Credits to University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus - Graduate School. Slides prepared and presented by Dr Sue Scarborough.

1. 1
Using posters to communicate
research
Aim and objectives of this course
Aim:
To help you to prepare and deliver an effective poster
Objectives
By the end of the course you will have:
 discussed the needs and wants of your audience
 appraised possible formats and structures for posters
 thought about how to present your research effectively
on posters
 considered the effective use of colour, size, fonts etc
•Introduction
•Group discussion 1: advantages and disadvantages of
posters
•Group feedback
•Group discussion 2: 3 x “whats“
•Group feedback
•Text, typefaces and colours
• Refreshment break
•Features of effective posters
•Group feedback
Structure of this session Group discussion 1
Why make a poster rather than give an oral
presentation?
Capture advantages and disadvantages – 15 mins
group discussion.
Select one person in your team to capture key points.
Decide who will present on behalf of your group.

2. 2
Group discussion 2
What …
• do you need to know before you make a
poster?
• makes a poster attractive?
• do you put in a poster?
15 mins group discussion.
Select one person in your team to capture
key points.
Decide who will present on behalf of your group.
The Poster Title
Option 1
"Mechanism of airway constriction and secretion
evoked by laryngeal administration of SO2 "
Option 2
"Evidence that reflex effects of SO2 are mediated by
afferent endings in the upper airway"
Option 3
"Are reflex effects of SO2 mediated by afferent endings
in the upper airway?
Text
Text should be simple and direct, for example
For a written paper:
"Within the UK setting, there has been a marked increase…."
For a poster:
"There has been a marked increase…."
This could be cut further to bring the key work to the start of the
sentence:
"A marked increase…"
NN
Serif typeface Sans-serif typeface
- best for screen
Century Schoolbook
Garamond
Palatino
Times New Roman
Arial
Verdana
Tahoma
Trebuchet
Serif typeface
- best for paper
Serif
Typefaces - Serif & Sans Serif

3. 3
48 point
A
C E
Q W E
R T Y U
I O P A S
D F G H J
L Z X C V B
N M Q W E R
T Y U I O P
36 point
16 point
24 point
18 point
14 point
12 point
10 point
60 point
Minimum
Type size
• Use only one typeface in a poster
• Mixing typefaces just...
• ...creates a mess
• Make sure the host computer has your typefaces, or
that PowerPoint embeds them
Typefaces - Limiting Usage
Same hue, high
contrast
Acceptable
Same hue, high
contrast
Acceptable
White on dark
colour
Acceptable
Black on light colour
Usually the best option
Colour
Different hue, low
contrast
Hard to read, makes
your eyes go funny
Different hue,
High contrast
Legible, but garish?
Same hue, low contrast
Hard to read
Same hue, low contrast
Hard to read
Colour

4. 4
Different hue, low
contrast
Hard to read, makes your
eyes go funny
Different hue,
High contrast
Legible, but garish?
Same hue, low contrast
Hard to read
Same hue, low contrast
Hard to read
Previous slide as seen by person with deuteranopic colour blindness
You can check your own slides at www.vischeck.com
Colour Blindness
Ideally, maximum 5 colours per page
(photographs excepted)
Too many colours
Graphics
Examples of a typical poster session Example of a poster session at a large conference

5. 5
Features of effective posters
Look at the available posters
Use post-it notes to comment on the strengths and
weaknesses of the posters – 10 mins
In your group, discuss which posters were most
effective and why. Then identify your group’s favourite
poster – 10 mins
Decide who will present on behalf of your group.
• Remember your poster is a sales pitch
• Keep your writing style fairly simple
• Minimise jargon
• Don’t have too much text
• Have eye-catching graphics to draw people in
• Make sure the text can be read from at least a metre away
• Have A4 copies of your poster available for people to take
away – this might be a longer, more text-based version
• Consider the use of gimmicks to attract people
e.g. an open tin of free chocolates or free pens or balloons?
A final few points

6. Effective Scientific Posters
Quick Reference
George R. Hess
An effective poster will help you …
… engage colleagues
in conversation.
… get your main points
across to as many
people as possible.
A poster is a visual communication tool.
Posters serve as …
» a source of information
» a conversation starter
» a summary of your work
» an advertisement of your work
Resources for Poster Presenters
George Hess / NC State University / Forestry Department / Raleigh NC 27695-8002
www4.ncsu.edu/~grhess george_hess@ncsu.edu © 2004
Block, S.M. 1996. Do's and dont's of poster presentations. Biophysical Journal 71:
3527-3529.
Briscoe, M.H. 1996. Preparing Scientific Illustrations: A Guide to Better Posters,
Presentations, and Publications. Springer, New York.
Davis, M. 1997. Scientific Papers and Presentations. Academic Press, New York.
Gosling, Peter J. 1999. Scientist's Guide to Poster Presentations. Kluwer Academic
Press, New York.
Harms, M.l. 1995. How to prepare a poster presentation. Physiotheraphy 81: 276.
Nicol, A.A.M. and P. M. Pexman. 2003. Displaying your findings: a practical guide
for creating figures, posters, and presentations. American Psychological
Association, Washington, DC.
Teixeira, A. 1997. Preparing posters for technical presentations. Resource 4: 15-16.
Tosney, K. 2004. How to create a poster that graphically communicates your
message.
URL=http://www.biology.lsa.umich.edu/research/labs/ktosney/file/PostersHome.ht
ml , visited 2004 Feb 4.
Tufte, E. 1983. The Visual Display of Quantitative Information. Graphics Press,
Cheshire, CT.
Tufte, E. 1997. Visual Explanations: Images and Quantities, Evidence and
Narrative. Graphics Press, Cheshire, CT.
Woolsey, J.D. 1989. Combating poster fatigue: How to use visual grammar and
analysis to effect better visual communication. Trends in Neurosciences 12: 325-
332.
Hess, G. & L. Liegel. 2004. Creating Effective Poster Presentations.
URL=http://www.ncsu.edu/project/posters, visited 2004 Feb 4.

7. Population Sizes Through Time
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Days
PopulationSize
Predators
Prey
Clean graphs show data clearly!
Desired message: Prey decreased as
predators increased.
Focus on relationships – exact values
are usually not important.
Eliminate “chart junk” to keep focus
on data (Tufte 1983). Grid lines,
detailed ticks on axes, data markers,
and grey background are not needed.
Label data directly, when possible.
Legends force reader to look back
and forth to decode graph.
Message is now loud and clear!
Population Sizes Through Time
0
250
500
0 10 20
Days
PopulationSize
PredatorsPrey
Tips for Effective Poster Presentations
Get your message across with effective visual displays of data and
small blocks of supporting text. Think of your poster as an illustrated
abstract.
Tell readers why your work matters, what you did, what you found,
and what you recommend. Avoid excessive focus on methods – it’s
the results and implications that count!
Overall appearance. Use a pleasing arrangement of graphics, text,
colors. Your poster should be neat and uncluttered – use white space
to help organize sections. Balance the placement of text and figures.
Organization. Use headings to help readers find what they’re looking
for: objective, results, conclusions, etc. A columnar format helps
traffic flow in a crowded poster session.
Minimize text – use graphics. Keep text in blocks of no more than
50-75 words – don’t create large, monolithic paragraphs of prose.
Text size. All text should be large enough to read from 1-2 meters,
including the text in figures. Title should be larger, to attract attention
from far away.
Use color cautiously. Dark letters on light background are easiest to
read. Stick to a theme of 2-3 colors. Avoid overly bright colors –
they attract attention but wear out reader’s eyes.
Don’t fight reader gravity, which pulls the eyes from top to bottom
(first), and left to right.
Include full contact information. You want to be found – the reader
should not have to look up anything to find you.
Prepare a 3-5 minute verbal explanation. Some people will ask you
to “walk me through your poster.” In making such a presentation,
don't read the poster. Instead, give the big picture, explain why the
problem is important, and use the graphics on your poster to illustrate
and support your findings and recommendations.
Prepare a summary handout. You want people to remember your
work – a handout provides a written record for readers. You can
include a miniature version of your poster plus more detailed
graphics, tables, and prose. The handout is something else you can
refer to when talking to people about your work. Be sure to include
complete contact information.

8. Outline of material for poster presentation course
Posters commonly used in science and engineering, but becoming more
common in other disciplines
Audience
People in your field
People in your general area
People outside your general area
To cater for all needs in audience, provide context, use plain language,
interpret your findings
Title
Brief, informative, interesting (enticing/provocative)
Plan with rough sketch, create pathway for the eye
Layout
One possibility: Introduction, experimental details, results and discussion,
conclusion, references and acknowledgements
Introduction: context, why important?
Experimental details: not necessary to include enough detail for
someone to replicate
Results and discussion: clear story, importance of figures
Conclusion: brief
References and acknowledgements: may wish to cite authors who are
likely to be at the conference
NO NEED TO INCLUDE ABSTRACT – it is printed in the conference
proceedings anyway
Text
Simple, direct, LARGE, short sentences
Font
32 – 36 for headings, 22-24 (or larger) for body text
Size depends on importance
Tip: If you print your poster on A4, everything should be comfortably
readable including captions of figures
San Serif fonts (Arial, Verdana, Trebuchet, Century Gothic etc.) easier to
read. Comic Sans often appreciated by people with dyslexia, but others
may consider it too childish or informal
Figures/Graphics
Make good graphics central in poster. Large, simple figures
Colour
Choose theme of 2 or 3 colours and stick to it
At poster presentation
Hang poster neatly, be there on time, have handouts/business cards,
have pen and pad for comments

9. Examples of posters
Link Comment / Source
http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/graduateschool/events/
researchshowcase/winners2011.aspx
http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/graduateschool/events/
researchshowcase/winners2010.aspx
Examples of posters – Winners of The
University of Nottingham Graduate School’s
Research Showcase
2011
2010
http://www.eposters.net/ Examples of posters - for scientific posters
http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/fuelcells/reports1/poster
%20presentations/
Examples of posters - Imperial College
London
http://holmes.cancres.nottingham.ac.uk/posters Examples of posters from the UoN School
of Pharmacy
How to Guides
Link Comment / Source
http://www.vitae.ac.uk/researchers/1638/Posters.htm
l
Vitae
How to or Guide - Postgraduate researchers
> Raising your profile > Presenting your
research >Posters
http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/careers/pgrd/resources/
designing-poster/poster
University of Leicester
How to or Guide - Poster presentations,
Study guide
http://www.ncsu.edu/project/posters North Carolina State University
How to or Guide
http://www.asp.org/education/howto_onPosters.html American Society of Primatologists
How to or Guide - Block, S.M. (2996)
Teaching Biophysics: Do’s and Don’ts of
Poster Presentation. Biophysical
Journal71:3527-352