Guidelines: Poster Development* Introduction In a conference setting, you only have an estimated three seconds to attract your target audience’s attention. Depicting your ideas and information at a poster session is not the same as presenting your content in oral or open forum-type presentations, nor is it the same preparing a paper for journal or periodical publication; therefore, your preparation process must be different as well. For posters, color and design should be viewed as enhancement elements to aid in packaging your information for your audience. If a member of your audience stops to ask questions, you have an estimated 30 seconds to retain their interest by summarizing months, perhaps years of research. Your poster should be able to continue to work for you during these brief times, and you should be able to refer back to it as your primary point of reference as you answer the question. If you are successful, the interested person will stay longer to find out more details. Great Job! Though poster sizes vary, the overall principles for preparation are the same. IIT has determined five important steps for effective poster creation.
STEP 1: Define your audience Who is your audience? Who will be viewing your poster? What is your relationship with your audience members? Is your audience made up of co-workers or fellow classmates, professional colleagues or general public? What is the overall purpose of your poster? Are you sharing research findings? Are you informing your audience about something you have been working on or a problem you have discovered? Or are you arguing for a specific course of action? What is the occasion? What will be the environment where you will be presenting? A conference? Meeting? A classroom? What is the Audience’s Ethos? How do you want to represent your university/school, your profession? Your poster is not only giving information, it is representing you to your audience. Consider whether you are representing a business or organization to which you belong. How would fellow members of that organization want you to represent them?
Who Is Your Audience? General public Business/government Education
Discipline
Remember: It’s most effective to select only one target
STEP 2: Organize your content
Divide your content into sections. Create a folder for each section and place content accordingly. Following are examples of possible section headings: 1
Title heading or poster name, authors and their affiliations, contributors Abstract – summarization or condensed version of your poster
2
Introduction brief description of what your poster is about Quick overview giving specifics that lead reader to subject
3
Purpose/Problem reason why your poster is important Instrument – statement(s) describing what “tool” was used
4
Methods description of processes/procedures: What-How-When-Where
5
Results/Findings information on how things turned out; outcomes Significance – description of key/instructional differences determined Discussion – brief statement of pros and cons focusing on relevant aspects
6
Conclusions and/or Implications Statement of final thoughts/observations
STEP 3: Organization for Design After the organization of your content you are ready to focus on the specifics of poster layout. Think again of your poster’s overall theme. What says it all about your poster? What one statement pulls everything together, or what one image addresses your primary focus? This is the component that will draw your audience and they must be able to see it from a distance of at least 10 feet away. You must, however, remember to consider your display perimeters or dimensions for your poster when determining exactly how big to make this part of your poster.
Summarize the contents placed in your folders earlier. Separate the folder information into three major groupings: heading, opening statement or definition of section, and detailed materials – include text, pictures, charts, graphs, etc.
Poster
Title
Each section should have the same summarized categories.
Definition Support materials
Limit the amount of your narrative text by using bulleted or listed items underneath lead-in statements. Abbreviate long run-on thoughts and sentences
WOW your Audience Color can be your friend or your enemy. Remember color should accent, not overpower. Color should be used to attract and direct attention as well as enhance thoughts. Effective Ways to Use Color • If color competes with your information for attention it is too much; use a “tint” (screen) of color or swap and use another color that’s less intense • Keep in mind that colors may look different on your screen than in print. • Keep in mind there may be color blind participants in your audience. Make contrasts in shades high between bars of graphs, lines on charts, and backgrounds and text. • Avoid using “solid” yellow, orange, or red for background colors. These colors are intense and may distract from your information • When using white or cream as main title text color the background must be solid and dark. • When using black (always recommended for main text) background colors should be light and/or “screened”. • If your poster has a background screen color, use white space to highlight and establish the borders for boxes and graphs. • Avoid dark color backgrounds, too many colors, or busy patterns. • Dark photographs look darker on light backgrounds and color photographs also look more vibrant on neutral
color backgrounds such as beige, grays, or some pastels. Use Space • Posters that are not dense with text or overwhelmed by graphics are more effective and easier to comprehend. • Open space can direct attention to key elements • The eye looks for edges: align photographs, headings, text materials and axes in groups of graphs accordingly • A column of text should be between 12 inches (30.5 cm) and 16 inches (40.5 cm) wide. A 36 x 48 inch (91.44 x 121.92 cm) poster with a portrait (vertical or taller than wide) orientation uses two columns. The same size poster with a landscape (horizontal or wider than tall) orientation requires 3 columns. Leave at least 1 inch (or 3 cm.) between columns • Group related information by arranging it in close proximity • Regarding all-in-one/roll out posters, leave a minimum of 1.5 inches (4 cm)of clear space around the edge of your poster as no plotter prints right to the edge of the paper Make Text Legible • Information flow should be from left to right and from top to bottom • Columns allow readers to follow and process information • Main title/headings should be between 90 and 150 point bold (i.e. readable at a distance of 10 ft.) • Titles and headings written entirely in capitals are harder to read SAMPLE - Sample • Subheadings should be between 36 and 42 point, using sans serif fonts • Body text should be between 30 and 32 point, sans serif fonts recommended • 30 point font size will accommodate 250 words per square foot • Black text on a light background is almost always the easiest combination to read • Be consistent with fonts, type styles, and spacing
Avoid extra long titles; final font sizes below 24 point; use of multiple fonts; ornate/ decorative, or italicized fonts which may be difficult to read; single words highlighted within the text Use graphics or visuals to impact • Find ways to visually represent key points in your poster • No photograph, graphic or chart should be smaller than 5 x 7 inches (13 x 15 cm.) • Graphics should be clear and specific
• Crop and enlarge photographs to eliminate unnecessary information and focus attention on significant details. • Provide captions for each photo, graphic, and chart (viewers see what you direct them to see.)
• When scanning materials for a poster, 300 dpi (dots per inch) is sufficient for 5 x 7 inch photographs, 675 dpi for slides Avoid images from the Web because when printed large they often look unfocused because of the large pixels used.
STEP 4: Eliminate “noise” When paring down: • Include only content relevant to your perspective target audience’s interests • Transfer content into visual form whenever possible • Be concise but avoid overuse of specific abbreviations, acronyms, or other terminology. Define all acronyms the first time used • Never assume your audience is as well informed as you • Use point and statement form when possible – it’s easier to read STEP 5: Put everything together Layout • Use a tabletop or the floor – put masking tape down or use another demarcation to separate a designated area representative of your poster size • Write section headings on pieces of paper and cut those out. Cut pieces of paper in the exact size of a box that would enclose your section text information, photographs, charts, etc. and place them accordingly on the table or floor within the area that you mapped out earlier with tape. • Move the paper elements around until you are pleased with the placement
Turn an 8½” x11” sheet of paper horizontally (wide) for an orientation reflecting the poster size, and sketch out your poster layout on the sheet:
STEP 6: Evaluate Having a colleague review and give you an honest critique. You may want to provide a print copy of the Poster Evaluation Form from the following page to assist your reviewer with structured feedback. Step 7: Preparing for presenting your poster** Some poster sessions require an oral presentation. Regardless, people may ask you about your study.
Don’t read the poster! Present the big picture.
Prepare a 3- 5 minute verbal tour of your poster the context of your problem and explain why the problem is important; your objective; what you did (method);what you discovered (results); and what the results mean in terms of the context (discussion).
Use the graphics on your poster to illustrate and support your findings and recommendations.
Prepare a summary handout. You want people to remember your work – a handout provides a written record for readers. You can include a miniature version of your poster plus more detailed graphics, tables, and prose. The handout is something else you can refer to when talking to people about your work. Be sure to include complete contact information
Include full contact information. You want to be found – the reader should not have to look up anything to find you.
Poster Presentation Evaluation** Instructions to reviewer: Rate the poster presentation on a scale of 1-5 with:
1=strongly disagree 2= disagree 3=neutral 4= agree 5=strongly agree. Appearance 1. Display attracts viewer's attention.
1 2 3 4 5
2. Words are easy to read from an appropriate distance (3-5 feet).
1 2 3 4 5
3. Poster is well organized and easy to follow.
1 2 3 4 5
4. Graphics and other visuals enhance presentation.
1 2 3 4 5
5. The poster is neat and appealing to look at.
1 2 3 4 5
Content 6. Content is clear and easy to understand.
1 2 3 4 5
7. Purpose of model (question being addressed) is stated clearly.
1 2 3 4 5
8. I understand why someone might be interested in the model results.
1 2 3 4 5
9. Key simplifying assumptions are identified.
1 2 3 4 5
10. There is enough detail about methods (e.g., deriving rate equations and parameter values) for me to understand the model and results.
1 2 3 4 5
11. The approach taken is appropriate for the problem and technically sound.
1 2 3 4 5
12. Poster is free of unnecessary detail.
1 2 3 4 5
13. Conclusions are stated clearly.
1 2 3 4 5
14. Conclusions are supported by model results.
1 2 3 4 5
Presentation 15. Presenter's response to questions demonstrated knowledge of subject matter and project.
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16. Overall, this was a really good poster presentation.
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Other comments (use other side)
* Revised by IIT Educational & Design Services using relevant content from: http://www.soe.uoguelph.ca/webfiles/agalvez/poster/# ** From Hess, G.R., K. Tosney, and L. Liegel. 2006. Creating Effective Poster Presentations. URL=http://www.ncsu.edu/project/posters
Poster Presentation Evaluation
Other comments
