Creating an Effective Poster for Presentation Michael Nelson, PhD April 5, 2013

All poster images (and many of the concepts), unless otherwise noted, are used with permission from Colin Purrington’s excellent website:

What is the MOST IMPORTANT consideration when designing a poster?

What do I want to say?  You are telling YOUR STORY  Where do I start?  Where do I end?  How do I get there?  Does this story make sense in poster form?

 Title  Descriptive  “Attention-getting”  Understandable  Title  Abstract (maybe)  Methods  Results  Conclusions  Literature cited  Funding  Acknowledgements What should my poster include?

 Colors  Considerate  Tame  Design  Size  Colors  Design  Clean  Organized  Feedback Format and Layout

 Design  Size  Colors  Considerate  Tame  Design Format and Layout

 Colors  Considerate  Tame  MAKE SENSE  Design  Size  Colors  Flow  Design Format and Layout

Purrington, C.B. Designing conference posters. Retrieved April 04, 2013, from

Purrington, C.B. Designing conference posters. Retrieved April 04, 2013, from

What program should I use?  Microsoft PowerPoint  QuarkXPress  InDesign  LaTeX  Scribus  Illustrator  CorelDRAW  Inkscape

Common Issues  Alignment!

Common Issues  Alignment!  Color  Font size and spacing  “Can it be read from 5 feet away?”  Image resolution

Image Resolution  Color images:  300dpi  Monochrome images:  800dpi  Size Matters!  Whole image  Text labels

Image Resolution  If (when) a printed image is poor:  Print it out at high resolution and tape it onto your poster.

Final Thoughts  Your poster is a visual representation of your story/research/presentation  Do not simply re-work your paper in a poster format

Final Thoughts  You should not need to be standing there  Name/Picture nearby  Restroom or food break  Judges

Final Thoughts  REMEMBER:  You are trying to catch attendees’ attention  You are telling a story

Sell your story! Dr. Rameeza Allie

An Engaging Poster Presentation Rameeza Allie, PhD Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology - UAB 5 th of April, 2013

Significance of being a good communicator  Communicating clearly to people, what you do and why they might care -- opens career doors  A less-qualified good communicator, will beat out a reticent technician almost every time.

?  What is the difference between an oral and a poster presentation?

Some differences  Audience size  Personal  Relaxed  FEEDBACK

Goal for presentation  POSTER OR PLATFORM 1. Connect With viewer 2. Direct and hold attention of viewer 3. Enhance viewers understanding and memory by providing easily digestible information  Receive BENEFICIAL feedback

Preparations  Practice Practice Practice!!!!!  Feedback  30s pitch! Make connection  KNOW YOUR POSTER!  Read broadly about the impact of your work  Rest BEFORE the presentation!

Presentation of self  Professional attire!!!  No gum chewing  No strong cologne  Name tag or photo on poster  Comfortable shoes  Do not stand directly in front of poster

Presentation of research Get to know your audience: 1. Base pitch on answer 2. Identify your audience and focus on them when thinking about your message. 3. Determine the audience's knowledge, attitudes and interest in the subject and develop your message accordingly.

Presentation of research  Stress significance  Be brief  Supplemental media  (handouts, iPad, photo frame)

Presentation of research  Talk TO viewer  Interact with viewer  Listen  Tasteful humour to relax viewer  One group at a time  Encourage more viewers

Take Home  Enhance audiences’ understanding and memory by providing easily digestible information.  Generate sufficient interest to maintain a discussion resulting in valuable feedback.

Thank you for attending!  Michael Nelson  Nickolas Bieser

Acknowledge  c/posterdesign