Tips, Tricks, and Strategies for Superior Platform and Poster Presentations

1. Tips, Tricks, and Strategies for Superior Platform and Poster Presentations Paige A. Leitman, Ryan Casey Poster Presentations

2. Why Posters are Important • FEEDBACK!! • Can be individually tailored to audience • Allows presentation of all material at once Poster Presentations

4. 5 Essential Poster Tips • One message, repeat it • Consider what’s important • Logical flow of information • Make sure it is readable • Use the most important part of the poster Poster Presentations

5. 5 Essential Poster Tips • One message, repeat it • Consider what’s important • Logical flow of information • Make sure it is readable • Use the most important part of the poster Poster Presentations

6. The Strategy of Choosing Your One Message • Consider the big picture • Why did you do the experiment? • What social need did the experiment meet? • Who cares about your research? • How does the central finding affect this audience? SO WHAT? Poster Presentations

7. One Message – Repeat It Early and Often WTMI TMI Poster Presentations

8. 5 Essential Poster Tips 1. One message, repeat it 2. Consider what’s important 3. Logical flow of information 4. Make sure it is readable 5. Use the most important part of the poster Poster Presentations

9. Poster One 1. Central message 2. Method A 3. Method B 4. Comparison Graph 5. References 6. About the author 7. Abstract Poster Two 1. Central message 2. Conclusions 3. Introduction 4. Results 5. Methods 6. About the author 7. Acknowledgements Ranking of Poster Elements Poster Presentations

10. Audience Excitement Due to Legible Graphs 1 0.8 0.6 Legibility 0.4 0.2 0 0 2 4 6 8 10 Excitement Index Introduction Experimental models for studying microbial responses to pollution in marine and estuarine systems exist at every possible scale (Figure 1). By design, experimental models offer varying degrees of realism and laboratory control. The smaller systems (like pure cultures, batch reactors, and chemostats) are good tools for examining the specific properties of one or a few species of bacteria under carefully controlled conditions. The largest systems (field studies, where the experimental unit is effectively the ecosystem) are the most realistic way to determine the response of an ecosystem to pollution. A microcosm is an experimental system that is more complex and realistic than a benchtop experiment, but is smaller than a field experiment (Odum, 1984). Microcosms Abstract Intact sediment microcosms can be a powerful tool for studying microbial responses to pollution. Intact sediment microcosms were monitored for three months to examine their stability within the laboratory, and to evaluate the sensitivity of the microcosms to treatment. The two treatments were an amendment of clean sand, and an amendment of clean sand coated with weathered fuel oil #6. Undisturbed control microcosms displayed little change over 3 months in number of bacteria, number of culturable bacteria, acetate respiration, and hydrocarbon respiration, although they did show a slight increase in depth of the oxic layer at the very end of the experiment. Microcosms amended with clean sand were not distinguishable from the undisturbed control microcosms. Phenanthrene in Sediments = Stability and sensitivity of intact sediment microcosms and their applicability in benthic microbial ecology Paige A. Leitman and Lita M. Proctor* Department of Oceanography Florida State University Tallahassee, FL 32306-4320 *corresponding author: proctor@ocean.fsu.edu , tel: 850-644-4951, fax: 850-644-2581 Resubmitted with major revisions to Marine Environmental Research Conclusion What is Important? • * • =0.05 ANOVA

11. 5 Essential Poster Tips 1. One message, repeat it 2. Consider what’s important 3. Logical flow of information 4. Make sure it is readable 5. Use the most important part of the poster Poster Presentations

12. Z ZZZZ Tip 3: Logical Information Flow – Platform Presentations Intro M&M Res. Conc. Poster Presentations

13. Tip 3: Logical Information Flow – Poster Presentations Intro M&M Res. Conc. EXIT Poster Presentations

14. Past Current Future White has increased and is similar to black White should continue increase until same as black White is far smaller than black ? Timeline Organization Poster Presentations

15. 1 cm core section Marine sediment bacteria Unadapted natural community A Kaolinite or Montmorillonite clay Purchased commercially Ground to <63 micron B Methods Based Organization Method A shows an increase in response, but method B is harder to interpret. Poster Presentations

16. 5 Essential Poster Tips 1. One message, repeat it 2. Consider what’s important 3. Logical flow of information 4. Make sure it is readable 5. Use the most important part of the poster Poster Presentations

17. Some TIPS • If no one CAN read it, no one WILL read it • If no one WANTS to read it, no one WILL read it • MAKE IT READABLE • MAKE IT INTERESTING Poster Presentations

18. Why readability is important • Readability is important! If no one CAN read your poster then no one WILL read your poster. If you shrink your text down like this you can get more words on the page, sure, but you lose information because it will tire out your reader’s eyes. Besides, your reader has probably seen a dozen posters before yours, and if yours isn’t easy on the eyes then he or she will not pause to pay attention to your work. • Also, you should do what you can with color to help make your poster readable. Bright colors like the white stripe at the top of this page are a good idea to get people’s attention, however, you must use them judiciously because they can also dazzle and overwhelm the reader. All they remember is colors, and not your conclusion. • Large tables are generally a poor choice. It doesn’t matter how much data you put up on a poster if no one will look at it. For instance • If you read that, you’ve got better eyesight than I do. Graphs with a summary statement often work more effectively. For instance, the above text indicates that whole sediments have slower phenanthrene respiration than enrichment cultures, and that other than that, all of the above experiments have similar characteristics. Poster Presentations

19. Enhancing Readability • LARGE SUMMARY STATEMENTS • Good vs. garish use of color • Panels vs. large format printers • Graphics vs. text. 1000 words! Poster Presentations

20. 1 cm core section Marine sediment bacteria Unadapted natural community Commercial Humic Acid Dissolved in weak base solution 14C-labeled hydrocarbon Sterile seawater 25 ppt Nitrogen, phosphorus Measure total respiration after 3 days Use Graphics Where Possible 14CO2 14C-HC 14CO2 Bacteria break down HC 14C used as tracer Poster Presentations

21. Higher concentrations of humic acids stimulate phenanthrene respiration 5.0 * * nmoles PHE respired in ~3d 2.5 0.0 100 KC 0 10 1000 mg/L Humic acids

22. 5 Essential Poster Tips 1. One message, repeat it 2. Consider what’s important 3. Logical flow of information 4. Make sure it is readable 5. Use the most important part of the poster Poster Presentations

23. Paige A. Leitman, PhD Scientist, Poster Consultant, and Superhero pleitman@arcadis-us.com 770-431-8666 Please Leave Your Card The Most Important Part: YOU! Poster Presentations

24. Take it for a Test Drive Poster Presentations

25. 5 Essential Poster TRICKS 1. Learn from other people’s experiences 2. Remember the circle 3. Style and audience 4. About the author boxes 5. Emergency management Poster Presentations

26. Intro Body Conclusion • Remember the CIRCLE • Reinforce with color, graphics Poster Presentations

27. Before you begin • Chalkboard • Style and audience • Formal or informal • Persuasive or informational • Friendly, neutral, reserved Poster Presentations

28. Paige Leitman • My research focuses on the effects of anthropogenic contamination on the microbial ecology of the nearshore environment. • Completed Ph.D. In Oceanography at Florida State University in 2001. • Dissertation topic: Factors that regulate the microbial metabolism of hydrocarbons in marine sediments. • Works for Arcadis G&M in Atlanta as an Environmental Scientist • 678-557-3247 voice, pleitman@arcadis-us.com • http://ocean.fsu.edu/~pleitman

29. Emergency management • Spell check!! • Black marker and blank paper • Poster tube • Emergency copy on disk • Social emergencies Poster Presentations

31. Summary • Effective, personal communication • One message, repeated twice • Conclusions are most important • Large text, good color, graphs • Be interactive with your audience Poster Presentations

32. Acknowledgements • Paige A. Leitman, original author, poster presenter extraordinaire Poster Presentations