Effective Posters

1. Effective Posters Designing a research poster for academic conferences April 2 Class Session

2. An effective poster is… Focused Focused on a single message. Let graphs and images tell the story. Text is concise. Graphic Ordered Sequence is well-ordered and obvious.

3. Focused Focused on a single message. • What is the one thing you want your audience to learn? • What is the strongest statement your data will support?

4. Focused Use these standard components in a research poster to reinforce your message: • Title – a strong statement about your research • Introduction – • Provide the context of your research study. Describe briefly the larger research project or intervention. • Explain why your study is important: Answers the question, “So what?” • Objective/Goals/Problem/Hypothesis – • What are you adding to current knowledge? • One concise statement about the study’s goal.

5. Focused • Your Sample – • Briefly describe the data that you studied • Methods – • A brief description, diagram, or flowchart about your process or procedure for data collection and/or analysis. • Should not be the main focus of your poster (unless your research is about the method itself) • Findings/Final Product– • Share and interpret your preliminary findings • Describe your product and share next steps • References/Acknowledgments – • Cite key publications in text or sources for images. • Include as authors or thank those who have contributed to your research.

6. Let graphs and images tell the story. Text is concise. Graphic • Posters are a visual medium. • Graphs, illustrations, and photos are the centerpiece of your poster. • If you don’t have graphs and illustrations, think of your ‘text’ as a graphical element. • * Use spot art to attract attention but use sparingly!

7. Balance & White Space Graphic • Include one dominant graphic most relevant to your message and two/three smaller graphics that adds more depth to your story (or draws attention to other text boxes that can deepen your message). • Balance your figures and text horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. Use white space generously to separate figures and text.

8. Easy-to-read Graphic • Organize by columns, not rows so a crowd of people can easily read it. • Avoid dark backgrounds and light lettering that wear out reader’s eyes. Stick to a theme of 2 or 3 colors.

9. Ordered Sequence is well-ordered and obvious.

10. Use visuals cues to organize Ordered • Bigger font sizes indicate more important points. • Help readers navigate your poster by providing visual cues – numbers, letters, arrows.

11. Reference: Hess, G. R., K. Tosney, and L. Liegel. 2013. Creating Effective Posters Presentations. http://www.ncsu.edu/project/posters

12. Poster Dimensions & Templates • H397 poster dimensions: 24 by 36 inches minimum; 36 by 48 maximum • Powerpoint templates are uploaded on the H397 course site. Please modify them to your preference.

13. Poster Printing Procedures http://mcbweb.unix.fas.harvard.edu/poster-printer/static/pdfs/mcb_graphics_poster.pdf5 dollars per square foot so 3x4 is 60; 2x3 is 30 Please double check timeline and deadline

14. Course Schedule: • April 9: Submit your poster draft on isites by 3pm or sign up for a poster edit with Bob or Ling (forthcoming) • April 10 evening: Bob & Ling will give feedback to those who submitted online. • April 11: Posters are due at printers. • April 12: Student Research Conference • April 16: Open House Poster Session