Poster Presentations: Planning the Content
Professor Brian Ford-LloydUniversity Graduate School
What is a poster for?
Some posters give you a lot of information
Some posters give you some information, but maybe only to those who are already in the know
Other posters have a big take-home message
While others don’t seem to tell you anything – maybe just purely decorative?
Outline
In this session we will cover: PowerPoint as a medium for poster
presentations Content of your poster Presentation of your poster How poster sessions operate Designing the outline of your poster
Some (of many) useful web sites
http://colinpurrington.com/tips/academic/posterdesign
http://www.cns.cornell.edu/documents/ScientificPosters.pdf
http://people.eku.edu/ritchisong/posterpres.html
http://www.makesigns.com/tutorials/poster-design-layout.aspx
Poster design in PowerPoint
Posters are designed as a single slide Go into File- Page Setup Set size as 594mm x 841mm (A1) or 841mm x
1189mm (A0) Consider the orientation Consider the layout, design and colour scheme You might use a picture relevant to your work as a
background
Poster design in PowerPoint
Text can be typed directly in or cut and paste from existing documents
Import charts/tables/diagrams Print the poster out at A4: the text should still
be readable at this size– Some possible font sizes?
Powerpoint
Single slide - go into slide setup and set size and orientation
Think about overall design Colour scheme Background - can use images relevant to
work
Text can be developed in MS Word and then pasted into the poster as a text box
Figures and Tables can be done in the same way
Font size should allow printed version as A4 sheet to still be readable
Colour?
http://www.vischeck.com/vischeck/vischeckImage.php
When choosing colours for your poster, using 2-3 colours will give the best look. Too many colours make it look chaotic and unprofessional, but having no colour makes it boring and plain. But what about colour vision impairment – try Vischeck?
Title: 80 ptAuthors: 54 ptSubheadings: 36 ptBody text: 24 ptCaptions: 18pt
Font size?
Poster design
Eye-catching - good use of colour Easy to read at a distance of 1 to 2 m Minimise text, maximise meaningful graphics Use logical/clear sequence
Poster content - General
Focused topic - decide on the take home message (conclusions)
Design the poster round the take home message Choose data that are needed to make the desired points
conclusively Decide which methods are key to understanding the data Select the background information that is essential to:
– Understand the system– Understand the question that is being asked
Poster content Above all else, know your audience Don’t baffle your audience thinking you are
showing how clever you are Is your audience
– The general public?– Intelligent academics from across the
University?– Specialists who work specifically in your
area? Being able to tell the general public about your
research and therefore why you are doing it is important to achieve impact
Poster Content - Introduction and References
Use bullet points Separate each bullet
point with space Cut down factual
content to minimum Illustrate the subject
with a picture if possible Provide key references
Poster content - Methods
Methods should be presented in cartoon version rather than text if possible
Poster content - Results
Decide how the data can be presented most clearly - with greatest visual clarity
tables, figures, photographs Aim for the Table or Figure to be understandable with
a minimum of explanation - annotate a picture or graph with simple labels - do not overload a figure legend.
Avoid duplication between graphics and text Organise results by subheadings or subsections
related to a question or conclusion
Presenting your poster in the conference session Look friendly Have your photo on your poster Introduce yourself to anyone who
looks interested Be prepared with additional
information and answers to background information
Provide A4 sheet copy of your poster
Questions?Then two activities:- Sketch out your own poster- Judge other posters
Brainstorm about your poster
Take home message Data/facts/interpretation to support take home
message Method(s) to generate data/facts Background information/introduction Title Images Make a cartoon version of your poster
Share your ideas
Is the message clear? Do you understand the technical terms? Can you see why the work was done? Does the idea interest you? Does the conclusion seem to represent
progress? Do the proposed graphics help?
Are you planning to enter the next GS Annual Poster Conference? Do you want to win prizes and go on to
national poster conference events? Check out what you think is good and bad
about previous posters
Examples of Posters
Look at some posters from previous Graduate School Poster Conferences http://www.flickr.com/photos/70731382@N
04/sets/72157628148020865/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/70731382@N04/sets/72157630343425552/
Judge posters from a previous GS annual poster conference Judge on content
– Best and worst Judge on presentation
– Best and worst
Judging criteria used at last UGS Poster Conference This is an example of a judging criteria Look at the different aspects of the grid Style/content/presenter