1 / 36

Technical & Research Posters: Text, Visuals, & Presentation

This poster session explores the challenges and solutions for creating impactful technical and research posters. Learn how to structure your story, make your work accessible, and engage the audience with visuals and clear text. Discover tips for simplifying complex information and connecting with your audience.

martinbrooks
Download Presentation

Technical & Research Posters: Text, Visuals, & Presentation

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

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

  2. Poster Session Challenges 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 Challenges Solutions

  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 KNOWUse as your main focus • Good to knowAdd some • Nice to know Leave for oral presentation

  7. I’m not going to read this!

  8. 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-gen games: Investment: $20M–$30M Development: 1–3 years Life cycle: 6 weeks 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. Note parallel construction

  9. 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. • Meaninglessfont and colorchanges 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 30 – 36 pt Sans serif large scale slides, posters Serif fonts small scale papers

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

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

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

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

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

  23. 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.

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

  25. More examples…

  26. Better organization But distracting color contrasts

More Related