Other tips Handouts - minimum of 100 suggested Abstracts and press releases are preferable for distribution. Include name(s), mailing address, poster title, conference name and date. Ring-binder for material not included on the poster Bring along detailed data, information on procedural details, etc in a ring- binder so that they're available for discussion without cluttering up your poster, Mailing labels, to peopl save yourself the bother of deciphering their handwriting, Before removing the label from the backing, make a photocopy so you have.a record of who was interested in your work. : Prepared by Ned Carter, Bert Scott, Anders Friberg, Orjan Swahn and Richard Laitinen. ABA Poster Guidelines - Start with Conclusions. Place your conclusions in the upper left hand corner of your poster. A poster is an ad, not a report. Your conclusions are your primary "message" and should be one of the first things a reader sees. Make your text legible. Your title should be as large as the word "Poster" above. All text, names and affiliations should be at least as large as "ABA" above. Consider using bold text for affiliations, as "Guidelines* above. Emphasize figures and pictures. Reduce the amount of text.1. Figures and pictures Use short, descriptive title. © Data points/lines should be bold or colored a ‘Use all capitals for titles up to one row in length. Capitalize first ign edges $ word on title only, when the title is longer than one row. © All figure text horizontal _ * Label lines or bars ditectly « even . GUIDELINES FOR ATTRACTIVE POSTERS * Use “clean” type styles for title and section K. Knosslean, Dept. of Clinical Psychology headings, for example, Helvetica, Use serif Uppsala University, Uppsala, type styles for other text, for example, Times. Avoid complex type sis such as hondon 1 Conclusion 4 Results Place your conclusions in the upper left © More attendees will come in contact with hand comer of your postr. Your piealnaN conchisions are your primary "message" © Arendeos will have more time to talk to ‘and should be one of the first things a reader sees, presenters : distinguishes it from neighboring posters : ‘Mean no, of readers per poster ABA 1 © Use column format ‘Make your poster reader friendly. nase ‘© Number and title sections of. 100 © Present in paragraphs/blocks of 4-5 rows of ceauees: 35-45 keystrokes per row. i 50 © Use left alignment of text (uneven right edge). : east _ Present your ga 4, Use highlighting techniques to "message" clearly and quickly. See Eee emphasize ; i : Number of attractive posters, without and with © Bold text and Zeal 7 . cae (avoid red mee 3 Method guidelines Without, With © Backdrops © Enuphasize figures end pictares guidelines * guidelines © Minimize the amount of text Number 200 : i + Make your text legible Bullets ¢ Use highlighting techniques * Drop shadows Eyes move [eon * Arrows > '* Borders © Three dimensionsal ounting ‘on cardboard or foam-coreVolume 14, Number 4 Poster Hoc Ned Carter University Hospital & Uppsala University Uppsala, Sweden Berit Scott and Anders Boulogner Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden Attending a poster session should be like a visit to a candy store where the visitor is confronted with a collection of tasty morsels waiting to be consumed. How many great posters did you consume at ABA in Allanta? For that matter, how many have you devoured at any convention? Conversely, how many posters did you ignore despite an interest in the subject? Personally, we (Berit and Ned) found many posters to be excellent, but we also saw many which could have been improved. We wish that we could say that our poster was the best at ABA. It wasn’t. Nonetheless, we ‘would like to offer some suggestions and comments for improved poster presentations. ‘The suggestions below were prepared in coopera- tlon with Anders Boulogner, Uppsala University. 1. A poster Is an ad, not a report. The function of the poster is to get the reader to read more, to ask questions. . Tell your story In a fow seconds. Do what you hhave to do to get your ‘point” across in less than 60 seconds. The “average” poster reader spends less time than this per poster. }. Use short, descriptive titles. |. Use figures and pictures. Tables are more difficult to comprehend. 6. Use colors, arrows, etc. to highlight Important aspects. Avoid red and green, especially adjacent to one another in bar graphs etc. 6. Use “clean” type styles, for example, Helvetica. Avoid curicues. 2B The ABA Newslewer 7. Reduce the amount of text and enlarge what you show. ABA suggests legibility at 31. We ‘suggest lagibllty at 6f. This means: Title for maintitles, and te xt for text. ‘We can hear you saying, "But | could never get in all my material if | use type that large.” Our response is, “ita prospective reader doesn't read the text, i doesn’t make any difference what you've written.” ‘Make your text accessible. . Capitalize only when necessary. Lowercase letters are easier to read than are upper case letters. 9. Use effects to move the readers eyes where you ‘want them to be. In general, people scan a poster from upper left to lower right before they start reading the title, content etc, Down, right Examples of a drop shadow, and how they move the readers’ eyes. continuesThe ABANewsteuer 10, Bring along a ring-binder or folder with mate- Hal you didn’t Include In your poster. Detailed , procedural details, etc. are then available for discussion with the truly interested without cluttering up your poster, 11. Bring handouts or business cards~professional ‘or home-made. List your name, address, poster tte and conference. Consider including a picture of yourself. Abstracts and press releases are profer- able for drect distribution. Send full papers to those ‘who request them. 12, Use rolls or sheets of mailing labels if you are prepared to send material to people following the presentation. Let people write thelr name and address directly on the label and save yourself the bother of deciphering their handwriting. Betore you remove the label from the backing, make a photo- ‘copy so you retain a record of who was interested in your work. ‘Obviously, there are other techniques which can enhance a poster presentation. Use them, The guiding rule of poster presentation is: Make your text accessible! Further and more detailed information conosming poster production and presentation can be obtained {rom the following: Blow, P.A., & Christian, W.P. (1984) How to pro- pare effective poster presentations for professional conferences. the Behavior Therapist, 7, 129-132. Clark, H.B. (1982) Travel tips: Some technology for poster session participants. the Behavior Therapist, 5,94. Sulzer-Azaroff, B., & Reese, E.P. (1983) Applying behavior analysis: A manual for developing protes- sional compentence. New York: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston. To take advantage of the [discount for early renewal of your 1992 ABA membership, your form Jand payment must be mailed 1 the ABA office by December 31, 1991! if Volume 14, Number 4 News from Affiliated Chapters NESBAT-New England Society of Behavior Analysis and Therapy The NESBAT meetings are held in the DeMarefte Building at McLean Hopsital in Belmont, Massachusetts. Rofreshments are available from 7:00-8:00pm, and the program begins at 8:00pm. Programs are scheduled for November 12, December 10, January 14, February 11, ‘March 10, April 14, May 12, and June 9. For more information, contact Doris Berkstresser, NESBAT President, al 617-275-3644 or 617-062-6162. # ‘TxABA-Texas Association for Behavior Analysis ‘TxABA will hold its Annual Conference and Pre-Conter- ‘ence institute March 6-7, 1992, in Dallas. Speakers at the Pre-Conference institute (March 6) will be: Gordon Bourland - “Evaluation of Behavioral Interventions”, Dennis Reid - “Staff Management’, and Jon Balley - “Fuhotional Analysis". Conference speakers (March 7) will be: Jon Balley - “Code of Ethios for Behavior Ana- lysis", William Redmon - “Analysis of OBM Systems", Rob Zettle - “Clinical Behavior Therapy and Research’, and Donald Pumroy - “Behavior Analysis/Moditication in ‘th Regular Classroom”. For more information contact: Janet Ellis, Center for Behavior Analysis, University of Noth Texas, PO Box 12438, Denton, TX 76203 (817) 565-3318. © ‘TABA-~THl-State Association for Behavior Analysis TABA has evolved into the Tri-State Association for Behavior Analysis (formerly the Tennessee Association). David Sabatino, President-Elect, moved that TABA expand to cover the TriState area at the Execulive Board Meeting prior to the 3rd Annual TABA Conter- ‘ence. After discussion led by Lawrence Fraley, the motion passed unanimously. The ABA Councll approved ‘the change in January, 1991. TABA will now serve Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia; annual confer. ‘ences will rotate between the three states. The 4th ‘TABA Conference has been sat for October 30th ‘through November 1st, 1992 In Morgantown, West Virginia, For more information contact TABA, PO Box 3786 CRS, Johnson City, TN 37602. ‘Send news about your Chapters activities to: ‘Steve Grat, Editor The ABA Newslettor Department of Psychology Youngstown State University Youngstown, OH 44555