Presenter Guidelines
The schedule lists specific times for oral presentations each
day. Poster sessions are scheduled for daily morning or afternoon
blocks, in addition to the daily 5-7 p.m. poster receptions.
Poster presenters are asked to be available by their posters
for at least one hour during their assigned block in the morning
or afternoon. To help identify poster presenters, photographs
of each presenter will be made (or you may bring your own photo)
to be displayed with your poster. Poster boards will be fabric-covered,
free-standing and 8' long by 4' high on 3' legs. Push pins
and velcro will be provided.
To find a particular presentataion type, day, and time, please
use http://registration.outreach.usf.edu/erf1/search.asp.
Enter the primary presenter's lastname (or any of the other options
given) and hit "search now." The table of all presentations
is at http://registration.outreach.usf.edu/erf1/presentations.asp.
General Oral Presentation Guidelines
Two slide projectors and screens and an overhead projetor will
be available in each oral session room. If you require additional
equipment, please contact Sherryl Gilbert (727-553-1036,sgilbert@marine.usf.edu)
by October 15, 2001.
If you wish to use PowerPoint for your presentation, please
see The PowerPoint guidelines
for more details.
General Poster Presentation Guidelines
Like other forms of presentation, the main purpose of a poster
is to convey a scientific message to an interested audience. A
poster presentation combines visual, written and verbal communication.
A good poster balances these three elements and is:
· Brief and clearly organized
· Simple with one or two obvious take home messages
· Easy to read from 1 or 2 meters away
· Attractive and aesthetically pleasing
Audience
When designing your poster, consider your audience. Most viewers
will be 1-2 meters away as they read, and your material must not
only be attractive and interesting but clearly legible to hold
their attention. Most people will be standing as they view your
poster and it is tiring to read this way. Large blocks of text
are challenging and most viewers will be put off by them. Therefore,
keep text to a minimum, separating blocks of text with figures
or pictures. The experts suggest that blocks of text should not
exceed 20 lines, although 10 is probably best (Davis, 1997). Whenever
possible use bullet lists. Studies show that a typical reader
will spend only 90 seconds perusing a poster before moving on.
Who is your audience? Essentially, members of the audience will
fall into one of three categories:
· Colleagues who follow your work closely
· Those who work in the same general area
· Those whose work and interests have nothing to do with
yours
Your poster should target the second group. The first group will
visit you to get an update on your work. The third group will
just not be interested. Your work will be interesting and meaningful
to the second group, if you can capture their attention.
Content
· Abstract: The abstract should be short and concise,
stating: the problem, hypothesis or objective and its relevance;
what was done to solve the problem, test the hypothesis or meet
the objective; and what happened.
· Introduction: Briefly justify your study. Highlight
the objective, purpose or hypothesis using a separate subsection
or by a bullet list or bold print.
· Methods: Keep this section brief, unless your
purpose is to present a new method. Wherever possible use pictures,
flowcharts, or bullet lists to summarize methods. In most cases
great detail is not required. Intricacies can be saved for verbal
discussion with interested parties.
· Results: This is the most important section of
the presentation. Limit text, but use clear tables, graphs or
other illustrations for the data. Present enough relevant data
to make your points. Extraneous information, no matter how interesting,
will detract from your main point. Save such material for another
presentation.
· Discussion: Briefly, explain why the results are
significant. This section often can be merged with the Conclusions.
· Conclusions: Keep them brief and in list form.
Do not restate results. Clearly, summarize the key significant
points or contributions of your study. Place your results in the
context of current theory.
· Literature Cited (if appropriate).
Presentation
Your poster should tell a short story with one or two memorable
take home messages. Two problems commonly obscure the message.
The first concerns content, the second visual presentation. Avoid
presenting too much. Focus your presentation to include the one
or two most significant aspects of your work. Present only the
data that supports these significant aspects. Remember, you can
save all the other exciting things you have found for a verbal
discussion or another presentation. One way to keep your message
simple and focussed is to think of your poster as an expanded
abstract rather than a condensed journal article.
Secondly, keep the display simple, clear and pleasing to the
eye. "With colors, shapes, and illustrations, or with words
themselves, no device should be used that is merely decorative
and attracts attention to itself and away from the science"
(Davis, 1997). Your poster tells a story, with a beginning, a
middle, and an end. The visual organization of your poster should
reflect this. Here are some useful tips. Also, check out the sample
poster.
· Graphs and Tables: As with the rest of your poster,
strive for brevity, simplicity, and clarity. Here are some rules
of thumb. Tables with more than 20 data cells will begin to overwhelm
a typical viewer. Similarly, graphs with no more than three lines
or six bars are preferable. Include captions and legends but keep
them short and informative. Maintain a consistent labeling system
for all graphs. When data of the same type are presented on separate
graphs, it may be useful to use the same scale on all axes.
· TYPE SIZE: Text must be legible. The title should
be legible from at least 5 meters and text from 1-2 meters. Minimum
recommended type sizes are summarized below.
Table 1. Minimum recommended font sizes.
|
Font Size
|
|
| Title |
90 |
| Heading |
60 |
| Subheading |
30 |
| Text |
18 |
· Type Style: To maintain legibility avoid the use
of ornate or script fonts. Blocky fonts like Swiss, Helvetica
and Arial or conservative serif types like Times Roman and Bookman
read well. In the body of the text, follow normal convention when
employing italics and capital letters.
· Layout: Organize your poster from left to right
and top to bottom. One good method is to divide your material
into 3 to 5 logical sections. Layout each section as a vertical
module on your poster, moving from left to right and leaving space
between each module. Empty space is important and can be used
to separate parts of your poster or establish relationships between
modules or sections. Avoid clutter.
· Background: Advances in computer technology have
created a plethora of graphic possibilities. Just as you can choose
a color photo of your favorite estuary as a backdrop for your
computer's desktop, so can you print your entire poster on such
a photo. Such backgrounds call attention to the background, not
your science. Often your material will be very difficult to read
and visually obscured. However conventional it may be, choose
a background that accentuates the material you want to present.
· Colors: Do not use fluorescent or intense colors
for anything. Colors can be used on graphs, but should consistently
represent the same population or variable throughout. According
to Imhof (1982), subdued or neutral colors toned down with grey
are best for backgrounds and large areas. Blues, browns, greens
or grays are appropriate for framing. Background for text and
graphs can be white, but off -white or beige is easier on the
eyes.
· Yourself: You are the verbal part of your poster
presentation. Practice a short (1-2 minute) summary of your work
using your poster as a visual aid. Dress neatly. Be prepared to
answer questions. Stay with your poster during your poster session.
Don't be discouraged if there is not a continuous flow of people
by your poster. Studies have shown that people tend to move in
waves or groups.
Putting the Poster Together
· Plan Ahead: While you are doing your research
anticipate a possible poster or other kind of presentation. Take
lots of pictures. Weeks before your presentation decided on the
content, write the text and make the appropriate tables and graphs.
Advances in computer hardware and software make possible the electronic
construction of your poster. If this option is not available to
you, try the old-fashioned way: cut and paste.
· Paper: Print text and graphs on heavy weight
paper. This will glue to mat board more easily and the color of
the mat board will not show through. Cut the mat board large enough
to frame each object (text, graph, picture). When cutting mat
board or paper use sharp tools and a straightedge. Measure carefully,
even small deviations will cause objects to appear lopsided.
· Other Tips: In order to transport your poster
to the meeting, divide the poster into smaller sections that can
be packed. Assemble into larger units when you mount the poster
at the meeting. Velcro seems best for mounting, although stickpins
are still commonly used.
· Before You Glue: Have some friends or colleagues
review your poster for layout, misspellings etc.
Literature Cited:
Davis, M. 1997. Scientific papers and presentations. Academic
Press, San Diego.
Imhof, E. 1982. Cartographic relief presentations. De Gruyter,
New York.
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