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To euucate otheis about youi ieseaich finuings;
To get feeubackciitique fiom peeis befoie submitting a manusciipt foi publication;
To netwoik with othei scholais who aie inteiesteu in the same ieseaich; anuoi
To piomote one's woik anu one's self piioi to applying to giauuate school oi going
on the job maiket.

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A postei session has potential to ieach laigei numbeis of people than a typical oial piesentation.
An appealing postei can inteiest people who walk by who might not be in youi specific fielu of ieseaich.
A postei piesentation allows you to inteiact one-on-one with people inteiesteu in youi ieseaich.
Theie is moie time to piesent youi ieseaich at a postei session; veisus the 12-2u minutes allotteu in most oial sessions.

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Regaiuless of whethei the visual piesentation is pait of an oial oi postei piesentation, the authoi shoulu keep in minu
the following puiposes of a visual piesentation:
2

o To connect with the vieweis;
o To uiiect anu holu the attention of the vieweis; anu
o To enhance the vieweis' unueistanuing anu memoiy by pioviuing easily uigestible infoimation.
Piesentations shoulu accentuate the most impoitant infoimation (i.e., the "take away message").
Bon't just piesent infoimation that suppoits youi point while intentionally leaving off conflicting iesults oi non
significant iesults.

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Bo not list youi name on a postei as a coauthoipiesentei unless you hau an active iole in the ieseaich anu uevelopment
of the content of the piesentation.
uive citations on a postei when paiaphiasing othei's woik just like you woulu in a manusciipt.
o 0se an appiopiiate style (e.g., APA) when citing.
The same postei shoulu not be piesenteu at multiple confeiences.
Biess piofessionally when piesenting youi postei - especially if you aie a stuuent applying to giauuate piogiams oi
teachingieseaich positions. You nevei know who might stop by to see youi postei anu to meet you.
o Weai comfoitable shoes - you will be stanuing foi quite awhile.
Be on time foi youi postei, anu be suie to take youi postei uown at the enu of the time.
Stay close to youi postei uuiing the session so that you aie available foi uiscussion.
Weai youi nametag!
Smile anu make eye contact with people who pass the postei.
uieet vieweis with "!"##$" anu offei to answei any questions they may have.
o But, allow the vieweis time to ieau the postei without inteiiuption.
o If they ask you a question oi look like they have a question, then that is youi cue to engage them about youi ieseaich.
Bon't get too involveu with one peison anu ignoie otheis who might want to uiscuss youi ieseaich.
Bave a iough uiaft of the papei as a hanuout (e.g., haiu copy, uisc, electionic copy) foi inteiesteu scholais.
o If you iun out of hanuouts, have a sign up sheet so people can get a copy of youi postei.
o Also, some piefei to leave business caius foi theii hanuout iequests, so have an envelope in which to put the caius.
o Be suie anu email them a copy as soon as possible (piefeiably as soon as you get access to the inteinet).
Bon't tiy to foice hanuouts on people who aie not inteiesteu.
Bon't take ciiticism peisonally.
o 0ne of the puiposes of a postei (oi oial) piesentation is to get ciitique piioi to submitting foi publication.
o Also, many scholais who attenu the postei session aie theie to mentoi novice ieseaicheis. So, they may be giving
constiuctive ciiticism as a way to help enhance youi piofessional uevelopment.
If you uo not know the answei to a question, one option is to miiioi the question back.
o Foi example, if a peison asks "%$&'( *$+ (!,&- (!" ./0,/1#" 2 3$+#4 1" 0"#/("4 ($ 5 1"3/+6" $7 89" You coulu iesponu with,
":; ,&("0"6(,&<= 8$+#4 *$+ ("## ;" ;$0" /1$+( >!* *$+ (!,&- (!,69"

1
Scott W. Plunkett, Ph.B., is a piofessoi of psychology, Califoinia State 0niveisity Noithiiuge. http:www.csun.euuplunk
2
Kosslyn, S. N. (2uu7). 8#"/0 /&4 ($ (!" ?$,&(@ A ?6*3!$#$<,3/# ?0,&3,?#"6 7$0 3$;?"##,&< B$>"0B$,&( ?0"6"&(/(,$&6. New Yoik: 0xfoiu
0niveisity Piess.
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If a peison offeis a constiuctive ciitique, then take hishei auvice into consiueiation.
o Foi example, if a peison asks, ":/." *$+ (!$+<!( /1$+( 0+&&,&< 1#/&- /&/#*6,69" oi "C/*1" 2 ,6 0"#/("4 ($ 5 1"3/+6" $7
D=" You coulu iesponu, "E!/( ,6 ,&("0"6(,&<= F !/4 &$( (!$+<!( $7 (!/(= F >,## 4"7,&,("#* 3$&6,4"0 (!/(="
It is okay to aumit you uo not know something.

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o Title of the postei
o Authois of the postei
! Title, majoiuepaitment, anu institution of the authois
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o Abstiact (optional - peisonally, it seems silly to me to have an abstiact if the postei is a concise oveiview of youi
ieseaich)
o }ustificationRationale - Why uiu you uo this stuuy. Who coulu benefit fiom the iesults.
! Invest time in explaining a compelling ieason foi the stuuy iathei than just showing past liteiatuie that founu
similai iesults.
o Puipose - Exactly what uiu you uo.
o Null oi alteinative hypotheses - If you aie making a pieuication, then you shoulu piesent the alteinative hypotheses. If
theie is no pievious ieseaich oi theoiy on the topic, then use null hypotheses. Note: If the stuuy is exploiatoiy, then
you may want to pioviue ieseaich questions.
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o Sample chaiacteiistics
! Sample size
! uenuei
! Age iange anu mean (oi meuian if the age is skeweu)
! Ethnicity
! Any othei chaiacteiistics that may be of inteiest to the stuuy oi vieweiieauei.
o Pioceuuies - Bow weie the uata collecteu.
o vaiiables anu measuiement - Bow weie the vaiiables opeiationally uefineu.
! List vaiiable, scale, numbei of items, iesponse choices, anu ieliability (if applicable)
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o Analyses - biiefly pioviue the iationale foi the analyses conuucteu
o Finuings - pioviue the finuings in easy-to-ieau table(s) oi concise bullets
D7C>=CC7<8 - iuentify the most inteiesting finuings anu pioviue an explanationiationale.
o Why uiu this stuuy get the iesults. Is it similai to past ieseaich. Can theoiy explain the finuings. Is theie something
about this uata collection that maue the iesults uiffeient.
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o Implications foi piactice - Bow can the finuings help otheis (e.g., piactitioneis, euucatois, policy makeis).
o Implications foi ieseaich - Baseu on the iesults anuoi limitations of this stuuy, what shoulu futuie stuuies in this aiea
uo.
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o Biiefly anu succinctly acknowleuge the following:
! Inuiviuuals who assisteu with the piojectpostei (e.g., statistical auvice, ciitique of postei, fieluwoiklab help);
! Funuing souices; anuoi
! Conflicts of inteiest.

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Foi PoweiPoint - S6" x 48" oi 48" x S6" uisplay
Woiuing
o Bon't oveiwhelm the ieauei with too much infoimation.
o 0se phiases insteau of sentences as much as possible.
o 0se bullets.
o 0se appiopiiate giammai anu spelling.
o 0se active, not passive, veibs.
Avoiu visual chaos that uistiacts the ieauei (e.g., numeious jaggeu euges, vaiious-sizeu boxes anu font sizes, giatuitous
images).
Pioviue visual cues to guiue ieaueis thiough youi postei.
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In laige postei sessions, vieweis
slow uown oi stop at posteis
that catch theii attention.
Sooo, style matteis!
!56789 !9868:7;7<5: +<=6 !;>8

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Nake it aesthetically pleasing (because it enhances a peison's uesiie to ieau it).
o 0se figuies, uiagiams, giaphics, oi easy-to-ieau tables to explainillustiate iueas oi finuings.
! Note: 0sing giaphics uownloaueu fiom the Inteinet will often look teiiible when piinteu; especially if you make the
image biggei.
! Nake suie images you use aie public uomain. }ust because it is on the inteinet uoes not make it public uomain.
! Images shoulu only be useu when they complementexplain the subject mattei.
o Avoiu backgiounu giaphics that make the text uifficult to ieau.
o 0se plenty of white space.
o Naintain logical column alignments.
Coloi
o Coloi is encouiageu, but limit the numbei of colois to cieate an oveiall theme foi the postei.
o 0se a light-coloieu backgiounu with black oi uaik-coloieu text piinteu.
o Avoiu uaik backgiounus with white letteis because it uses a tiemenuous amount of ink.
0se laige enough piint, giaphs, chaits, oi uesigns to be ieau easily fiom a uistance of at least S feet.
Fonts
o Bo not use ALL CAPS.
o Bon't mix a laige numbei of fonts. Insteau, make the heauingstitle a sans seiif font (e.g., Aiial, Belvetica) anu the bouy
text a seiif font (e.g., Palatino, Times New Roman).
! Note: Seiif fonts aie easiei to ieau, especially at smallei font sizes.
o 0se common fonts (e.g., Times New Roman, Aiial) because you may not know which fonts will be on the computei that
is useu to piint youi postei.
o All type shoulu be a E787E=E font size of 18 - piefeiably biggei.
! Font at the same level (e.g., heauing, fiist level bullet) shoulu be the same size anu type thioughout the postei.
! Foi example, if you make a sliue heauing 42 point Aiial Black font, then all sliue heauings shoulu be the same.
Similaily, if you make the text foi a fiist level bullet S2 point, Times New Roman, then all the othei fiist level bullets
shoulu be the same.
You can finu templates foi posteis at @::FIJJHHH/>C=8/46=JK><;J:4EFA5:4C/@:EA
o The templates aie easy to customize with text, coloi, etc.
o Bo not aujust the page setup wiuth anu height on the templates as it will mess up the foimatting of the textboxes.
o Type in all the text befoie aujusting the sizes of the text boxes. It is easiei to move things aiounu once you know how
much text will be in each box.
Tiy to consoliuate as much infoimation as possible.
o Foi example, if all of the authois of the piesentation aie fiom the same uepaitment anuoi univeisity, then theie is no
neeu to list it sepaiately foi each authoi. }ust list it once.
o If sepaiate analyses founu similai iesults, then tiy to consoliuate the iesults into a table oi concise summaiy of iesults.

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0pen a blank PoweiPoint sliue
uo to "Page setup"
o Cieate a custom size - S6" wiue, 42" height (see uiagiam to the iight)
o Select lanuscape foi the sliue (see uiagiam to the iight)
Next, you can select a sliue theme oi just leave it blank.
If you go unuei 'view' to 'mastei' to 'sliue mastei', you can uesignate the
font size, type, coloi, anu coloitype of bullets foi the text boxes. It is
much easiei to change it in the sliue mastei than to change the text
manually foi each text box in youi sliue.
Also, you can uesignate a coloi scheme foi the sliue.
Then go back to 'view' to 'noimal'.
You can now auu youi inuiviuual text boxes anuoi giaphics.
Refei to the following page foi woiking with giaphics, text, etc. in
PoweiPoint
o http:abacus.bates.euu~bpfohlposteis

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#;78:789 B<=; F<C:4; - Piinting youi postei will iequiie the use of a plottei piintei. Check with youi univeisity to see if
theie aie fiee oi inexpensive ways to piint on campus.
o You will neeu to allow at least a week to piint youi postei in case theie aie unexpecteu glitches (e.g., plottei piintei
iuns out of ink, no papei, a giaphic oi table on the postei is causing piinting eiiois).
!56789 !9868:7;7<5: +<=6 !;>8

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o In the Psychology Bepaitment at CS0N, a postei can be piinteu foi fiee by emailing it to valuis volkovskis
(valuis.volkovskiscsun.euu). Bowevei, the postei neeus to be appioveu by youi majoi auvisoi fiist; so CC youi majoi
auvisoi when you email valuis so he will know it has been appioveu. Also, valuis may have specific iequiiements foi
piinting, especially befoie confeiences wheie many Psychology faculty anu stuuents aie attenuing (e.g., Westein
Psychological Association). So, check with valuis to see if theie aie any special iequiiements foi piinting piioi to
emailing the postei to him. Be veiy iespectful of his time anu iequiiements.
!7FC H@48 F;78:789 5 #<H4;#<78: F<C:4;
o If you use a sliue backgiounu that is a pictuie oi a textuie, it will often cieate a laige file that can exceeu the plottei
piintei's memoiy anuoi take a long time to piint. It is best to use a single coloi oi a fauing coloi foi the backgiounu.
o Sometimes embeuueu Woiu tables, Excel chaits, anu visio uiawings in PoweiPoint files uon't piint coiiectly. Conveit
them to images (}PEus, TIFFs, EPS, etc.) befoie auuing them to youi sliue.
!;58CF<;:789 B<=; F<C:4; - Theie aie many ways to tianspoit youi postei to confeiences. The nice caiiying cases can
be quite expensive. Theie aie also caiuboaiu tubes foi just a couple of uollais.
o Be suie anu wiite youi contact infoimation on the postei in case it gets lost.
o Also, many people I know have inauveitently left theii posteis at bus stops (myself incluueu), in the plane, in theii cai,
etc. It is easy to foiget since it is not pait of oui usual tiavel luggage. I wiite a note to myself on my boaiuing pass anu
on my hotel confiimation page that ieminus me to check that I still have my postei tube.
o Also, caiiy youi postei on the plane insteau of checking it as luggage (if possible).
! Aiilines aie notoiious foi losing postei tubes since they can ioll aiounu. Anu, this will possibly save money given the
new fees foi checkeu luggage on many aiilines.
! Some aiilines have iestiictions on caiiying on postei tubes anuoi chaige a fee foi caiiying posteis on the plane
(ugh!).
! If otheis aie going to the same confeience, put multiple posteis in one tube to save space anuoi fees.
o 0ptions insteau of tianspoiting posteis to confeience:
! Nail the postei(s) to the hotel.
! Nail the postei to someone who is attenuing the confeience who lives close to the confeience location.
! Email the postei to a piinting place (e.g., Kinko's) close to the confeience hotel anu have them piint the postei.
*L:4; :@4 ><8L4;48>4 - Nany uepaitments anuoi ieseaich labs like to uisplay the posteis aftei the confeience. So,
check with youi majoi auvisoi to see if you shoulu tianspoit the postei back fiom the confeience.

%$@& 0#&,+ $*1-*& #&%$"#)&% ($# !$%+&# !#&%&*+,+-$*%
http:www.swaithmoie.euuNatScicpuiiin1posteiauvice.htm
http:www.asp.oigEuucationBowto_onPosteis.html
http:www.ncsu.euupiojectposteisNewSiteinuex.html
http:colinpuiiington.comtipsacauemicposteiuesign