First Poster Presentation - a few questions

[Adelaide9216]

Does anyone know how to improve the resolution of an image/slide from PowerPoint? It's for my handout. I have a smaller version of my poster on it (on a Word document) after recommendation of my professor, but I don't know how to make it look clear and readable. I just took a screenshot of my slide while it was in full screen.

 

Thank you,

[Eigen]

You wouldn't want to take a screenshot, that's always going to lose resolution. 

Just print the slide normally, and in your printing options select the paper size you want to print to (i.e., not a full-sized poster). 

If you want just a portion, then you can save a powerpoint slide as an image, and insert that into your word file- File ⇒ Save as Pictures...

That will save each slide as a picture, but since you only have one slide should be what you want. 

[TakeruK]

Did you make your poster in MS Word and the handout on Powerpoint, or vice-versa?

If poster on Word, handout on powerpoint, you can probably skip the powerpoint. MS Word should allow you to save the poster as PDF. Then, open the PDF and print to the paper size that you want (just as Eigen suggested). No need to fiddle with MS Word and Powerpoint, it's best to go straight to the source file. If you must export to Powerpoint for some reason (e.g. you want to add stuff on the handout in addition to your poster) then try to see if you can select all of the objects in your MS Word document, group them, then "save as image". This will get you the full resolution image. Import that image into powerpoint.

If I misunderstood and the poster is in powerpoint and the handout in MS Word, then it's even easier. Powerpoint definitely has a "save as image" option and this preserves the full resolution. Import that in MS Word and you're set. Or, you can also do the printing to PDF / scaled down as above.

[Adelaide9216]

I found a solution : printing the pp slide directly from PowerPoint. It worked.

[Adelaide9216]

I am presenting on June 1st. A little nervous, but since I am used to public speaking, it helps feeling a little bit more confident. What are the big no-no's and faux-pas to avoid while talking to the jury about my poster? I feel a little intimidated because I haven't even started my master's yet, and most of the other contestants have already done poster presentations in the past. 

[Adelaide9216]

I did my first poster presentation a few weeks ago. It went well. I did not win the student contest though, but it's fine. I'm happy to have taken part in something like this prior to my actual graduate studies. Thanks for those of you who gave me advice!

[justanotherlostgrrl]

Do people have advice on how to gear the content of a poster when the audience is an industry conference? I'm taking part in a student competition that showcases my MFA thesis, and it will be a design association.  A lot of the poster presentations research I'm seeing is geared towards presenting at an academic conference - would people say there is any different criteria to think about?

The judges have provided us with criteria of what they're looking for, but I would LOVE anyone's experiences and tips here.  Please send me a direct message in the next week or so if you get a chance.  Thank you!

[Adelaide9216]

How many conferences in a year do master's and doctoral students take part of as presenters? 

[TakeruK]

9 hours ago, Adelaide9216 said:

How many conferences in a year do master's and doctoral students take part of as presenters? 

This depends on a lot of things. Here are two data points. During my 2 year MSc in Canada, I presented at three conferences. The first was May of the first year. The second was the beginning of my 2nd year. The last was in May of my second year (I did two full years for the MSc, defended in August of 2nd year).

During my 5 year PhD at a US school, number of presentations which I travelled for:

First year: 1 conference presentation
Second year: 2 conference presentations
Third year: 3 conference presentations, plus a couple at small meetings/conferences hosted at my school
Fourth year: 3 conference presentations, plus a couple at small meetings/conferences hosted at my school
Fifth year: 2 conferences where I travelled, 1 conference that was in the same city, and 9 presentations at different schools**

**It's common in my field for finishing grad students to set up talk tours where they visit places they might want to do postdocs. This is partly because many students apply for national fellowships in postdocs where you apply to a general fund for money (e.g. as you might apply to SSHRC for grad studies) so it's helpful to visit or get "invited" to these places and write up research proposals. I say "invited" because it's very easy to get an official invite if your advisor is paying for you to travel there (usually this means the school just has to cover local costs for you). But there were a couple in there that were actual unsolicited invitations.

The conferences I attended were usually the annual meeting for one of the national society for my field each year and then one or two focus conferences that are smaller (60-300 people) specifically focussed on the topic. My advisor and I talked at the beginning of each year on what conferences I should try to go to. Typically, my advisor had money for me to go to 1 overseas conference per year and 2 North American meetings. I also had external funding from Canada (NSERC) for my first 3 years and a NASA fellowship in my last 2 years that also provided $3000/year of research funds in addition to reducing my advisor's cost to pay my stipend, so it was easier to find money for me to travel. Finally, I was at a department that encouraged their students to travel and present research and represent our program. 

Starting in our 3rd year, we also present at the weekly department seminars once per year and there are many student presentation opportunities on campus to develop and hone our skills. We also often present in group meetings etc, so we get a ton of practice talking about our research. I also volunteer a lot of time to give presentations to local schools or other non-profits in the area.

[emmert]

Try to take something useful from this example at https://answershark.com/writing/formal-presentations-and-speeches/acceptance/receiving-a-twenty-year-service-awar.html. I know that it's difficult to prepare a speech and presentation, but it's important to concisely explain the essence of your dissertation, offer solutions to problems. With fonts, you just have to experiment, since I don't know which room will be. Prepare your speech in advance and tell it to someone several times so that you don't have any stops and awkward moments.