAUTION: The best slides are easy to read. If you can’t immediately get the key point from looking at it, split the content over more frames.Post those slides and get some more reps in!
Further reading:
This video is a great resource for more in depth insights to how the AIDA model works. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-7kpMQsRCA&t=1s&ab_channel=TheFutur
What’s next:
Community driven knowledge
We’re testing the workbook with a handful of driven scientists at the moment. Please join the waitlist if you want to be notified when we launch.
