poster presentation

poster presentation

The Importance of Effective Poster Presentations

1. Introduction

The power of posters. The purpose of a poster is to capture the attention of the viewer, while using the least amount of words possible. Many people believe that a good poster will have a large title that catches the eye, bullet points, and large text. This is usually considered an effective poster, however the same result can be accomplished through other means. It is important to note that there is a distinctive difference between an effective poster and a research report put up on a board. An effective poster is designed to convey an idea with visual impact. Its purpose is to engage the viewer so that they want to learn more. They should be able to glean the general idea of the topic at first glance, by reading the title. This is why it is important to have a clear and concise message. If the reader is intrigued by the title, they will then look at the graphics finding additional information about the topic. This can then lead to a conversation between the viewer and the presenter; an ideal situation for any presenter. A presenter can then pitch just about anything to the person who has expressed interest in the topic. This method is a lot more useful than having to try to engage a person in conversation with the hopes of getting them to listen to a 15 minute presentation. Usually, they will ignore the presenter and skim through the presented literature while looking for the short freebie. This is not effective and most of the time the person will forget what they learned. On the other hand, if the person learned something interesting from the poster and talked to the presenter, there is a good chance they will learn more and possibly remember the topic.

2. Key Elements of a Successful Poster Presentation

Let’s face it, when you’re a scientist, the most effective means of communicating your work is with other scientists and a poster is a great way to accomplish this! (Thesis Talk, 2012) Not only does it encourage discussion on your findings, but it is also a good opportunity to network with those who might have similar research interests. However, if you want to gain attention and maximize the time of those viewing your work (i.e. spending more than 30 seconds reading your poster), it’s important to layout various components of the poster effectively. Based on studies of eye movements of readers of academic posters, it has been shown that readers tend to look at the title, figures/tables, and conclusions more than any other section on the poster (Zeferino, Higuchi, 2009). This is most likely because people are often time poor at conferences. So make sure you present data that is easy to see, easy to understand, and in a logical, easy-to-read format, so that readers can quickly identify its relevance to their specific interests and move on to asking you questions. Configure a flow of information and guiding framework. Your poster should obviously present an introduction to your study and then flow into other sections including the methods, results, and then followed by discussion of findings.

Presenting an effective poster is a big challenge and what is most important about it is a presenter’s clear understanding of how to begin and what to present right through to the summary (Schmied, 2009). New and (sometimes) experienced researchers often find themselves scratching their head in regards to how best to present their data at a conference in the form of a poster. Now, at school, we were all taught how to present information in the form of an essay structure. Well, believe it or not, creating a successful poster is no different! Just think of your poster as being a summary for a bigger piece of work (i.e. your thesis or dissertation). So, in this article, I will help those who are in dire straits to create effective posters for use at their conference.

3. Designing an Engaging Poster

3.1 Considering content A good poster displays the essential content clearly and concisely. It should be easily read from a distance. Your title is crucial. You need to communicate the importance of your research, but simply labeling your abstract or introduction will not guide your viewers to the central issue. Consider using the IMRaD format (Intro, Method, Results, Discussion) when composing the content of your poster. This can be thought of as a translated version of a research article, with further emphasis on results because many people will read it first. Usually the text should be minimal. Using bullet points will help communicate your information more effectively than long paragraphs. Do not let it get too long – viewers should be able to glean the basics in a few minutes. Be prepared to explain it to them. A snappy abstract can save space, but make sure there is a clear link to the rest of your work.

Tone of section: This section aims to be prescriptive in helping the poster creator to design for an audience. It offers suggestions for organizing content, using visuals, and presenting data.

4. Presenting Your Poster Effectively

Discussing your work with the people visiting your poster is, like it or not, a sales pitch. You have a limited amount of time to get across the reason why your work is important, what your key findings are, and why it is relevant to the person you are speaking to. If you present your poster badly, then no matter how good the work, it does not give the impression that the work is of high quality. A logical flow of information, with clear, easily remembered take home messages is crucial. A disorganised, jumbled poster will give the impression of a disorganised, jumbled project, and will not engage the visitor. If the first impressions are not good, you are on the back foot from the start, and will be unlikely to recuperate. One common mistake at this stage is moving directly from describing your work to explaining its significance. Gaps in people’s understanding are likely to be filled with their own interpretations, so if the aim and methods are not clear, they are likely to assume they know what the project was about, but quite possibly incorrectly. Make sure you lead them to the correct conclusions.

5. Conclusion

Conclusion: It is usually effective to end with a brief conclusion. This can include a summary of the key findings from the research with a brief explanation of their importance. This may be the only part of the poster some viewers read, so it is important to make it easily understandable.

Results: Again, do not include more than a small portion of the actual data; use the space to prepare a clear and easily read display of the key results. Data can be presented in graphs, tables or other figures but remember to guide the passerby in interpreting them. You may do this by including a small amount of text in the section or by grouping the data with a noticeable heading. A clear legend is very important for any figures used.

Methods: This section is particularly important if the research is preliminary. The mistake is often made of including too much text in this section. It is not necessary to explain the entire experimental procedure in words. Use the space to display the procedure in an easily understood way. Diagrams and flow charts are very effective for this section.

Introduction: Use the introduction to explain the research questions and the significance of the work. You may wish to label this section “Purpose” or “Introduction.”

Title: First, be certain that the title of the poster communicates the research effectively; often the title is all that the passerby reads. The title should be large and easily read from a distance and should reflect the goal of the research.

To effectively present the information, the following design guidelines are recommended: