{"669698":{"#nid":"669698","#data":{"type":"news","title":"How to Streamline Your Research for Poster Competitions","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u201cA few years ago, a poster revolution happened,\u201d said Karena Nguyen, assistant director for Postdoctoral Services in the Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Education. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThis poster revolution, according to Nguyen, emphasizes the results of the research, which are featured prominently on the poster and take up most of the space. The objectives, methods, and discussion are displayed less prominently along the side of the poster, or a QR code takes the user to a website for more in-depth information.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThat tends to be effective because the poster presenter has thought about, \u2018What\u2019s the takeaway that I want people to walk away with,\u2019 and they are usually the ones who practice their spiel,\u201d said Nguyen. \u201cWhereas some people with a traditional poster format get lost in the details, and you are stuck in a conversation for five minutes.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAs a grad student, Nguyen presented and won awards at numerous conferences for both poster and oral format. She also has experience judging posters, such as at Georgia Tech\u2019s CRIDC. Nguyen provides her tips for streamlining your research for a poster competition.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EKnow your audience.\u003C\/strong\u003E \u201cWhen somebody comes up to you, ask them what their level of expertise is,\u201d said Nguyen. \u201cAsking those questions at the beginning can help scale the level of detail that you want to get into and help streamline your message.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDon\u2019t tell too much on your poster.\u003C\/strong\u003E \u201cWhat you want to avoid are long paragraphs,\u201d said Nguyen. \u201cThat is a very common mistake; students will slap the research paper onto a poster. Streamline and simplify the message using bullet points.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETo keep your poster\u2019s content streamlined, Nguyen recommends asking yourself the following questions:\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Col\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EDo I have a clear objective for my research?\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EDo I have clear results in easily readable figures with clear labels?\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EDo I have a concise summary of the results?\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EDo I have ideas on the impact of the work and plans for the future?\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\u003C\/ol\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EProvide a concise summary of the results.\u003C\/strong\u003E \u201cOrally, what I\u2019m looking for is if you can give me a 30 to 60-second overview of what you did,\u201d said Nguyen. \u201cIf I have additional questions, are you able to answer those more in-depth?\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ENarrow in on your findings.\u003C\/strong\u003E \u201cOftentimes, grad students want to showcase the entire breadth of work that they have done, which is a lot,\u201d said Nguyen. \u201cNarrow in on one to three key findings for a certain experiment or project. You can always talk about what else you found. Squeezing in too much information can confuse what a judge or participant is supposed to look at.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EPractice and prepare.\u003C\/strong\u003E \u201cThe Center for Teaching and Learning has workshops for preparing a presentation, like preparing your 3MT,\u201d said Nguyen. \u201cPractice with your cohort mates. Practice in your lab beforehand or practice on your own. Have friends ask questions to you to simulate that poster competition experience.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EKeep notecards for the details.\u003C\/strong\u003E \u201cStudents may be nervous that they will forget something,\u201d said Nguyen. \u201cI would encourage them to practice or even just have note cards for the details.\u201d \u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Perfect your poster with these 6 tips from an experienced presenter and judge."}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EPerfect your poster with these six tips from an experienced presenter and judge.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Perfect your poster with these 6 tips from an experienced presenter and judge."}],"uid":"36249","created_gmt":"2023-09-15 17:09:53","changed_gmt":"2023-09-18 19:15:19","author":"Sara Franc","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2023-09-15T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2023-09-15T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"671721":{"id":"671721","type":"image","title":"Poster-Competition.jpg","body":null,"created":"1694805010","gmt_created":"2023-09-15 19:10:10","changed":"1694805010","gmt_changed":"2023-09-15 19:10:10","alt":"Students presenting at a poster competition","file":{"fid":"254828","name":"Poster-Competition.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/09\/15\/Poster-Competition.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/09\/15\/Poster-Competition.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":72576,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2023\/09\/15\/Poster-Competition.jpg?itok=tXIEqElw"}}},"media_ids":["671721"],"groups":[{"id":"221981","name":"Graduate Studies"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1808","name":"graduate students"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESara Franc\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCommunications Officer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:sara.franc@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Esara.franc@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}