MILSET Expo-Sciences International (ESI) is the largest and most prestigious international youth science communication and networking event. Here you will not be judged by experts and you will not compete with each other. It means that you can relax and do not consider each other rivals. Instead you can pay more attention to interesting communication and, in addition, work on some important skills:
You could gain experience in explaining your project to different audiences (including non-scientific), which is a valuable skill for future scientists who will need to seek grant funding and promote public interest in and acceptance of the research.
Among other benefits you will have a good opportunity to practice language skills, using special terms and training your ability to discuss science in English or in the host country language or – why not? - non-verbal ways of communication.
Finally you could make new scientific (and social) contacts all over the world which may bring opportunities for your future scientific career (e.g., choosing a university, finding a supervisor or expert, developing a joint project with a colleague from another country.
During the ESV you will have special time to visit other projects. It will be scheduled by the organizers. At this time you can easily leave your stand and walk around the Expo.
In the participant pack you will get several ESV-stickers, that you will be free to put on the project you like the most in several categories. It will not be a real contest, no evaluation will be made after.
To cope with those tasks, it is important to properly design and arrange the stand, using all its space (booth and desktop layout) to attract visitors, and think over your speech and program:
POSTER
We understand that most of you have already done your poster, but if it is possible to modify it, perhaps these tips will help you to improve it or just will help you in future.
We recommend you to display information in such a way that the visitor are able to follow the your presentation easily and even understand the topic simply by looking at the pictures and reading the documentation.
1) The firstthing that the viewer will pay attention to is the title. A long name will lead spectators into despondency. It is better to make it short, informative and interesting, tempting or even provocative.
Example: The name is informative, but TOO long: INDIVIDUAL REACTION OF DIFFEENT TYPES OF HERBAL-CUISINE LEVEL OF BIRCH FORESTS OF THE TAIGA OF THE MIDDLE URAL TO THE ANNUAL INTRODUCTION OF VARIOUS FORMS OF MINERAL FERTILIZERS. This looks better: REACTION OF GRASS AND BUSH TO MINERAL FERTILIZERS
And this version will attract attention, because the title is in the form of a question:
SHOULD WE FERTILIZE GRASS IN THE FOREST?
2) The structure and arrangement of the material. The structure in the poster is very important - it helps orient the viewer. Therefore, we recommend you to present and clearly highlight on the poster the common names of sections, such as goals, tasks, methods, results, etc.)
The most important information better to place at the eye level. The top of the poster usually contains your title, which people read on the approach to the stand. About 60 cm under the name is usually the eye level for the majority, and this is the area where information is the easiest to read.
For a wide stand (as it is in our case) it is better to divide the space into two or three parts. In this case, it will be possible to read each section, standing on one spot. To go to the next section, you just need to take a step to the right. This arrangement is advantageous with a large number of people, as several people can read the poster at the same time.
Be creative: Feel free to use elements of different sizes, colors and proportions for different parts of the work to make your presentation stand out. But know the measure. Leave more space, as a densely packed stand is tiring.
*You can enlist the help of a friend or an art teacher. Someone who is good with colors and/or design can really help with picking a color scheme and laying everything out on the board. They don’t need to understand the science or engineering behind your project to tell you what looks good.
3) Text. It is always effective when the poster could be easy to read from a distance. So we advice you do not use small letters. Verbosity is bad for a poster. It is better to highlight the main points of your work, formulating them in an accessible language. Attract viewers with clarity and simplicity.
It is important to choose the fonts correctly: try using those, which do not have fine lines, are proportional and do not distract readers with their style. It is also difficult to read when all the text is bold -it is better to highlight the names and keywords instead.
Do not overuse scientific terms and abbreviations. Remember, it is not only experts that will come to you. To explain complex scientific processes you can look for analogies in social life.
Try to avoid tables, if this is not absolutely necessary. You can always print the detailed results of your experiments separately and demonstrate them to those who are interested in the details.
It is important to keep in mind that many participants and visitors do not speak English. If you speak Spanish, or - even better - Portuguese, it is great. And if not - then this is a great opportunity to start.
It is a good idea to include a short project summary in the host country language on the poster and, perhaps, learn the key words (terms) related to your project in Portuguese
4) Pictures. Pictures are more impressive than text. Build your speech around the pictures could be a good idea, as they are better and easier to remember, describe many things more clearly, and are understandable without words.
Graphs should be large (at least 20x30 cm), and descriptions on them should be noticeable (at least 24 pt). The notes on the graphs should not be long and numerous. A brief explanation under the graph is useful for clarity.
Photos should be of good resolution, and also have brief descriptions, as well as the name of their author.
If you have several pictures (or photos), it is better to number them for easy navigation.
DEMO MATERIALS models, experimental installations, samples, video presentations. This is even more effective than the pictures, because it allows you to explain the material to people with very different levels of knowledge of your subject and English proficiency.
SPEECH
Preparation. It is very important to prepare the presentation. Even when we know a topic inside and out, we do not always have the same audience in front of us or the same amount of time to explain the project.
The audience: During the ESV you will present your project to a lot of different people: not only teachers and scientists, but participants from different countries, visitors of different age and background, including very younger children. You must therefore be well prepared to explain the project clearly to any audience in a dynamic and interactive way and in a language that the general public will understand.
Some people who will visit your stand and find it interesting may be too shy to start a conversation with you. It is therefore up to you to establish the initial contact: be open and polite...and smile J
Find out how much time the visitor has. It is important to adapt your presentation accordingly, understanding that the time your visitor has can be limited. It is impossible to provide the same amount of material to a visitor who has only 5 minutes and to another one who has 20 minutes or more.
That is why we recommend that you prepare at least 3 versions of the report, varying in length and complexity.
1 - try to explain the essence of your project for 30 seconds to interest a wide audience.
2 – for 3-5 minutes for those who got interested after the short presentation
3 – for 8-9 minutes - for experts and those who are deeply interested in your project
Be attentive to any signs that visitors show—if they already seem to be familiar with the topic, the basic information can be reduced. However, if the listener seems somewhat lost, the explanations must be adapted accordingly. If the visitor seems to be in a hurry, it is better to provide very pertinent information rather than rushing through the explanations!
Questions Asking a visitor simple questions about the topic presented can be a good way to spark and maintain his or her interest.
It could help you to communicate with the visitors from Brazil if you learn some key words and terms of your work in Portuguese.
INTERACTIVE ACTIVITIES To attract more visitors to your stand - you can organize interactive activities there - give your audience the opportunity to participate in an experiment, competition, quiz or master class.
SYMBOLS AND ATTRIBUTES OF THE COUNTRYIt could be a good idea to decorate your stand with national flag, coat of arms and other attributes of the country, to put there some materials that illustrate its natural, cultural and scientific treasures (map, photos etc). Remember you are ambassadors of your country at the ESV. And the main part of questions you will get from visitors will be about the place you came from.
We advice you also to prepare and bring pins, coins and small souvenirs from your country to exchange at the ESV; (flag, coat of arms, national costume, etc., information about the country, city, school)