This research was supported by the OMAF and MRA-U of G Partnership

What you need to know

A good academic poster is like a store display – it must have the imagery and composition to get people’s attention. Academic posters

allow students to not only share their research but allows them to network and to develop skills they will need in their future.

What this research is about

Academic posters are an established element

of conferences and are often under-

acknowledged; however they provide a great

opportunity for students to both share their

work and network. Some university classes

are moving away from essays towards

posters as it makes students be concise yet

creative

It is important to remember that academic

posters are a lot like a window shopping

experience; it needs to look appealing to

encourage people to view the content.

What we have found

Posters are a unique because they use text,

graphics, colour, speech and gesture to convey

meaning all on a single view plane.

Developing a poster that is both informative and

engaging is a fine art. The presenter must act as a

writer, editor, designer and artist, carefully crafting

their work (or else, hours of preparation may be

easily ruined) to achieve optimal results.

The process of developing and presenting a poster

strengthens and nurtures communication skills.

They allow space for narratives and stories, where

the presenter can inform and engage with their

audiences.

To know more Sara Fisher

(519) 826 3802

sfishe01@uoguelph.ca

Academic posters are like a store display

Sara Fisher and Dr. Bronwynne Wilton

Office of Research, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada, N1G 2W1

What we have done

To facilitate student skill development and networking

Agri-Food and Rural Link has developed a plain language

poster template (you're reading one right now) which

encourages students to tell the story of their research –

with emphasis on “who cares” and “so what”.

We also provide training sessions to the students before

they participate in one of our poster competitions which

are held in conjunction with knowledge translation and

transfer events. At the competition students give a

1-minute poster pitch to highlight their story and

encourage people to visit them at their poster.

Reference: MacIntosh-Murray (2007). Poster Presentations as a Genre in Knowledge Communication. Science Communication 28:3 pp 347-376

“Visual appeal gets people in the door - the content gets them to stay.”