Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
TABLE 17.5 Dos and Don'ts of Poster Presentations
Do
Don't
Follow the conference-specific directions for size and
formatting
Include too much text
Use too small a font
Look at posters of others for ideas (examples can be found
online)
Choose colors or style that are too busy/
unclear/hard to read
Set an appropriate resolution and put a border around the
poster
Forget it on the plane, train, bus, etc.
Research different printing options and cost
Have Plan B ready (e.g., a copy of your poster on your
memory drive with you)
Bring extra tacks
Put your contact information on the tube and take it as
a carry-on on the airplane
TABLE 17.6 Dos, Don'ts, and Nevers of Paper Presentations
Do
Don't
Never
Become comfortable with public
speaking
Use overly technical language
Read from a paper that is in
publication format
Put too much text on each slide
Follow the conference-specific
directions
Use unnecessary animation
Read without using slides
or other visuals
Read your paper if you can avoid it
Find out how much time you will
have
Leave a slide up for too long
Keep talking after your
time is up
Use the words “um” or “uh” or other
fillers
Try to emulate a good public
speaker you admire
Put tables full of numbers on
a slide
d
only put up absolutely
necessary numbers
Write an abridged version of your
study
Organize your talk into sections of
introduction, methods, etc.
Paste figures into a slide without
ensuring the font size of the legend or
numbers is readable
Choose a high-contrast font/
background color combination
Use the same delivery style that you
would with your students
Have enough slides so that you
can switch about every 30
e
45
seconds
Put it together in advance
Relate the facts about your work
Practice, practice, practice
Remember that the goal of
presentations is to educate the
audience about the results
Be confident!