Poster presentation. Caroline Hargreaves Elena Forasacco.

Transcription

1 Poster presentation Caroline Hargreaves Elena Forasacco Graduate School Imperial College London

2 Contents... 1 Poster Presentations... 3 PLANNING... 4 What is a poster presentation?... 4 Why?... 4 How?... 4 Abstract... 4 Define your audience... 5 Refine your message... 5 Requirements... 5 Organise your information... 5 DESIGN TO ATTRACT... 7 Colour... 7 Space... 7 Text... 8 Graphics... 8 POSTER CONSTRUCTION... 9 YOU AND YOUR POSTER ASSESS YOUR POSTER Appeal Message Visuals Acknowledgements Bibliography Graduate School Imperial College London

3 POSTER PRESENTATIONS This online help sheet is intended as back up to the workshops provided by the Graduate School. It does not replace the detailed and practical information given in these workshops, by tutors or supervisors. It is general guidance and readers should note that exceptions to the rules can be effective; it is strongly recommended that you look at posters designed by staff and students in your Department/Division. Instructions from the organisers vary in terms of the size / orientation of poster you are required to produce. There may also be some specific Departmental / Divisional / Centre requirements. To find out more see your student handbook, consult your Director of Postgraduate Studies (DPS), postgraduate tutor, or postgraduate administrator. If you have difficulty locating these please contact graduate.school@imperial.ac.uk This help sheet provides some general guidance, but exceptions to the rules can be very effective. It is strongly recommended that you look at posters designed by staff and students in your Department/Division. Graduate School Imperial College London

4 PLANNING What is a poster presentation? Posters are a way of communicating your information. They are best used as an aid to a discussion and should represent the essence of your topic. A poster presentation is an opportunity to: º Present your research to people at a conference/public display º Stand by the poster, discuss your work, answer questions and get feedback º Present selected results and information º Highlight conclusions, relevance and importance of your work º Perhaps win a prize! Why? º To inform, engage people and attract interest in your work º To advertise your department, university, research group and yourself º To make new contacts for collaboration º To pay for a trip to a conference º To add to your CV º To hunt for a job How? There are many things to consider when preparing your poster including: º Audience (generalist / specialist), target the information to be accessible º Poster format specific to a conference º Submit an abstract ahead of your research Abstract º Follow guidelines and deadlines (often 9 months ahead of meeting) º Find out who the reviewers and viewers will be º Clear and concise º Sometimes pre-divided into sections: title, aims, conclusions and relevance º Data? (aim to include only confirmed findings but preliminary findings can also be included with caution) º Take home message - implications º Make it look as if the work has been done º People will read the abstract book to decide which posters to see Graduate School Imperial College London

5 Define your audience To communicate effectively you need to know your audience. There is fierce competition for attention; you have ~3 seconds to attract, ~30 seconds to secure attention by conveying an overall understanding of your message. Consider this before the design, when writing the abstract and the title which should be succinct, indicating outcomes rather than describing what you did eg. "Arginine 234 and Histidine 325 have key roles in the ligand binding to the human Cannabinoid 2 receptor" rather than "Functional studies of human Cannabinoid 2 receptor mutants." Consider what would make you stop and look at a poster: a clear and well presented poster, other people standing by the poster, nice images, good science...? Consider what would make you walk past! Questions in the mind of the viewer: What is this about? Why is it important? Does it impact on me/my work? Can I be bothered to read it? Can I be bothered to talk to the presenter? Consider whom you want to attract, do you want a specialised section of the attendees? If they read it, they ll give it ~5 minutes! They will interact with you so bear in mind: the viewers behaviour, motivations, distractions. Your behaviour and body language can affect this. Refine your message There is limited time so decide on the main point to be communicated. Select a statement, photograph or diagram that will attract audience attention; this is your focal point and should add to/clarify your key message. Your audience will not approach you if your topic or theme is not clear from ~ 2-3 metres. Requirements Find out venue requirements (e.g. size and shape of poster, space provided, regulations re font and graphics). Gain an understanding of the location layout, lighting, mounting method, facilities. Organise your information Decide on your purpose and message, and form an outline. Consider your content and level of detail: if the reading time is ~5 minutes, Word count 5 x 200 = 1000 ( with figures)! Decide whether your writing style will be Informal or professional. Your title should encapsulate your main message and headline the results or conclusions. It should be as short as possible (use a subtitle if necessary), as it will be what people look at first - after the pictures. Are the sections clearly delineated with the figures part of the story? Consider your use of white space, be guided by Departmental/Divisional/Venue requirements and consider Imperial College London templates Graduate School Imperial College London

6 ( nposters ). Form an outline and put information into main sections. The below is only an example (you can use different headings): Title: short, snappy name of poster, contributors, organisation, contact info Aim and/or Problem: clear and concise statement, aim/problem/objectives Introduction: statement giving quick overview of poster (bullet points may be useful) Method: if critical part of the message, a brief description of processes and procedures, consider flowchart representation? Results: outcomes, findings, data (may be best as simple figures, with key points highlighted) Conclusion: summary, significance of results, a few memorable points (do not discuss, save that for face-to-face contact) Consider subdividing these sections but keep the poster structure simple, e.g.: title the audience will see first, one sentence to understand this particular section, support material -if interested they will move on to this e.g. documentation and illustrations (Include Citations and Acknowledgements short, correct lists, can be small and inconspicuous) Graduate School Imperial College London

7 DESIGN TO ATTRACT Along with the clear message, logic and information, the poster needs to be easy to follow without the need for excessive explanation. Have a logical and consistent layout so that it is easy for the reader to find what they want. Consider how to guide reader - page numbers, top to bottom, left to right, arrows. Consider your use of colour, space, text and graphics. Have a look at previous winning posters in your Department/Division (see the link to the Symposium winners in the bibliography below). Colour Colours and backgrounds should highlight, define and associate information; they should not detract from your information. Colours look different on screen than in print check contrast and colours in real media / consult a Pantone book (at printers / It can be difficult to read some colour combinations, and 1 in 20 find certain colours very difficult to see e.g. red/green or blue/yellow colour vision deficiency. For information on colour vision deficiency see Make contrasts high especially between bars of graphs, lines on charts and backgrounds and text. Title bar: dark enough to use white or cream as your main title text colour e.g.: navy blue; forest green; burgundy; rust (black backgrounds can be effective if used with caution) Background: light enough to use black for your main text e.g.: cream or beige; pale version of title bar colour; white Avoid: excessive use of dark colours, too many/vivid colours, watermarks, dominating photographs or busy patterns as backgrounds Space º Use white space to guide the reader and focus attention to key elements º The eye looks for edges - align photographs, headings, text and axes º Generally in a poster of x cm - two columns portrait; three columns landscape º Leave 3 cm between columns; leave 4 cm around the inside edge of your poster as printers do not print to the edge of the paper º Leave ~30-40% white space º Know the poster size required and design your poster to fit (if you have the choice, consider landscape posters some find these easier to read than portrait) Graduate School Imperial College London

8 Text º In general text is easier to read if it flows from top to bottom and left to right, other layout can at times be more effective use of space and aid understanding º Left align text (it is easier to read) º Columns guide readers through the direction of your information º Your main title should be large, ~ 100 point Arial, readable at 3 metres º Text and titles written entirely in UPPER CASE are harder to read than normal script º Body text should be ~24 point Arial readable from ~ 1.5 metres º Generally avoid text smaller than 24 point Arial (print a version in A4 if you cannot read the text easily it is too small) º Imperial template fonts are sans serif (e.g. Arial and Helvetica); some serif fonts such as courier are still used for specialist detail º Black text on a light background is easy to read º Avoid: long titles; using more than two typefaces and two text colours; ornate fonts which may be difficult to read; single words highlighted within the text; underlining. Graphics º Illustrations must add value and be easy to interpret, they can also attract non-specialists. Be careful about colour vision deficiency ( ) º Aim for 30-40% graphic content º Where possible use graphics to show visually what was done º Photos, diagrams, graphs or charts should not be small (generally 13 x 15 cm) º Graphics should be attractive, clear and specific º Crop/enlarge to focus attention on significant details º 300 dpi (dots per inch) is adequate for 13 x 15 cm photographs, 675 dpi if printing from slides º Save the College logo as a vector image (or check the bitmap for distortion/pixilation when enlarged) º Provide captions as viewers see what they are told to see º Graphs must stand alone: use clear titles; avoid excel standard backgrounds and minimum gridlines; avoid 3D effects; remember font size! º Tables for small data sets only: useful for comparisons; need clear design and layout, consider font º Photographs: consider matte / glossy; check contrast and colours in real media; provide scale; consider use of borders º Flowcharts: useful in methods sections; aid discussion; use standard symbols Graduate School Imperial College London

9 POSTER CONSTRUCTION º Download and read Departmental/Divisional and venue requirements before you start º Consider College templates s/competitionposters º Find out where your Department / Division generally prepares posters º Software: page layout applications that allow most control include: QuarkXPress, InDesign and LaTeX. These are followed by Illustrator, CorelDRAW, Freehand, Omnigraffle, Pagemaker, Photoshop and PowerPoint. Most students use PowerPoint. º Consider the printer s accepted poster file formats (e.g. PDF, PowerPoint, Adobe Illustrator) º If using Word or PowerPoint embed all picture files, figures and graphs (using Insert/Object rather than Copy/Paste) - to prevent movement/loss of images º Make sure that the size of the poster is set to the correct required size (A1/A0?) º Use high quality pixel pictures and figures etc to avoid blurring º Consider outlining text, boxed tiles and sub titles, import logos º Be cautious with gradient fill, image and watermark backgrounds º View the actual size of the poster and check all images under Print Preview º Print your poster on a colour A4 laser printer, to make sure that it is clear to read º You may need to allow 2 days 2 weeks for printing depending on demand º Find out about time, cost and payment method in advance º Poster size and lamination dictates the price (e.g. B0 (1000 x 1414 mm) is more expensive than A0 (841 x 1189 mm)) º Poster paper quality used may vary º Consider accepted method of transfer of poster file to printers ( attachment, USB, CD) º Consider lamination (it aids protection, but is heavy, expensive and can be difficult to hang): gloss paper may be adequate º Consider transport of the poster once complete (plastic poster holders?) Graduate School Imperial College London

10 YOU AND YOUR POSTER Stand by your poster: you work better together! Consider what to wear, look welcoming and relaxed, enthusiastic but not too keen! Stand to one side. Before the presentation, practice your greeting, and explain your poster several times to a colleague, aim at 3 minutes maximum to deliver the important points. Answer questions, use your poster as a visual aid, use eye contact to hold on to later arrivals and invite comment from everyone. Enjoy discussions, do not be defensive and listen and learn from critical comments. Arrive early, have a map and spare tools (pins/tape), consider: business cards, handouts, summary / mini-posters, CDRs, demos, illustrations, pin up copies of papers, take addresses to send more information. If you are unable to stand by your poster for any reason, ensure that your contact details / photo is visible to enable contact at a later point. Pin up a sheet for visitors to write a message and their address. Graduate School Imperial College London

11 ASSESS YOUR POSTER Have someone from your target audience (e.g. peers, a post-doc or your supervisor) evaluate your poster before the final version and presentation. Appeal º Would you stop to look at this poster at a poster session? º Is the title short and attention grabbing? º Is the subject matter clear? º Is the layout visually appealing and does it guide the audience? º Does the poster target a specific audience (or if a large meeting a section of the audience)? º Is the poster well organised? Message º Is the poster easy to scan-read? º Is the information and purpose immediately apparent? º Would you read the text on this poster? º Have you considered your audience requirements? º Is the title clear and informative? º Are the aims and conclusions clear? º Is the subject matter clear and concise (text short, content rich)? º Is there a logical flow to the information? º Can you find relevant information easily? º Is the text readable (linguistic difficulty / does it have too much scientific jargon)? º Is the text legible (font, size, colour and spacing)? º Is there too much/little data? º Does the title bar include the authors names, and the University identifier? Visuals º Are the key graphics large enough to be seen from 3 meters away? º Are the graphics attractive, relevant and appropriate? º Do legends and/or captions guide the viewer? º Is there adequate clear space? º Are sections clearly defined? º Have items been aligned? º Have you considered: number of graphics, use of colour, font size and type º Have you thought about your behaviour and appearance? Graduate School Imperial College London

12 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This help sheet has been compiled with tips from external consultant to the Graduate School, Louise Baron and from academic staff: Bernadette Byrne, Geoffrey Kemball-Cook, Paul Langford and Carl Paterson. BIBLIOGRAPHY - Advice on designing scientific posters: (accessed 12/2015) - Elements of style: (accessed 12/2015) - Giving a Good Scientific Presentation: (accessed 12/2015) - Hess, G. R. (2004) Effective Scientific Posters: Quick Reference: (accessed 12/2015) - University of Guelph. Effective Poster Design: (accessed 12/2015) - University of Kansas. Designing Effective Posters: (accessed 12/2015) - Blog: betterposters.blogspot.com (accessed 12/2015) The 2015 Graduate School Symposium winning posters can be located via the link below. These are for your interest; note that these winning posters were judged also by a short presentation, the image of the winning poster does not indicate presentation quality. Graduate School Imperial College London