The poster presentation is a way to represent your research and present it to a broad public. Your poster is a visual representation of your research.

We are going to present our projects in a very simple poster presentation. In brief, you will print out a series of pages that summarize your project and your paper, together with some illustrations and quotations for evidence. You will tape these on to a presentation board (which I will supply). And you’ll stand in front of your poster ready to explain your project to visitors as they come by.

I’ve included a few images of posters from other classes here.

Some recommendations:

• • Everything needs to fit on a 3′ by 5′ trifold presentation board
  • For the title page, use the largest font size that will fit. For titles, try 72 to 80 pt. For your name on the title page, try 64pt.
  • For the individual pages, use 48pt for the heading (centered and underlined), 36pt for body text (left justified).
  • Don’t use a lot of words. This should be a very condensed version of your research paper

The pages that you should print (and where they will go on your poster) include:

• • 1. Research Paper Title & Your Name (center top)
    • print page in landscape orientation
  • 2. Overview (left top)
    • Heading: “Overview”
    • Three bullet points: your topic, your research question, and your argument
  • 3. Background (left bottom)
    • Heading: “Context”
    • Three to five bullet points that provide essential background for your paper
  • 4. Subject (center)
    • Heading: “Subject”
    • Four to six bullet points – this is the heart of your paper
    • Intro to your primary source
    • Interpretation of your primary source
    • You can take some liberties here if you need – give headings that convey your ideas – and use two or three pages if you have a lot to say
  • 6. Conclusions (right top)
    • Heading “Conclusions”
    • Two or three bullet points that address the significance of your argument. So what?
    • This is a good place to connect your research paper to the themes of the class
    • This is also a space where you can be more speculative
  • 7. Bibliography (in MLA or Chicago format) (right bottom)
    • Heading “Bibliography”
    • A list of the primary and secondary sources that you have used (will use) in your paper
    • organize by Encyclopedia Sources, Secondary Sources, Primary Sources
  • Add a few images to give your poster a visual presence. Include captions for your images
  • And add a few quotations that can stand in for the evidence of your paper. This is your data

And for your presentation?

• • Wear professional or casual professional dress
  • Bring in printed pages for your posters
  • Prepare your 2-3 minute overview of your project
  • Bring in a couple note cards with outline and notes to help you talk about what you’ve done
  • In the poster session, people will come by and ask you about your research. After you give your brief introduction to your research paper, they will ask you questions and you will respond with reference to your poster.