Chapter 11 Part 1在线视频

English for Presentations at International Medical Conferences

Part IV Making posters

Chapter 11 Making posters

Hello everyone

I am Tao Xin from Capital Medical University

Now we are going to talk about Chapter 11

Making posters

This chapter discusses features of a good poster

and suggested ways to design

and present an effective poster

in a medical conference

Upon finishing this chapter

you are expected to

know the features of a good poster

know steps to design an effective poster

and know how to plan, produce

and present an effective poster

Two Functions

Posters are a popular alternative to oral presentations

in medical academic meetings

They are effective ways of sharing research findings

and are usually an important component

of academic conferences

Compared to oral presentations

poster presentations engage the author

in informal discussions with interested viewers

facilitate exchange of ideas in a wider and deeper scope

and thus can be more productive

to expand networking opportunities

They may be the first opportunity

for novice investigators

to present their work in important academic settings

and prepare them for publication

in peer-reviewed journals

Information on posters should be logically outlined

visually clear and mentally attractive

To ensure efficient and effective delivery of information

about a piece of research

that in itself is a quite complex project

the poster usually mixes a brief text

with visual aids such as tables

figures and pictures

At the poster session

the researcher usually stands by the poster

while responding to questions

posed by other participants

A clear and professional poster

would capture the audience’s attention immediately

and stimulate their interest

to engage in conversations with the presenter

Three

Suggested ways to design and present a poster

What makes a good poster

Good posters generally have the following features

Posters should be readable from more than one meter away

The poster especially the important information

needs to be legible

and easy to scan at this distance

Title had better be short and eye-catching

Your name, institutional affiliation

and acknowledgements should be included

The organization need be logical

Pieces in your poster should lead viewers

through your layout

in an organized way

Be consistent and clean in the layout

Communicate your message quickly and clearly

Text needs to be brief

Illustrations also need to be simple

Ensure every item is necessary in your poster

Do not cram the space with words or visual aids

Remove distracting information or visual aids

that distract viewers

Ideally

the viewer should get the message

in 30 seconds

In-depth information can be provided in a handout

Visual appearance is equally important

as content in poster design

Use bullets, numbering and headlines

Good use of graphics

color and fonts

can greatly enhance visual effects

how to design an effective poster

One three phases of poster design

Before you actually sit down to work on poster design

begin with the following three questions

to organize your thoughts

One

What is the most unique,

important and eye-catching finding from my research

Two

What is the best way for me

to share my research with colleagues

Should charts, tables, graphs,

photos or images be used

Three

What additional information

can I supply in my talk

to complement my poster

The above questions guide the three phases

in designing posters

planning, production and presentation

In this section

let’s discuss the first two phases

planning and production in poster design

planning

First

think before you leap

“Planning” means to decide on the content

to be presented in the poster

Only put the most essential information

“The elevator pitch” principle suggests that

if it only takes the audience the amount of time

for rising up one floor in the elevator

to catch the main message

then the poster is a successful one

Remember

the viewers only give you 50-90 seconds

before they decide to stay or leave

So you have to strike a balance

between being creative and being clear

You need to clarify the task you are given

accentuate the importance of your research

and appeal to the audience

while at the same time

you cannot make it too obscure

An effective solution is to constantly

think of your target audience

and the take-home message

you want to give them

You can approach the task from these three aspects

Is the objective of your poster to report findings

to propose an argument

to convince the audience

or to promote a product

Only the content that is closely pertinent

to the objective needs to be included

Who would be the target audience

a clinical specialist

a medical researcher

the general public or students

The audience’s academic background

can help you decide what is known

and thus not to be included in the poster

What would they be interested in

detailed information or a summary

Present the information that will definitely

arouse the audience’s interest

to interact and talk with you

With answers to the above three questions

you have made a rough decision

on the type and amount of material

to be displayed

Again “less is more”

and constantly ask yourself

what could be left out

Two

Plan sections of your poster

The same as research papers

posters follow the IMRaD

Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion model

The Introduction section outlines the background

and aim of the research

Typically one statement would suffice

for background information

summarizing current development in the area

what is unknown

and how your study fills the gap

A hypothesis can be proposed in this part

The Methods section specifies the research design

participants, intervention

outcome measures and method of statistical analysis

The Results section reports quantitative data

including a description of subjects

participants who were excluded

data about the most important outcome variables

and statistical analysis results

The Discussion section concisely states

the conclusion and implications

Conclusions should be firmly based on data

rather than on personal speculations

Three

How to manage poster flow

Once the content has been decided

the next question would be

how to display the information that

would be convenient to reading

and facilitative to understanding

A fluent poster flow guides the audience

throughout the reading and provides a smooth

and pleasant reading experience

To achieve that

an outline plan that decides the overall structure

of the poster would be helpful

The overall structure of the poster should be

clear and logical

A grid system can help to lay out

a clear sequence of information

as in Figure 1

The grids break down the whole space

into handy and convenient sized areas

Rows extending across the page

and columns travelling down the page

become two main visual clues

These paths can be very useful

in organizing your information

presenting the viewers with logical and easy flows

to guide their thoughts as well as eyes

To produce the most effective layout

you can try rough sketches of your poster arrangement

and see how information can be assembled

Use a pencil and a white paper

at a reduced scale of the poster

to freely experiment with various alternative designs

Once the basic layout is established

you can print out rough versions of the poster

and move sections around

with a scissor and glue

and combine sections in various ways

This can give you a direct visual display

of different sequences and layouts

and make a more informed decision

about the amount of information needed

and the most effective display