1. Technical & Research Posters: Text, Visuals, & Presentation
John Greiner
Rice University

2. Poster Session Challenges
Solutions
Audiences make decisions quickly
Posters sometimes stand alone
Audiences come and go as presenters talk
Poster must be accessible
Show overall organization
Show comparisons
Poster must be comprehensible
Speaker must attract others, adapt to situation

3. Similar to Technical Paper or Talk
Tell an interesting story
What’s your “news”?
What problem are you solving?
What are your results/conclusions?
What sets your work apart?
E.g., new algorithm or theoretical approach
Why does your work matter?
How can your work be applied?

4. Similar to Technical Paper or Talk
Structure your story
Say what you’re going to say Abstract
Say it Body & Results
Say what you said Conclusion

5. Make “The News” Accessible
Using structure
Provide a “gist” somewhere (abstract, summary, overview)
Include problem statement or objective
Use specific informative headings
Using wording
Reduce jargon
Using visuals
Is it an image?
Is it a contrast? (old vs. new)
Is it a demonstration?

6. Different From Paper / Similar to Talk
Space is at a premium.
Interactivity is key.
Be concise – word choice, sentence fragments
Be precise – word choice
Use pictures when possible
Omit unnecessary details
MUST KNOW Use as your main focus
Good to know Add some
Nice to know Leave for oral presentation

7. I’m not going to read this!

8. Complex Text to Clear Text
Simplify Text
Complex Text to Clear Text
The ideal anesthetic should quickly make the patient unconscious but allow a quick return to consciousness, have few side effects, and be safe to handle.
Ideal anesthetics:
Quick sedation
Quick recovery
Few side effects
Safe to handle
Next generation computer games cost approximately 20 to 30 million dollars, require one to three years of development, and may have a short life cycle in the market of only six weeks.
Next-gen games:
Investment: $20M–$30M
Development: 1–3 years
Life cycle: weeks
Note parallel construction

9. With lots of examples to discuss
Think Visually
Pictures & Charts
Fonts
Colors
Layout
With lots of examples to discuss

10. Accessible & Self-Explanatory Figures
Use tags and/or captions.
Show interesting groupings.
Caption…

11. Some Problems with Pictures & Charts
Size
Resolution
Colors
Labels
Units
Chart junk
Significant figures & error bars

12. Bar Chart – Before

13. Bar Chart – After
Microbenchmark Performance

14. Line Chart – Before

15. Line Chart – After
FN Treated Cells
TC Treated Cells
Untreated Cells

16. Textual Presentation Guides the Reader
Scale expresses relative importance.
Indenting shows subordination.
As in this example
Color adds emphasis or coherence.
Meaningless font and color changes are distracting.
Low-contrast colors are hard to read.
White space directs gaze and provides grouping. =

17. Fonts Title ~5-8 words 90 – 120 pt Headings ~3 words 36 – 48 pt
Text – 36 pt
Sans serif large scale slides, posters
Serif fonts small scale papers

18. Layout: Left-to-Right in Columns
Title & Authors
Like a paper, flows top to bottom, left to right

21. Layout: Left-to-Right in Rows
Title & Authors
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

24. Layout: Centered Image & Explanations
Title & Authors
Abstract

26. Layout: Side-by-Side Compare & Contrast
Title & Authors

29. Details Matter! Consistent formatting Correct grammar & spelling
Parallel construction
Contact info
Correct bibliography
Credit to others

30. Connect with the Audience
Greet audience.
Why are they interested?
What are their backgrounds?
How will they benefit?
What are their questions?
Prepare 30 second, 2 minute, and 5 minute talks.
Different levels of interest
Different backgrounds
Be able to summarize key points in 2-3 sentences.
Be able to start from any section.
Reinforce key points.

31. Communicate with Confidence
Be enthusiastic
Maintain eye contact
Adjust pacing
Stand up straight
Integrate gestures
Don’t block view of poster
Speak up

32. More examples…

36. Better organization
But distracting color contrasts