presentation skills: designing posters for academic conferences

Dr Inma Andrés

Student Programmes Manager

PRESENTATION SKILLS:

Designing posters for academic conferences

Brunel University London

First questions

• What is the most important/interesting/astounding finding from my research project?

• How can I visually share my research with conference attendees? Should I use charts, graphs, photos, images?

• What kind of information can I convey during my talk that will complement my poster?

Designing posters for academic conferences 5


4 What’s

• What is your objective?

• What do you want to show on the poster?

• What do you want your listeners to find/learn/take?

• What do you want them to do?

6Designing posters for academic conferences


Objective: Explain to the person next to you the purpose of your presentation and ask him or her for feedback

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• Is it clear?

• Did it grab your attention?

• Is it too general or too specific?

• Would you like to listen more?



It should content:

• Introduction

• Materials and methods

• Results

• Conclusions

• Citations (short list)

• Acknowledgements



The poster should have: 1 May 2023

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Graphics

Text Space


Con

tent


Do you know your audience?

• What do they already know?

• What are their attitudes toward your topic or proposal?

• How interested are they in your topic?

• What are their needs?

1 May 2023



Know your audience

Specialist Audience

• Experts in same related field

• They will have a high level of understanding of your subject

• It's ok to use jargon and technical terms on poster



Related Audience

• Specialist in related / overlapping field

• Familiar with the generalities of your discipline

• Be wary of specialist jargon - avoid where possible

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Know your audience



Know your audience

General Audience

• Can only assume general level knowledge

• No familiarity with discipline or your subject area

• Avoid use a jargon-basic descriptions only



Size

Title:• A2 poster: 32pt – 64pt.• A1 poster: 64pt – 72pt.• A0 poster: 72pt – 84pt.

Main text:• A2 poster: 14pt – 18pt.• A1 poster: 16pt – 24pt.• A0 poster: 24pt – 32pt.

Authors: clarify author-institution.

References and captions: smaller font.

1 May 2023



Text

300-500 words

Structure

• Open the presentation with something interesting and attention

• Set your topic and determine the major points

• Properly use transitions

• Create a concise conclusion or summary



Colour

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• Try to create a ‘visual sequence’

• No need to fill every cm – white space is good

• Two/three main colours

• Be consistent e.g. use one colour for all headings

Red & Green



How to manage the layout?

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Properly use transitions



Good visual balance

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Horizontal Symmetry Horizontal & Vertical Symmetry

Diagonal Symmetry Asymmetry



Charts

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• Think carefully about how you format them

• Keep them simple, enlarge the text and thicken the lines

• Make sure the background has good contrast



How to make successful my poster design

• Important information should be readable from about 10 feet away

• Title is short and draws interest

• Text is clear and to the point

• Use of bullets, numbering and headlines makes it easy to read

• Effective use of graphics, colour and fonts

• Consistent and clean layout

• Includes acknowledgments, your name and your department

Enthusiasm & Passion28Designing posters for academic conferences

Brunel University London 29

Successful Presentations

Know

Know

Know

Know

Four Cornerstones Method

Audience

StoryObjective

What the audience wants


Brunel University London 31

Other Workshops


• PRESENTATION SKILLS: Creating posters in PowerPoint

• PRESENTATION SKILLS: Oral presentations

Any [email protected]

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presentation skills: designing posters for academic conferences

Presentations & Public Speaking