1

Using posters to communicate research

Aim and objectives of this course

Aim:

To help you to prepare and deliver an effective poster

Objectives

By the end of the course you will have:

discussed the needs and wants of your audience

appraised possible formats and structures for posters

thought about how to present your research effectively on posters

considered the effective use of colour, size, fonts etc

•Introduction

•Group discussion 1: advantages and disadvantages of posters

•Group feedback

•Group discussion 2: 3 x “whats“

•Group feedback

•Text, typefaces and colours

• Refreshment break

•Features of effective posters

•Group feedback

Structure of this session Group discussion 1

Why make a poster rather than give an oral presentation?

Capture advantages and disadvantages – 15 mins group discussion.

Select one person in your team to capture key points.

Decide who will present on behalf of your group.

2

Group discussion 2

What …

• do you need to know before you make a poster?

• makes a poster attractive?

• do you put in a poster?

15 mins group discussion.

Select one person in your team to capture

key points.

Decide who will present on behalf of your group.

The Poster Title

Option 1

"Mechanism of airway constriction and secretion evoked by laryngeal administration of SO2 "

Option 2

"Evidence that reflex effects of SO2 are mediated by afferent endings in the upper airway"

Option 3

"Are reflex effects of SO2 mediated by afferent endings in the upper airway?

Text

Text should be simple and direct, for example

For a written paper:

"Within the UK setting, there has been a marked increase…."

For a poster:

"There has been a marked increase…."

This could be cut further to bring the key work to the start of the sentence:

"A marked increase…"

N N Serif typeface Sans-serif typeface

- best for screen

Century Schoolbook

Garamond

Palatino

Times New Roman

Arial

Verdana

Tahoma

Trebuchet

Serif typeface

- best for paper

Serif

Typefaces - Serif & Sans Serif

3

48 point

A

C E

Q W E

R T Y U

I O P A S

D F G H J

L Z X C V B

N M Q W E R

T Y U I O P

36 point

16 point

24 point

18 point

14 point

12 point

10 point

60 point

Minimum

Type size

• Use only one typeface in a poster

• Mixing typefaces just... • ...creates a mess • Make sure the host computer has your typefaces, or that PowerPoint embeds them

Typefaces - Limiting Usage

Same hue, high contrast Acceptable

Same hue, high contrast Acceptable

White on dark colour Acceptable

Black on light colour Usually the best option

Colour

Different hue, low contrast Hard to read, makes your eyes go funny

Different hue, High contrast Legible, but garish?

Same hue, low contrast Hard to read

Same hue, low contrast Hard to read

Colour

4

Different hue, low contrast Hard to read, makes your eyes go funny

Different hue, High contrast Legible, but garish?

Same hue, low contrast Hard to read

Same hue, low contrast Hard to read

Previous slide as seen by person with deuteranopic colour blindness

You can check your own slides at www.vischeck.com

Colour Blindness

Ideally, maximum 5 colours per page (photographs excepted)

Too many colours

Graphics

Examples of a typical poster session Example of a poster session at a large conference

5

Features of effective posters

Look at the available posters

Use post-it notes to comment on the strengths and weaknesses of the posters – 10 mins

In your group, discuss which posters were most effective and why. Then identify your group’s favourite poster – 10 mins

Decide who will present on behalf of your group.

• Remember your poster is a sales pitch

• Keep your writing style fairly simple

• Minimise jargon

• Don’t have too much text

• Have eye-catching graphics to draw people in

• Make sure the text can be read from at least a metre away

• Have A4 copies of your poster available for people to take away – this might be a longer, more text-based version

• Consider the use of gimmicks to attract people e.g. an open tin of free chocolates or free pens or balloons?

A final few points

Effective Scientific PostersQuick ReferenceGeorge R. Hess

An effective poster will help you …

… engage colleaguesin conversation.

… get your main pointsacross to as manypeople as possible.

A poster is a visual communication tool.

Posters serve as …» a source of information» a conversation starter» a summary of your work» an advertisement of your work

Resources for Poster Presenters

George Hess / NC State University / Forestry Department / Raleigh NC 27695-8002www4.ncsu.edu/~grhess george_hess@ncsu.edu © 2004

Block, S.M. 1996. Do's and dont's of poster presentations. Biophysical Journal 71:3527-3529.

Briscoe, M.H. 1996. Preparing Scientific Illustrations: A Guide to Better Posters,Presentations, and Publications. Springer, New York.

Davis, M. 1997. Scientific Papers and Presentations. Academic Press, New York.

Gosling, Peter J. 1999. Scientist's Guide to Poster Presentations. Kluwer AcademicPress, New York.

Harms, M.l. 1995. How to prepare a poster presentation. Physiotheraphy 81: 276.

Nicol, A.A.M. and P. M. Pexman. 2003. Displaying your findings: a practical guidefor creating figures, posters, and presentations. American PsychologicalAssociation, Washington, DC.

Teixeira, A. 1997. Preparing posters for technical presentations. Resource 4: 15-16.

Tosney, K. 2004. How to create a poster that graphically communicates yourmessage.URL=http://www.biology.lsa.umich.edu/research/labs/ktosney/file/PostersHome.html , visited 2004 Feb 4.

Tufte, E. 1983. The Visual Display of Quantitative Information. Graphics Press,Cheshire, CT.

Tufte, E. 1997. Visual Explanations: Images and Quantities, Evidence andNarrative. Graphics Press, Cheshire, CT.

Woolsey, J.D. 1989. Combating poster fatigue: How to use visual grammar andanalysis to effect better visual communication. Trends in Neurosciences 12: 325-332.

Hess, G. & L. Liegel. 2004. Creating Effective Poster Presentations.URL=http://www.ncsu.edu/project/posters, visited 2004 Feb 4.

Population Sizes Through Time

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

Days

Po

pu

lati

on

Siz

e

PredatorsPrey

Clean graphs show data clearly!Desired message: Prey decreased aspredators increased.

Focus on relationships – exact valuesare usually not important.

Eliminate “chart junk” to keep focuson data (Tufte 1983). Grid lines,detailed ticks on axes, data markers,and grey background are not needed.

Label data directly, when possible.Legends force reader to look backand forth to decode graph.

Message is now loud and clear!

Population Sizes Through Time

0

250

500

0 10 20

Days

Po

pu

lati

on

Siz

e PredatorsPrey

Tips for Effective Poster PresentationsGet your message across with effective visual displays of data andsmall blocks of supporting text. Think of your poster as an illustratedabstract.

Tell readers why your work matters, what you did, what you found,and what you recommend. Avoid excessive focus on methods – it’sthe results and implications that count!

Overall appearance. Use a pleasing arrangement of graphics, text,colors. Your poster should be neat and uncluttered – use white spaceto help organize sections. Balance the placement of text and figures.

Organization. Use headings to help readers find what they’re lookingfor: objective, results, conclusions, etc. A columnar format helpstraffic flow in a crowded poster session.

Minimize text – use graphics. Keep text in blocks of no more than50-75 words – don’t create large, monolithic paragraphs of prose.

Text size. All text should be large enough to read from 1-2 meters,including the text in figures. Title should be larger, to attract attentionfrom far away.

Use color cautiously. Dark letters on light background are easiest toread. Stick to a theme of 2-3 colors. Avoid overly bright colors –they attract attention but wear out reader’s eyes.

Don’t fight reader gravity, which pulls the eyes from top to bottom(first), and left to right.

Include full contact information. You want to be found – the readershould not have to look up anything to find you.

Prepare a 3-5 minute verbal explanation. Some people will ask youto “walk me through your poster.” In making such a presentation,don't read the poster. Instead, give the big picture, explain why theproblem is important, and use the graphics on your poster to illustrateand support your findings and recommendations.

Prepare a summary handout. You want people to remember yourwork – a handout provides a written record for readers. You caninclude a miniature version of your poster plus more detailedgraphics, tables, and prose. The handout is something else you canrefer to when talking to people about your work. Be sure to includecomplete contact information.

Outline of material for poster presentation course

Posters commonly used in science and engineering, but becoming more common in other disciplines

Audience People in your field

People in your general area People outside your general area

To cater for all needs in audience, provide context, use plain language, interpret your findings

Title Brief, informative, interesting (enticing/provocative)

Plan with rough sketch, create pathway for the eye

Layout One possibility: Introduction, experimental details, results and discussion,

conclusion, references and acknowledgements

Introduction: context, why important? Experimental details: not necessary to include enough detail for someone to replicate

Results and discussion: clear story, importance of figures Conclusion: brief

References and acknowledgements: may wish to cite authors who are likely to be at the conference NO NEED TO INCLUDE ABSTRACT – it is printed in the conference

proceedings anyway

Text Simple, direct, LARGE, short sentences

Font 32 – 36 for headings, 22-24 (or larger) for body text

Size depends on importance Tip: If you print your poster on A4, everything should be comfortably readable including captions of figures

San Serif fonts (Arial, Verdana, Trebuchet, Century Gothic etc.) easier to read. Comic Sans often appreciated by people with dyslexia, but others

may consider it too childish or informal Figures/Graphics

Make good graphics central in poster. Large, simple figures

Colour Choose theme of 2 or 3 colours and stick to it

At poster presentation Hang poster neatly, be there on time, have handouts/business cards,

have pen and pad for comments

Examples of posters Link Comment / Source http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/graduateschool/events/researchshowcase/winners2011.aspx

http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/graduateschool/events/researchshowcase/winners2010.aspx

Examples of posters – Winners of The

University of Nottingham Graduate School’s

Research Showcase

2011

2010 http://www.eposters.net/ Examples of posters - for scientific posters http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/fuelcells/reports1/poster%20presentations/

Examples of posters - Imperial College

London http://holmes.cancres.nottingham.ac.uk/posters Examples of posters from the UoN School

of Pharmacy

How to Guides Link Comment / Source http://www.vitae.ac.uk/researchers/1638/Posters.html

Vitae

How to or Guide - Postgraduate researchers

> Raising your profile > Presenting your

research >Posters http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/careers/pgrd/resources/designing-poster/poster

University of Leicester

How to or Guide - Poster presentations,

Study guide http://www.ncsu.edu/project/posters North Carolina State University

How to or Guide http://www.asp.org/education/howto_onPosters.html American Society of Primatologists

How to or Guide - Block, S.M. (2996)

Teaching Biophysics: Do’s and Don’ts of

Poster Presentation. Biophysical

Journal71:3527-352