CCCC Undergraduate Researcher Poster Session

Composing Your Poster

Guidelines for Your Design

In 2024, we’re offering you the opportunity to participate in-person in Spokane (April 4, 2024, 10:30 AM Pacific), online during an Online Poster Session Conversation Hour (April 11, 2024, 11:00 AM Eastern), or both. Presenters are asked to prepare two items for their presentation:

  • A poster that follows the content and design strategies outlined below. If you present in-person, you’ll have this poster printed to hang on a display board. Most presenters design a 48″ wide x 36″ tall poster or a 36″ wide x 48″ tall poster. Regardless of whether you present in-person or online, you’ll submit both JPG and PDF versions to display on this website. AND
  • A 3- to 5-minute video in which the undergraduate researcher introduces their research, briefly describes their research methods, shares key findings, and discusses the potential significance of their results. Your video can include screenshots of your poster to provide visual cues as you talk viewers through your research. We’ll provide more details to accepted presenters soon.

ePosters and videos will be shared with CCCC attendees in advance of the scheduled Poster Presentation times so that you can focus on conversation and discussing audience questions during your presentation time.

Space Guidelines for Design

The in-person poster display area will have bulletin boards to which you can tack your poster. The poster display boards typically are 4’ x 8’, and your poster must fit comfortably within that space. Most presenters design a 48″ wide x 36″ tall poster or a 36″ wide x 48″ tall poster. There are enough display boards to accommodate one poster per side of the board.

Most office supply stores (e.g., Office Max, Office Depot) with printing services can print posters from PowerPoint files, InDesign files, and other desktop publishing or presentation programs. Check with your campus’ Media Services or Print Services to see if they have similar options. Do not mount your poster on foam board. You’ll hang your poster on a bulletin board, so you need to be able to push thumb tacks or push pins through your poster.

Content Guidelines

Your poster should serve as a conversation starter about your research project. Therefore it needs enough information for readers to get a gist of your project, but you should be rhetorically strategic with detailed information. What details might be best displayed visually? What details can you provide through conversation with your audience members?

To spark conversation about your project, your poster should include:

  • Your project title
  • Your name and school
  • Your research mentor’s name and title
  • Your research question
  • Information about how your attempted to answer your question (methods)
  • Your results
  • The significance of those results – to you, to the field, or to other specific groups

Your poster also might include:

  • Pictures
  • Graphs
  • An explanation of your interest in the question
  • A statement of how the work relates to your major/interests/goals
  • Next Steps or ideas for future research
  • Acknowledgements of people who helped you

We’re happy to help you think about what content to include – and how to include it. Email Dr. Moore at jmoore28@elon.edu with questions or to schedule a time for a phone/Skype conversation with one or more of us.

Design Strategies

Posters are most effective when they mix visuals and text, include plenty of white space, and guide the reader through the material with a logical organization. Here are some tips for planning your poster:

  1. Brainstorm what content you want to include in your presentation: What could be presented visually? What could you tell visitors (rather than showing them on the poster)? What needs to be in text?
  2. Sketch out your poster on a regular piece of paper. You don’t need to include all the text and visuals; instead, draw and label blocks to represent chunks of information. Experiment with different orientations for your poster. You’ll fine-tune the visual design later.
  3. When you have a general layout you like, start working on the detailed content. Draft your text and create your visuals. Give yourself time to revise and edit.
  4. Test the visual layout of your content. Spread out your text chunks and visuals on the floor. Can you read the text from a standing position or does it need to be larger? Ask a friend or roommate if the organization makes sense to them. Have them talk through how they read the materials and what questions they have. If the questions are things you could answer in conversation, great! If the questions reflect confusion about your project, you might need to revise.

Setting Up for the In-Person Poster Session

You are responsible for transporting your poster to and from the conference site. Ideally, print your poster in a size that can be rolled up and slid into a tube for transport.

The poster display boards are 4’ x 8’, and your poster must fit comfortably within that space. Most presenters design a 48″ wide x 36″ tall poster or a 36″ wide x 48″ tall poster. There are enough display boards to accommodate one poster per side of the board. You are responsible for hanging your own poster on the display board; the planning team will bring push pins, but you also are welcome to bring your own.

Please set up your poster on Thursday morning and leave your poster for viewing until 1:30 PM. Space is available on a first come, first choice of location basis within the area designated for undergraduate researchers’ posters. Posters may only be displayed on the display boards provided in the designated area.

Your Poster Session

If you are presenting in-person in Spokane, your poster will be on display from 10:30 AM to 1:30 PM on Thursday, April 4, and you have a designated session time slot (10:30 – 11:45 AM) during which you will “present” your poster and interact with attendees about your work. Please arrive a few minutes early and stay near your poster throughout the duration of your presentation time (until 11:45 AM). You are welcome to present until 1:30 PM, if you wish.

If you are presenting online, your poster will be on display on this website and showcased in a Gather meeting space during the one hour Online Poster Session Conversation Hour. Audience members will be able to view your poster and visit with you about your research via Gather’s video meeting platform.

Poster Presentation Tips:

  • Develop a “talk” that will complement your poster’s information; consider probable viewer questions as you prepare.
  • Prepare a few different versions of your poster “talk”:
    • a quick 30-second overview of the project
    • a 60-second summary plus brief explanations about each major poster heading
    • a 3-minute explanation of the poster and its visual content
  • Practice your talk, complete with gestures, while maintaining eye contact.
  • During the poster session, allow viewers some time look at poster’s content, particularly the visuals, and then tell them about it.
  • Presenting in-person? Bring your business cards and a stack of handouts that summarize your presentation for attendees to take away from your session. You also can bring a sign-up sheet to collect contact information to email additional information after the Convention to those interested.
  • Presenting online? Consider having a link ready to share to your LinkedIn page, ePortfolio, or personal website (as applicable).

Resources

“Infographic: Tips for Designing Better Research Posters” by Natalia Rodriguez

“Creating Effective Poster Presentations” by George Hess, Kathryn Tosney, and Leon Liegel

“The Basics of Poster Design” by the Washington NASA Space Grant Consortium

“Creating a Poster” by Michael Alley

Thank you, Eli Review, for your support of the CCCC Undergraduate Researcher Poster Session!