GUIDE FOR AN EFFECTIVE POSTER

1. GUIDE FOR AN EFFECTIVE POSTER

2. What can a Poster be or include? • Poster • Art Piece • Video • Other Form of Media

3. Submitting a Proposal • http://www.stmarys-ca.edu/poster • Proposal submissions due April 23rd • What’s an Abstract? • Short summary of your project; should include your findings • Title • Be Descriptive!

4. An Effective Poster is: • Focused: focuses on a single message • Simple: avoid saturating the viewer with text • Graphic: don’t tell, show; graphics dominate • Ordered: use a visual hierarchy for emphasis

5. Design for the Overall Audience not Someone from Your Field • Use context • Avoid jargon and uncommon abbreviations (that you don’t identify) • Explain your work or findings • Otherwise: • Only people in your field will understand your poster

6. Design for Three Audiences • Attract more than just competitors • Competitors take no effort to attract • Viewers who know your area need context and accessibility • Viewers outside area need problem/purpose explained • If you develop context, you reach a larger audience

7. Layout • Lay out poster in columns, not rows: • Otherwise, viewers who read the top row will be unable to return back to the beginning of the second row.

8. Do not do rows (as pictured):

9. Organize Poster in Columns:

10. Indicate the Sequence • Supply Clues: • Use numbers, letters and a logical sequence • Order the panels visually in units/columns • If the sequence is clear, viewers won’t have to search to find your evidence

11. Use a Visual Hierarchy • Visually reflect importance: • If something is important, make it BIG • Title is biggest, then headings, then explanations • If your message is visually emphasized, viewers will get your message at a glance

12. Vital Information=Big Type • Put the take home messages in BIG HEADINGS • Use headings to identify results, explicitly • State message instead of saying “Results” • Viewers can get message from a distance

13. Use Readable Text • Think of text as just another visual aid • Keep text brief, compact and single spaced • Titles: Read for 6 ft • The Rest: 3 ft • Avoid using all caps

15. Organize Visually • Maximize order and emphasis with color: • Keep panels in similar shape, conformation and orientation • Group elements to form conceptual units • Use color for emphasis and use consistently • If the evidence is organized and emphasized, your message will be obvious

17. Do NOT Overstimulate the viewer (What to avoid)

18. Make Graphics Dominant • Emphasize material visually: • Use graphics, figures and cartoons, avoid boring tables • Use color to emphasize and link words/graphs • Don’t use keys, write explanations on figures

19. Make Conclusions • specify the major points • summarize data • Do not ONLY conclude that your topic needs further research. Analyze the results you did get, otherwise viewers assume your research was pointless. • go beyond merely stating results • Differentiate among data, summaries and conclusions • State interpretations and conclusions • Make the strongest statement you can • have a “take home message”

20. Be concise . . . Discard Details • Otherwise you make your presentation unbearable for viewers to read • Edit ruthlessly • Omit all you can, simplify verbiage • If you MUST have details, talk about them/use a handout • Simple messages are most memorable • If viewers are undistracted by detail they can focus on message

21. Presentation Skills: • When presenting, focus on the graphics • Start with the context • Don’t read poster, use the figures as visual aids • Try have a 5 and 2 minute version • If you focus on what is important, viewers can understand why it’s important