How to make a poster

David Sargandrs20@cam.ac.uk

What is a poster session?

• Most scientific meetings have more presenters than platform time

• Posters provide the means to present additional short communications

• There’s plenty in it for you!– The poster communication often provides the means to get

to the conference

– Posters provide a launch point for networking

– Some poster submitters may be given platform talks.

– Many meetings run poster competitions - some have worthwhile prizes, all winners have a boost to their cv’s.

Problems of the Poster Session

• Posters are presented in large groups

• The environment is usually crowded

• The time allotted to poster sessions is limited– Most people are in a hurry

– You have about 3 seconds to persuade the average passer-by to read your poster.

Two messages with three words... Saatchi and Saatchi, 1979

Posters should have immediate impact

Getting to that Conference-the Abstract

• Watch the date– Abstract deadlines are typically four to six months

before conferences.

• Quality control– Most conferences peer review abstracts before

inviting posters or platform talks– Your abstract will be published in the conference

programme. For many it may decide if they visit your poster

– Your abstract is an important personal ad!

The submitted abstract - content

• The title is important– In theory the title of submitted abstract and

poster should match– BUT… your abstract title needs to be

detailed enough for web searching– … whilst your poster title needs to catch

attention in 3 seconds

The submitted abstract - content

• The abstract should be very concise and clear

• Describe the purpose of the experiment, the methods (brief) and the results.

• A conclusion should take a maximum of one sentence.

• Use short sentences, and don’t use references.

The submitted abstract - content

• There is a temptation to hint in the abstract about the results you hope to get in two months time.

• DO NOT BE TEMPTED – you can put new results into the poster, even if

they are not in your abstract– Retractions are less easy!

• Check the word limit and formatting conform to conference requirements.

The poster - planning 1

• Allow time to write, layout and print your poster.• Writing will be quick if you have your data ready and

plan what you want to say properly.• Layout and then editing can take more time.• Although printing can be done quickly if you are

desperate, it is more expensive.• The first time you make a poster you should start

about ten days before your departure date, with at least three days of these ten set aside for poster work.

The poster - planning 2• Your audience at a meeting has three groups

– Your scientific competitors• They will come by anyway, however badly you present!

– Scientists in closely related areas• These people will be interested in a good presentation

and can be helpful to you in your current project.

– Scientists in more distant areas• These people are a bonus, but may have useful

perspectives drawn from disparate fields.

• So write for group two, but ensure group three can follow!

The poster - planning 3

• No amount of good presentation makes up for bad science!!

• Pick related data to make a short group of points

• Usually about 4 - 6 figures (or groups of figures) is plenty

• Plan the text around each figure

The poster - planning the text

• You have 3 seconds to capture the audience– Title!

• You have about 30 seconds to persuade them to stay– The poster abstract (and/or “main points”)

• In poster competitions, judges are asked to review posters at an average of 1-2 minutes per poster

• No-one will stay to read for more than five minutes– So make sure they can read all of it in that time!

Aargh!!

Consider the Audience

• Sometimes you will be trying to appeal to a wider group– More general meetings, “Public face” of

science (Science week) etc.

• Some members of any audience may be colorblind, have reduced vision or suffer dyslexia– Fonts and figures

Figure design and colour blindness

•Colour blind people have particular problems with fluorescent images.

•Substituting red with magenta gives an image that can be read by all.

•To do this make a copy of the red image in the blue channel and add to the original.

•Use direct labelling of lines or dashed as well as solid lines on charts.

•Red-Green colour blindness in males is more common than the AB blood group!

Titles

BAD!!Sub-retinal administration of AAV-PDE6B in the rcd-

1 Beagle X Irish setter cross: photopic responses

BetterGene transfer restores cone function in an

animal model of retinitis pigmentosa

Think about your title

• Write it down

• Swap with a neighbour

• Do they understand it?

• Can you simplify?

The poster - planning the text 2

• Don’t forget to include all authors and contact addresses (including email) under the title.

• You do not have to stick to standard scientific journal layout

• You do need to introduce the topic, describe any unusual methods, describe your results and set them in context

– Methods should be brief

– Results and their discussion should be close to the relevant figures

OOPS!

A take home message as a set of bulleted points is very helpful

. use a box to make it more visible

Phew!!

Textual style• Use short sentences (average 8-10 words)• Do not use jargon or unexplained abbreviation

– Some of your audience will not be specialists in your area

• Keep references to a minimum• Avoid excessive detail

– Edit ruthlessly: ask yourself - is this absolutely necessary? If not, omit it.

• But maintain a formal passive style– This conveys information efficiently.

An attraction point

• If you have a large bright figure/picture easily visible near the title this will help draw the non-competitor scientist group.

• Don’t sacrifice your science to this.

Gene transfer restores cone function in an animal model of retinitis pigmentosa

Bainbridge, Mistry, Balaggan, Squire, Ali & SarganCentre for Veterinary ScienceUniversity of CambridgeEmail: drs20@cam.ac.uk

Example

Layout and all that

• I am going to present a set of rules for laying out your poster.

• They are useful, but remember you need your poster to look distinctive and attractive.

• You must catch the eye.

Specialist packages for laying out your poster abound..

• Adobe Creative Suite (Illustrator, In Design etc)– Illustrator is a good drawing package, but you have to define

edges. Limitations with text editing.– In Design is complex to use though powerful.

Sledgehammers and nuts…

• Pagemaker Pro. This used to be quite good, but I haven’t tried it for several years. Max page size A0.

• QuarkXPress. Flexible but expensive package. Max page size 900 x 1200mm.

• Corel Draw. Useable especially on PC, but can create enormous file sizes.

• Microsoft Word and Publisher are not good for final poster preparation.

Programmes for layout cont..

• PowerPoint is a useful programme for general poster layouts. – Strengths

• simplicity and familiarity• Part of MS Office - compatibility

– Weaknesses • limited drawing package• a bit clumsy with ruler based layout• problems with Mac/PC conversion

• Nevertheless, this is the most commonly used package amongst our students

Layout -basics

• Make sure that your data files are compatible with your layout programme.– PowerPoint accepts jpeg, tiff, psd and some but not all forms of

pict, as well as excel and word files. – You can make limited alteration to imported files (shape, contrast,

scale, but not moving or recolouring components of the imported file, text etc.)

• In Page Setup use the “Custom” setting to set size, then set Portrait or Landscape– A0 = 118.9 x 84.1cm

• Keep text in boxes - Keep Snap-to-Grid on whilst you align, then turn off for fine movements

Powerpoint tips for posters Create text by cutting and pasting or typing directly into

PowerPoint - Do not use “insert”.

Tables can be typed directly into Powerpoint - use the tab functions rather than the space bar.

Graphics should be “Inserted” as a picture. Do NOT import graphics by cutting and pasting.

Leave a one-inch margin all the way around the outside edge of the poster to avoid having your content “cut off.”

Ideally graphics and photos should be scanned at the size you want to use them on your poster (not necessarily actual size).

Scanning resolution should be 150 dpi. If you are enlarging a file for the poster, import at up to 300dpi

maximum.

Layout -2

• Keep fonts simple– This is Times New Roman, a serif font: these are easy to read

quickly and are compact, but can look fussy. Good for main text but less good for headings.

– This is Ariel, a sans-serif font with a very clean look, but harder to read in big blocks. (Look also at Helvetica and Verdana).

– And this is Comic Sans MS, with a less formal feel.

• Do not be tempted to use anything more elaborate – complex fonts are hard to read

Layout - 3• Do not use more than two fonts across the whole

poster.• Text should be readable from at least 1.5 meters

without strain. – For most fonts this means at least 24 point; some of the

denser ones, e.g. Times New Roman may need 28 point.

• Titles should be at least twice as big.– Author names, addresses etc. intermediate.

• Choose background and text colours to maximise reading ease.

In a light room, and in the absence of projection, dark text on a light background is easier to read than light text on a dark background.

(The converse is often true in a dark room with projected images, or when viewing the phosphorescent image on your computer screen.)

Layout - 4

• Graded and patterned backgrounds look pleasant

• But avoid strongly graded backgrounds

• There is no font colour that will let you read the whole poster!

• Avoid strongly patterned backgrounds for the same reason

Problems with colour scheme & with font sizes

Layout - 5• Before you start, check the dimensions of

your meeting’s poster boards! – (See the meeting programme or instructions for

authors)– A0 is 1189 x 841mm– Most poster boards are 1.5m x 1m, but some are

not!– Check whether your board is “Landscape” or

“Portrait”– Some poster boards are huge (4’ x 8’) - but it is

still better to stick with A0. This can be read without moving / craning.

Layout - 6

• Plan your poster in vertical columns, not horizontal rows

X √- This prevents gridlock amongst those trying to read your poster

Elizabeth Bernath

Layout - 7• Indicate the sequence in your poster

– You can use numbers or arrows

• Panels placed in regular columns are easier to follow than panels placed asymmetrically

Layout - 8

• Show, don’t tell!– Very good for methods– But don’t let the audience

miss important results

• Use a simple visual grammar that reflects the importance of the elements– Large titles

• Medium text– Small legends

Layout - 9

• Large figures are easier to read

• Where text linked to a figure has to be in a different section or column, you can use an arrow

• Try to leave some blank spaces– They rest the reader’s eye

• The main results should be summarised• State conclusions from these results

separately.– These sections should be easy to find

• QR codes can link in extra information, web sites etc.

• Don’t forget acknowledgements

Layout - 10

BOX!

Editing

• Now re-read and edit the poster. Make it shorter.

• Done that? …DO IT AGAIN.

and Printing

• Print an A4 copy before you get anything larger printed. – If you can’t read the A4, print on your poster will be too small.

– Use it to check appearance, and colour balance

• Nowadays most posters are printed on glossy A0 paper or laminated A0 paper.

• Your work has cost hundreds of hours and probably thousands of pounds. Poor presentation is a false economy.

• Lots of A4 sheets on a board look tatty. Get an A0 print and a poster tube to carry it!

• If money is tight don’t laminate unless you are going to leave it up for a long period

• Photographic and Illustration service (pandis), New Museum site; Dept Biochemistry; Medical illustration, Addenbrookes;

At the conference

• You could print 30 or so A4 colour copies to take with you and give out at the conference.

• Make sure your poster goes up and comes down at the time recommended.– There may be multiple poster sessions re-using the same

poster boards

– The conference organisers usually provide velcro tape for felted poster boards, or pins etc, but it is useful to take some of each with you.

– Check your poster from time to time to make sure it hasn’t fallen down.

Your poster session

• You can leave a notepad and/or your A4 poster copies attached to the poster board when you are not there

• Collect email addresses of anyone interested

Your Poster Session

• Wear your conference badge. – People will know who you are

• The best way (the only good way) to get across the message of your poster is to talk people through it. – It ensures that your work is understood– It makes more impression– It gets you known

• You or your appointed deputy must stand by your poster throughout your poster session for maximum impact. – As all other posters you care about are probably in the same

session this calls for planning and division of labour

• Engage people who glance over the poster– Offer an explanation

– DON’T WAIT TO BE ASKED!

• Think about a short way to take people through the poster

– Use the figures– Keep to the main points

• Try to make a note of any good suggestions

Your Poster Session

What about public communication of science?

• Bringing your science to a wider audience– The audience may still be highly educated in biosciences

• e.g. Graduate School Poster and Image Competition

• Part of the Cambridge Science Festival

Dates to remember

• Dec 16th – Departmental poster and lightening talk competition• March 7-20th – Cambridge Science Festival

– Poster and image competition (Dates TBA)– Big prizes!!

• March 19th - Science Festival Vet School Open day

Examples for your comments

• Fewer words, more pictures

• The poster must give the message by itself

Enjoy your conference!

My thanks to all poster makers, especially Dr’s Rens and Tiley for letting me use

their “bad examples”