Posters

A good poster communicates your message clearly, quickly and succinctly.

It is able to capture attention, stimulate discussion, and gives you the opportunity to distribute more detailed information in a brochure or other item. A poster is a good opportunity to present your evaluation findings, your organization, and to get useful feedback.

An effective poster operates on many levels: it is a source of information, a means of starting a discussion, a support to a presentation, and should also be able to stand alone when you're not there to provide an explanation.

Examples

Conference poster summarising research paper "Effects on environmental grantmakers and their beneficiaries"

Source: Krikser, 2010

Advice for choosing this method

A poster is useful when you would like to present findings and discuss them with other development professionals, students or interested persons in a setting such as a conference or workshop.
A poster can be produced quickly, with few resources – and is an effective way to bring a message across quickly and succinctly

Advice for using this method

Know who your audience is so that you can communicate to them most effectively.
Before you begin, roughly sketch out your poster on paper.
Focus on simple key messages (if possible: focus on a single message).
Use text sparingly: Display the essential content - the messages - in the title, main headings and in graphics and images.
Try to keep 40% of the poster free of text and images to eliminate distracting “visual noise”.
Use large enough font to be able to be viewed 5 feet (just under a meter) away.
Sequence the information in a logical order.
Keep displays simple and text brief; a viewer should "get it" in 30 seconds. You can provide in-depth information in a handout.

Resources

Communicating and reporting on an evaluation

This module helps private voluntary organization staff facilitate learning among individuals, groups, and organizations by communicating and reporting evaluation processes and findings more effectively.

Sources

Krikser, T. (2010). Monitoring and evaluation – effects on environmental grantmakers and their beneficiaries. [Print Poster]. Retrieved from http://www.civiland-zalf.org/download/Poster-Subproject4-English.pdf

Stetson, Valerie. (2008). Communicating and reporting on an evaluation: Guidelines and Tools. Catholic Relief Services and American Red Cross, Baltimore and Washington, USA. Download: http://www.crsprogramquality.org/storage/pubs/me/MEmodule_communicating.pdf (PDF, 1.5MB)

Torres, R.T., H. Preskill, and M. E. Piontek. 2005. Evaluation Strategies for Communicating and Reporting: Enhancing Learning in Organizations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.