Poster Presentation Workshop What posters do and how

Poster Presentation Workshop What posters do and how to do them well. 01/2017 Adam Papendieck, Writer in Residence, Jackson School of Geosciences apapendieck@jsg. utexas. edu

Posters are advertisements for your work and yourself Goals • Introduce yourself • Show what you care about and why • Show off your best work • Distinguish yourself in a busy, crowded, often confusing scientific field Audiences • Peers / researchers with similar interests • Potential collaborators across fields • Prospective employers • Prospective advisors / academic connections • Funders

Issue 1: Visual chaos • Too much text • Paper is essentially presented in full • Impenetrable wall of info • Figures or information is too dense or complex at a glance Things that may help • Ask yourself if you are playing offense or defense with the poster • Think of your poster as a conversation starter, not an intellectual shield • Create a more detailed handout or webpage for people who are particularly interested or critical

Issue 2: Ineffective verbal engagement • It’s “elevator speech” not “trapped-in-an-elevator speech” • Presenter is doesn’t actually understand the work presented • Presenter is not able to articulate main points and importance Things that may help • Think of a specific person to personify your audiences: • an ideal boss • your college roommate who is smart like you but does not do the same kind of work • Develop multiple elevator pitches: perhaps a 3 minute and 10 minute version • Practice on real people, field real questions, get holistic feedback (content and presentation style)

Takeaways • Thoroughly understand your various audiences and your goals • Prepare shorter and longer versions of your talk accordingly • Consider creating handouts (even if you don’t use them) • • wordpress. com figshare. com sites. utexas. edu tinyurl. com Focus on a single message, or clear set of related findings or points Let graphs and images tell the story; use text sparingly Keep the poster simple, well-ordered and obvious Remember you are presenting yourself as well as your work • • Knowledgeable Curious Engaging Professional

Printing your poster • On the main campus see Jeffrey Horowitz. • Email him at jeffh@austin. utexas. edu • Signup board • Jeff works T-F 10 am-3 pm (lunch 12 -1). • Pickle research campus has printers available for students to use at UTIG and BEG.

Peer Feedback • This is a workshop environment. We are working together. • Be respectful and professional • Be honest and helpful • Help prioritize issues. Our work is always draft. • Help your peers find the best path forward. • Recognize the value of the feedback you receive • Real feedback is useful and hard to get • Remember it is your poster, and you decide what to do with feedback

Poster Evaluation Form Appearance 5 is strong agreement 1. Display attracts viewer's attention. 12345 2. The poster is neat and appealing to look at. 12345 3. The poster is uncluttered and has sufficient whitespace. 12345 4. Poster is well organized and easy to follow. 12345 5. Graphics and other visuals enhance presentation. 12345 6. Words are easy to read from an appropriate distance (3 -6 feet). 12345 7. The poster is free of spelling, punctuation or grammatical errors. 12345 8. Title, authors, affiliations, contact information, date are clearly visible. 12345

Poster Evaluation Form Content 9. Content is clear and easy to understand. 12345 10. Purpose of the research is stated clearly. 12345 11. It is clear why someone might be interested in the work presented. 12345 12. There is enough detail about methods for me to understand results. 12345 13. The approach taken is appropriate for the problem and technically sound. 12345 14. Poster is free of unnecessary detail. 12345 15. Conclusions are stated clearly. 12345 16. Conclusions are supported by results. 12345 17. Figures are clearly and descriptively captioned. 12345 18. References, citations are appropriate and wellformatted. 12345

Poster Evaluation Form Presentation 19. Presenter is able to clearly summarize the subject 12345 matter in 3 -5 minutes. 20. Presenter's response to questions demonstrated knowledge of subject matter and project. 12345 21. Presenter is professional, engaging, well-spoken and understandable. 12345 Overall, this was a really good poster presentation. 12345

Getting More Help https: //goo. gl/HV 9 i. Gc

https: //goo. gl/HV 9 i. Gc

Getting More Help

References • Greenhow, C. , Robelia, B. , & Hughes, J. E. (2009). Learning, Teaching, and Scholarship in a Digital Age: Web 2. 0 and Classroom Research: What Path Should We Take Now? Educational Researcher, 38(4), 246– 259. http: //doi. org/10. 3102/0013189 X 09336671 • Jenkins, H. , Clinton, K. , Purushotma, R. , Robison, A. J. , & Weigel, M. (2006). Confronting the challenges of participatory culture: Media education for the 21 st century. Mac. Arthur Foundation Publication, 1(1), 1– 59. • Laszlo, P. (2007). Communicating science: A practical guide. Springer Science & Business Media. • Mosher, S. (2016, January). Overview of NSF Survey Results: 2014 Summit, Survey, Geoscience Employers Workshop. Presented at the Department Heads & Chairs Summit on the Future of Geoscience Undergraduate Education, Austin, TX. Retrieved from http: //www. jsg. utexas. edu/events/files/Summit_2016_overview_results_Friday. pdf • Rowan, L. , Leahy, P. , & Zoback, M. (2008). Critical Needs for the Twenty First Century: The Role of the Geosciences. In AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts (Vol. 1, p. 1338).

(Laszlo, 2007) History of the poster • Renaissance emblematic images • Succinct visual story • short motto • emblematic image (a picture that tells a story) • epigrammatic text (witty poem) • Molecular biology conferences of 60 s-70 s • • Rapidly expanding field Numerous participants Too many papers Funding tied to presentation

Poster symposia are unique opportunities • Rapidly survey “landscapes” of scientific practice • Hone your ideas, arguments, and communication skills with real people and real time feedback • Experience “alternative norms” of various disciplines (Jenkins et al. , 2006) • Engage productively in your disciplinary practice • Dress, talk, see the world, think and practice science around other scientists

Breakout Workshop Sessions • Ideally 15 minutes dedicated to each participants • Show poster and give elevator speech • ~3 minutes presentation • ~10 minutes of feedback, discussion • each group member will give an evaluation form to the presenter • Goals • Practice • Thinking • Identify main issues and next steps

Groups • Group 1: Dennis – 2. 308 • Group 2: Pamela – 2. 310 • Group 3: Rachel - Student Center Conference Room • Group 4: Adam – Career Center Conference Room