Writing effective bullet points for your poster What

Writing effective bullet points for your poster. . .

What does a bullet point do? l Purpose of bullet points. – Should grab or hook the reader and keep their attention. – Tells key idea only. » Or the total sum of the key ideas in a “slide” – It’s like a headline (www. copyblogger. com) » A good one grabs you. » Tells key points. » Makes you want to read further.

Characteristics of good bullet points on a slide or poster. . . l No full sentences; defeats purpose. l Keep tense the same across all bullet points. l Be consistent (e. g. , start with Cap; end with the same punctuation).

Characteristics of good bullet points (continued) l Should all be related to the section (i. e. , introduction, synthesis, conclusions). l Together, bullet points should look symmetric. l Consider sub-bullets, but sparingly.

Characteristics of good bullet points (continued) Can add emphasis with Bold, italics, or underline. l Avoid extra words (e. g. , “Secondly”, “Another point”). l – Avoid “fluffy” language, adjectives, etc. l Be concise---- 6 x 6 rule (6 bullet points, 6 words each) (www. thinkoutsidetheslide. com) – Lofty goal but idea is minimize text.

Bullet points in your poster l May want to start out by writing what the key idea is for introduction, synthesis, conclusion sections. – Then begin trimming (i. e. , simplifying). – May take several drafts. – Get a 2 nd (and 3 rd) opinion – naïve reader will see things that you don’t see! – Ask, “is the main point I want to convey to the reader? ” – Is the content appropriate for this section?

Example for Background: l If the PICOT was related to whether depressive symptoms in girls are related to accrual of bone density across adolescence. . . – What might the background or intro-duction look like with bullet points? – Write down what you think the bullets might be about before you click on the next slide.

l What did you write down? Try before you go to the next slide and be sure to read slide annotation on the next slide.

Bullets: intro. /background annotation) l l l (read Osteoporosis: a significant health problem; primarily in elderly women (ref). – Impacts X million; costing $X annually. – >50% of bone mineral density (BMD) accrued in adolescence (ref). » Optimum time to maximize “bone bank”. Low BMD associated with adult depression (refs). – Depression rises in adolescence; particularly girls (ref). – Bone-depression association unknown in girls. Examining whether depression impacts BMD across adolescence may lead to early intervention/prevention efforts for osteoporosis, future fracture.