Assignment Planner: Poster Presentation

Read the instructions carefully, highlighting the major goals and requirements for the assignment. 

If you’ve never done a poster presentation before or would like a refresher, review the common expectations and features, do a genre analysis, and/or look at samples. Use the UT Libraries LibGuide to find out more about poster presentations. 

• Notice how posters are visually organized; what information is presented; if there are visuals and if so, what types; and font, colors, and white space. Look at posters from students at the University of Texas, Austin and the University of Maryland. 

Think about how the information that you have (or will have, if you haven’t completed the research) aligns with poster presentation content, some of which are optional depending on your discipline. Again, look at some samples.

• Social Sciences and STEM usually expect the same components as an IMRaD paper or lab report. Humanities may not require a methods section on a poster presentation but will still require an introduction, overview of research, and conclusion.

Think about how you can visually share research. What information can you present during your short presentation–sometimes called a  lightning talk–that can complement the poster?
 If you have questions, ask your instructor, TA, or a tutor from the Judith Anderson Herbert Writing Center.

(This step should take 10% of your project time)

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Plan the poster layout. 

• Check to see if there are conference-specific requirements for posters for dimensions and  layouts.
• There are different options for laying out your main points to present depending on how you want to emphasize different aspects of your research.  You can use UTK’s templates for vertical and horizontal posters, EURēCA’s poster templates, or templates by PowerPoint and Adobe Express. 
• If you have an already-written text that serves as the basis for your poster, keep in mind the goal of cutting down that text for greater readability and conciseness rather than copying and pasting it into your poster sections.
• Consider scheduling a consultation with The Studio in Hodges Library.

Find out about the requirements and the deadlines for printing your poster. This may change your timeline, so now is the time to think about this.  

• You can print on or off campus (for an in-person presentation). The Studio or Pendergrass Library, FedEx, UCopy in the Student Union, and University Printing and Mail print posters. Be sure to check their policies and costs now.

Gather or create the visuals you’ll need. 

• Most viewers of poster presentations expect visuals such as charts, graphs, and/or images. If you have visuals from a write-up or data collection, you can use those. If not, consider creating visuals to display your data easily. 
• Data visualization will help you display quantitative data clearly.. You can make charts and graphs easily with programs like Microsoft Excel, Tableau, Datawrapper, and ChartBlocks. RStudio can generate sophisticated visualizations, though it requires the user to run code.
• Images also display data and can attract viewers’ attention. Make sure your  images have high enough resolution. You can improve resolution through Adobe Photoshop, which you may have access to through UTK. 

Make sure to use (and cite) the right types of images. Check the UT Libraries resources page on using images correctly. 

• Know about citing Creative Commons images, and ensure that you’re using within copyright laws. You can also use copyright-free images or your own.

(This step should take 20% of your project time)

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Note: the following steps are listed in a suggested order, but feel free to approach them in whichever order will best help you with your project.

Draft poster sections in the order that feels appropriate. Include relevant visuals.

As you draft the poster, think about readability. Again, don’t simply copy and paste text from a written version of your research; shorten the text for this new situation in which readers will spend less time engaging with your work than they would with a paper. Use font, white space, text size and color, and alignment to highlight important information. Check out other guidelines for content and typography.

Specific rhetorical choices make it easier or more difficult to access for any reader. Stay mindful of making your poster presentation accessible for different audiences. If your poster presentation is virtual, consider designing your presentation with these steps in mind. 

• UTK has guidelines for accessible colors. You can also check the accessibility rating of color pairs. 
• If you will be presenting at a conference with presenters from outside the University, check out UTK’s branding page for information about including the school logo and colors. 

Optional: Design a handout (optional)

• A handout may not be required, but it can be useful to provide further information about your research and help audiences continue to engage with it after the presentation.

Make sure you’re avoiding plagiarism by acknowledging your use of others’ ideas, statements, and visuals. Use in-text citations, and create a reference page for any sources, including images, that you use. Check the guidelines for your poster presentation for where to cite references on your poster.

(This step should take 30% of your project time)

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Get feedback on your poster from your instructor in office hours, make an appointment with the Judith Anderson Herbert Writing Center, or ask a peer to review your work, using the assignment guidelines or rubric, or the judging guidelines from EURēCA. One effective way to review the written portions of your poster draft on your own is to read them out loud; see these suggestions. 

(This step should take 10% of your project time)

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Revise and edit your work as needed, based on the feedback you receive about content and design. 

Return to your assignment guidelines and/or rubric to review your work as carefully as possible.

(This step should take 15% of your project time)

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Proofread your work carefully and slowly. Remember the “read out loud” approach to reviewing your work–it can help you find things you might otherwise miss. 

• Review the citation guidelines again to make sure you’ve followed them. Consider making an appointment with the Judith Anderson Herbert Writing Center with any questions about citations.

You can print on or off campus (for an in-person presentation). The Studio or Pendergrass Library, FedEx, UCopy in the Student Union, and University Printing and Mail print posters. 

Most poster presentations include an oral component, and now is the time to practice! If you’ve done presentations before, think about the strategies that you used to keep your audience engaged. 

• You can reserve the Presentation Practice Room (North Commons, 220G) or the Martha L. King Presentation Room (North Commons, 220C) in Hodges Library, or make an appointment with the Public Speaking Center.

(This step should take 15% of your project time)

Return to the Assignment Planners page already open in another tab or window to continue with the next step, or return to the Assignment Planners tool to start again.