Spitting knowledge: papers versus talks

By Catarina Milheiro, Diana Ribeiro, Fátima Silva, Nuno Teles

Research in various fields of knowledge has increased significantly. The production and review of research takes place at an accelerated pace, thus the communication of the results of these works must be clear and effective.

There are various ways of sharing scientific information. Publishing a paper, in a journal, is one of those ways. It expands the author’s curriculum and can be used to detail the developed work. However, it imposes a distance between the communicator and the reader. Transferring knowledge in a “face-to-face” manner, for example through attendance in conferences, allows the sharing and discussion of information and ideas, as well as the development of new partnerships.

There are two usual approaches: oral communications and poster presentations. Both approaches share aspects such as the structure that includes introduction, objectives, materials and methods, results, discussion, and conclusion. We should always save some time in the end for questions and answers, as it is a good moment to provide additional information to the audience and receive interesting suggestions.

Oral communication is the process of verbally transmitting information and ideas from one individual or group to another and it is the most effective way to transmit information verbally.

Posters presentations are a way to communicate your research/findings and to creatively demonstrate your understanding about the topic and hold the attention of individual viewers. However researchers treat them as “poor cousins” to oral communications or published papers.

In case you need to prepare an oral communication or a poster, and don’t know where to begin, reading some recommendations and guides to meet the criteria is a good way to start. Therefore, we prepare some advice for you as well as some main characteristics of both approaches you should keep in mind.

Figure 1 - Diana Ribeiro at oral communication (Cartoon style)

1. Organize your speech so you don’t exceed the allotted time limit. Exercise aloud in advance!

2. If you use PowerPoint, make the written text on slides as succinct as possible and legible from distance. Do not clog the slides with redundant text in small letters! Simplify tables and graphs, make them easily legible and understandable. Complicated graphs and tables with too many items cannot be understood by the audience. Avoid too many fonts, colours and other embellishments.

3. When speaking, address the audience and not the screen!

4. Summarize your presentation with a succinct repetition of your message.

Guidelines for Poster Presentations (1)

1. Make the posters self-explanatory and legible from a reasonable distance.

2. Emphasize the Aim and Conclusions of your work.

3. Do not clog the poster with different fonts, too many colors and other embellishments, since that distracts from the message.

4. A short and easily legible abstract may be added.

Figure 2 - Catarina Milheiro at poster

communication (Cartoon style)

Five main communication characteristics

Table 1: Weak and strong points of the main communication characteristics

Final thoughts

Communication is an inherent act in society, promoting social, professional and academic connections. Knowledge transfer is crucial and can be accomplished through oral communications, poster presentations, scientific papers, book chapters and reports in congresses, conferences, symposiums, workshops and seminars. Whether we favor oral communications or poster presentations, one isn’t better than the other, it will depend on our final goal. It is crucial to adequate our communication platform to the time, space, theme and, maybe the most important, the target audience. Thus, if your goal is to detail your work, maybe you should go for an oral presentation. However, if you have a main idea and are able to briefly expose it, a poster is a great method. Nonetheless, be prepared to talk for your listeners, to explain your work to them and help them follow your line of thought.

References

1. Boranic M. How to compose, write and publish a scientific or professional communication. Acta Inform Medica. 2016;24(6):416–8.

2. Ilic D, Rowe N. What is the evidence that poster presentations are effective in promoting knowledge transfer? A state of the art review. Health Info Libr J. 2013;30(1):4–12.

3. Miller JE. Preparing and presenting effective research posters. Health Serv Res. 2007;42(1 I):311–28.