 Academic Poster's Introduction Academic posters, or research posters, have been widely used in academia throughout history. Chances are you've been making them yourself since elementary school to accompany your science fair presentations or class project. According to Purdue University, academic posters are used to visually represent the general overview, data, and most relevant findings of a research project, concisely and attractively. Typically, academic posters accompany an oral presentation, but should also be able to stand alone to accurately represent your research. Creating a beautiful and effective academic poster is a skill that can be useful throughout your academic career and even into the workplace. In this module, we'll explore the elements of a successful academic poster to help you prepare for your next big presentation. When you think of a research poster, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Is it blocks of unreadable text? Unfortunately, this is the impression that a lot of academic posters leave behind. We tend to want to include as much of our precious research as possible to convey to our audience exactly how we may have reached the conclusions that we did. But a good academic poster should not be a bottomless pit where we dump all of our data. Only carefully selected information and visuals should be included on your poster. Above all, a poster should be a networking and communication tool. The primary purpose of an academic poster is not to convey every little detail of your research, but to attract people's attention and ultimately to act as a conversation starter. Your audience does not want to stand right by your poster to read a wall of text. They want you to share the story of your research and engage in conversation about it. If you're at a crowded conference or research fair, the best case scenario is to have a poster with visuals that will draw people in from a distance. Then, as they step closer to begin to read your poster, you can give your prepared presentation or more informally provide background information on your research. There are generally four steps to take when it comes to creating an award-winning academic poster. Step 1, scripting. Before you even begin your poster design, you'll want to create an outline for the poster's text. Start by asking yourself who your target audience is. This way, everything you write can be geared towards them and their level of knowledge on your topic. If your audience has other experts in your field, you may be able to get away with more technical language than if you're presenting your research to the general public. Next, take your research and turn it into bullet points. You don't want long paragraphs scattered throughout your poster. You want to concisely convey your information and present only the key takeaways for your audience. The details can be fleshed out by your oral presentation. If possible, try to keep your word count around 250 words in total and no more than 800. Then, take your bullet points and organize them into sections with headers. Generally, these sections should include a title, an introduction to your research question, a brief overview of your materials and methods, your results, an insightful discussion of your conclusion, properly cited references, acknowledgments of the assistance and support you receive from others, and contact information. If not specifically requested, do not include your abstract on your academic poster as the poster itself is acting as a visual abstract of your research. Step two, concept. This is where the fun begins. Grab a piece of paper or open your design software and create a rough draft of your poster. Decide on the layout and style. Will your poster be oriented landscape or portrait? Are there guidelines in place for the overall poster size? If not, A0 size is a safe bet. Then work out how your panels will be organized. To avoid visual confusion, map out a clear directional flow that the reader can easily follow. Feel free to use numbers or arrows to help your audience navigate the order that your sections should be read in. Remember to leave ample white space on your poster. It's important to leave space around the edges of your poster and between your panels, images and titles. This will avoid any information being cut off during printing as well as prevent your poster from feeling cluttered. Step three, design. Once you have your poster outlined, it's time to fill it with content. Add the text that you've prepared and begin to design the overall look of your poster. It's smart to include at least one big eye-catching visual that is related to the topic of your poster. This will help to draw out an audience and get your poster noticed. From across a room, many posters just look like a big wall of text. Adding a big, recognizable image breaks up the text and creates visual interest even from further away. Make sure any images you add are high enough resolution that they won't get blurry when printed at a larger size. With color, the important thing is to keep it consistent. Sticking to a color palette will help make your work stand out and will keep your message on track. We suggest you choose two to five colors, with one as your main color and one as your secondary color. Any other colors you choose should be used more sparingly to add interest or emphasis. This includes your charts and graphs. If you're not sure what colors look good together, many tools, including PowerPoint, offer themes and color variants you can choose from. There are also free tools online that offer color palette suggestions. Having a consistent color palette will help important information stand out. Keep the contrast of the colors in mind. If a background color and the text or image on top are too similar, they may blend into one another and will be harder to see. Your background should always be a simple, solid color. If you find the contrasts is too low in any area of your poster, considering using colored shapes behind the text or images to make them more visible, fonts and font sizes work a bit like colors. That is, the fewer you use, the better. Limit yourself to no more than two or three fonts and be consistent in their use. For example, one font for headings and one for body text. A third font choice might be used for emphasis, but you could also use a different color or size for that purpose instead. Boldface should be used on titles and headlines, while all the rest should be regular. In general, sans serif fonts are preferred over serif fonts. Think Calgary vs Times New Roman, and make sure your font is large enough that your text is visible from a further distance. Something to remember to include is your contact information. You may have a stunning poster, but if you're not around, how are people going to reach out to you at the end of the day? Add your name, of course, as well as your email. You could even add a QR code to your LinkedIn or pass out business cards. Step 4. Get your poster ready for print. Now that you've designed your masterpiece poster, before sending it to print, make sure to get some feedback. Ask a couple people to review your design and proofread, and if you have anyone who is familiar with your subject, get them to review your content. Print out a sample of your poster at home on regular paper to make sure that the important information isn't too close to the margins and nothing gets cut off. Double check that all your images are high enough resolution. Then you should be ready to print. Try to avoid glossy or shiny paper, as these may create annoying reflections or glare. You can print your poster at major office supply stores, as well as smaller print shops, or check with your college library if they offer printing services. If professional print jobs are inaccessible, you can always print out the individual sections at home and organize them on a poster board yourself. Congratulations! At this point, you should have a professional-looking poster. You're ready to share it with the world. Remember that having a beautiful academic poster is just the start. The poster is a conversation starter to prepare and practice a short pitch or presentation to explain your project to an audience. Be ready to answer questions and to have a conversation with your viewers. A poster can be a fantastic networking and communication tool, but it cannot do all the work. Once you're comfortable walking people through your poster and your research, you'll be ready to ace any conference or presentation.