2. Creating Effective Poster Presentations
An Effective Poster

3. An Effective Poster Is a Visual Communications Tool.
Focused on a single message.
Lets graphs and images tell the story; uses text sparingly.
Keeps the sequence well-ordered and obvious.
An effective poster will help you ...
... engage colleagues in conversation get your main point across to as many people as possible.
Focused
Graphic
Ordered

4. An Effective Poster Operates on Multiple Levels ...
source of information
conversation starter
advertisement of your work
summary of your work
An effective poster is not just a standard research paper stuck to a board. A poster uses a different, visual grammar. It shows, not tells.
A Poster Uses Visual Grammar A poster is not just a standard research paper stuck to a board.
An effective poster uses a different, visual grammar.
It shows, not tells. It expresses your points in graphical terms.
It avoids visual chaos, with many jagged edges or various-sized boards that distract the viewer. Instead, it guides the viewer by using a visual logic, with an hierarchical structure that emphasizes the main points.
All elements, even the figure legends, are visible from 4 feet away.
It displays the essential content - the messages - in the title, main headings and graphics. It indicates the relative importance of elements graphically: each main point is stated in large type-face headings; details are subordinated visually, using smaller type-face. The main headings explain the points, rather than merely stating "results" and letting the viewer hunt for - or even worse, invent - the message.
Are your posters effective, attracting large and enthusiastic audiences? Or, are your posters examined only by your most avid competitors or admirers?

5. Many Ineffective Posters Suffer From Easy-to-fix Problems, Including ...
objective(s) and main point(s) hard to find
text too small
poor graphics
poor organization
Are Your Posters Effective? Are your posters effective, attracting large and enthusiastic audiences? Or, are your posters examined only by your most avid competitors or admirers?
Do other presumptive colleagues - and poster judges - merely glance at your poster, then cross their eyes and hurry past?
Is the space in front of your poster perennially devoid of people? Do those that do come look at your poster in obvious puzzlement? Does your poster fail to evoke thoughtful questions or interest?

6. All Visuals and Text Should Relate to a Succinctly Stated Message.
Your goal is to convey a clear message and support it with a compelling combination of images and short blocks of text.
Know your message! What is the one thing you want your audience to learn?
Focus on your message throughout the poster. If it doesn't reinforce your message, leave it out!!

7. Cont… Be bold & be explicit.
If you have an interesting result, state it explicitly in the title. The Effect of X on Y Substance X Induces Y-cells
Make the strongest statements your data will support. Why soft-peddle exciting findings?
Rather than merely repeating the results, state your interpretations in the conclusion section.

8. Example
Note how the poster title and the titles of the graphs provide key messages.
Example
Note how the poster title and the titles of the graphs provide key messages.

9. Define Your Message: Consider the Alternatives
Do this ... Be bold and be explicit!
If you have an interesting result, then state it explicitly in the title: Water Temperature Affects Flounder Growth Rates
Make the strongest statements your data will support. Why soft-peddle exciting findings? "Substance X is essential to apoptosis in Y cells."
Interpret your findings in the conclusion - what do they mean?? "Greenways must be wider to support forest interior birds." (Of course, your results must support such a statement.)

10. ... not this!!! Hedge wherever you can.
Make the title as non-committal (and boring) as possible: The Effect Water Temperature on Flounder Growth Rates
Avoid committing yourself to any strong statement: "Antibody to X abolishes the response." Add qualifying words in abundance, such as: probably, perhaps, may, might.
In the conclusion section, instead of interpreting your data, merely repeat the results - then say further study is required. "The effect of greenway width on forest interior birds needs further study." Since virtually everything needs further study, you can't be faulted.

11. Know Your Audience(s)
You should make your message accessible to a diverse audience.
There are three categories of readers in most audiences (Woolsey 1989). People in ...
your field of specialization
fields closely related to yours
unrelated fields
To satisfy them all, you should ...

12. Know Your Audience(s) Cont…
Provide context for your work. Explain the big picture and why the problem is important.
Use plain language to present your work.
Avoid jargon and acronyms unless you're really positive that yours will be a specialist-only audience.
Interpret your findings so that readers in all categories can understand how your work helps solve the problem you've described.

13. Consider the Alternatives
Do this ... Design for all three audience categories.
Make your poster accessible to a wide-ranging audience so that you can gain valuable insights and ideas that you hadn't anticipated from people in other fields.
Explain clearly the nature of the problem you are working on, and why it is an important issue that the reader should care about.
Explain things in clear language, without using disciplinary jargon and acronyms. Interpret your findings in the conclusion and explain what they mean in terms of the big-picture problem you're working on.

14. Consider the Alternatives
... not this Design only for specialists in your field.
Design your poster so that only those in your specialty will understand, because you are not interested in the insight of others or links to seemingly distant fields.
Omit all contextual information and just start describing your work as if everyone should know why it's important and why they should care.
Assume that everyone knows your field intimately and fill your poster with jargon and acronyms that will make it opaque to all but the four other specialists in your field.
Leave your conclusions uninterpreted and assume that everyone will understand how they relate to the context you never provided.

15. Audience Category People in your field of specialization, including your competitors.
People in fields closely related to yours are worth capturing, because they can have interesting insights and perspectives about your work.
People in unrelated fields can be attracted by an accessible message, and provide valuable insights and links to distant fields
Requirements
No special efforts are required to attract them. They will read whatever you present, no matter how well or poorly you present it.
They will require that you supply context for your work. They are likely to be unfamiliar with your jargon.
They require you to explain the problem and the solution. They will not understand your jargon.
Alternatively,consider the type of meeting.
Specialists only. For example, Symposium on the Behavioural Ecology of Ants. You can assume a high level of disciplinary knowledge, use jargon, and take other presentation shortcuts.
Wide-ranging discipline. For example, Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting. You can assume familiarity with the discipline in general, but there are so many sub-specialties that jargon is to be avoided and language simplified.
Very general audience. For example, a town-hall meeting on wildlife conservation. You cannot assume familiarity with any discipline and must explain everything in the most basic terms.

16. An Effective Abstract Is Your First Opportunity to Hone Your Message.
An abstract is a succinct description of your work. It should ...
Explain why your work is important - set the context and pre-empt the question "So what?"
Describe the objective(s) of your work. What are you adding to current knowledge?
Briefly explain the methods. Unless the research is about methods, this should not be a major focus of your abstract (or your poster).
Succinctly state results, conclusions, and recommendations. This is what most people want to know. Do not say "We present the results of our study and recommendations for action" - tell them what you found and recommend!
I do not recommend including an abstract on your poster. It is redundant, because a poster is already a succinct description of your work. Writing a good abstract, however, is an important part of having your work accepted for presentation at a conference. An abstract can also serve as an outline for your poster, which can be thought of as an illustrated abstract.

17. Creating Effective Posters Requires Planning, Art, Science, and Attention to Detail.
Each of the following aspects of poster creation is considered in detail ...
Planning Before starting work on your poster, consider message, space, budget, format (single sheet or multi-panel), and deadlines.
Focus Stay focused on your message and keep it simple. Create a mock-up and dispense with unneeded details.
Layout Use a clearly defined visual grammar to move readers through your poster.

18. Headings Use headings to orient readers and convey major points.
Graphics Clear graphics should dominate your poster.
Text Text should be minimized in favour of graphics, and large where used.
Colours Colours can make a poster attractive and improve readability, but be cautious.
Editing Edit ruthlessly to reduce the amount of text and focus on a results-oriented message.
Software There are many packages you can use to create your poster.

19. Planning Creating an effective poster requires time and planning.
What's my message? Everything you put on your poster relates to a carefully crafted message.
You must be able to state your main point(s) and conclusion(s) clearly and succinctly.
All visuals and text should relate to those points and conclusions.

20. Planning Cont…
How much room do I have? Determine specific size requirements - visit conference web site or otherwise consult with conference organizers. Area available determines, in part, ...
what you can fit,
what you'll have to leave out,
layout (landscape vs. portrait orientation),
and how things will be organized.

21. Planning Cont…
How much money do I have? Your budget will determine, in part, whether you will ...
plot your poster or print it on standard sheets of paper.
use glossy or draft quality paper.
use cardboard or foam core for mounting (if printing on standard sheets of paper).
create the poster yourself or contract it out.

22. Planning Cont… What milestones should I establish?
Especially important if the poster is multi-authored.
Start with the due date and work back to create milestones.
Allow time for peer review and heavy editing.

23. Suggested Schedule. When What
0 Present poster -1 week Final print -1 week Make changes suggested by peers -1 week Distribute draft for peer review (round 2) -2 weeks Make changes suggested by peers -2 weeks Distribute draft for peer review (round 1) -3 weeks Edit your draft ruthlessly -3 weeks Create first draft of poster -4 weeks Plan out poster on scratch paper -4 weeks Define message and write an abstract (if you haven't already done so)
Here are some ideas for establishing milestones. This schedule assumes that you're doing other things during the week. It also allows time for your poster to "sit on the shelf" while you think about it. Of course, you can turn weeks to days and skip drafts as time pressures require.

24. Focus Stay focused on your message. And keep it simple!!
Simple messages are more memorable. Details detract from the main point, and can be supplied in person as needed.

25. Focus Cont… Create a mock-up poster focused on your main message.
Ask yourself which details are absolutely essential for conveying your message. The most common problem is too much focus on methods. [ An exception is if your poster is about a new method. ]
Omit anything that is not essential.
Edit text carefully - simplify verbiage, reduce sentence complexity.

26. Focus: Consider the Alternatives
Do this ... Edit ruthlessly! Simplify. Supply details in person, and only as needed.
Remove all but the most essential information about your methods.
State your results with headings, and focus on results and conclusions.
Convince viewers (potential employers) that you are a thoughtful, results-oriented researcher.

27. ... not this Emphasize methods rather than the main message.
Identify every detail of your methods, just in case you're not in front of your poster when someone comes by.
Even in the results and conclusions, be sure to emphasize your methods over your findings.
Convince viewers (potential employers) that you are a task- and methods-oriented technician.

28. Layout A clear visual grammar guides readers through your poster.
Your poster should ...
use a visual grammar to guide readers to the important parts of your poster.
use a column format to make your poster easier to read in a crowd.
use organization cues to guide readers through your poster.

29. Layout Cont…
use "reader gravity" which pulls the eye from top to bottom and left to right (Wheildon 1995).
use headings intelligently to help readers find your main points and key information.
balance the placement of text and graphics to create visual appeal.
use white space creatively to help define the flow of information.

30. Visual Grammar
Visual grammar is a graphic hierarchy that helps readers identify the most important parts of your poster.

31. Consider the Alternatives
Do this ... Use a graphic hierarchy that visually reflects the relative importance of elements.
If it's important, make it BIG. Use type size proportional to importance.
Show, don't tell. No need to write down every detail.
Use simple figures and graphs, which should dominate the poster visually
Make all graphic elements large enough to be visible easily from one meter away.

32. ... not this Use a text-heavy, publication-style format.
Use 12-point font for just about everything. Actually, you could just staple up your manuscript - why not?
Include every detail as you would for a journal article
Use complex, difficult to understand graphics, which are only a small portion of the poster.
Make sure your figures are all small enough to fit on a small portion of a journal page.

33. Columnar Format
Organize your poster in columns so that it's easy to read when there's a crowd in front of it.

34. Consider the Alternatives
Do this ...
Use a columnar format. It allows readers to read the entire poster as they proceed from left to right.
If the poster is organized in columns, viewers can read all of a column before they move to the next column.
Readers tend to read top to bottom, a phenomenon called "reader gravity" by Wheildon (1995).

35. not this Use a row-oriented layout
... not this Use a row-oriented layout. This format moves readers past your poster very quickly.
Viewers who read the first row might be unable to fight their way back to the beginning.
They will proceed quietly to the next poster.

36. Use Organizational Cues
Another way to make sure readers know how to navigate your poster is to use cues - numbers, letters, arrows - to guide them.

37. Consider the Alternatives
Do this ... Supply cues to help viewers follow your presentation.
Organize visually (revisit the Visual Grammar discussion) and in columns (revisit the Use Columns discussion).
You can also use numbers, letters, or arrows to help guide viewers through your poster.

38. Let viewers guess the sequence.
... not this
Let viewers guess the sequence.
Organize your poster in a "unique" manner that defies reader gravity and gives the readers no idea of your organizational flow.
Avoid helping viewers figure out where to start or where to go next.

39. Reader Gravity
There are language-specific ways in which most people read. In English, it is top-to-bottom and left-to-right. Wheildon (1995) called this "reader gravity." You should not use organizational constructs that defy reader gravity - it will confuse viewers, which is not what you want to happen.

40. Balance and White Space
Your poster should have a good visual balance of figures and text, separated by white space. Balance occurs when images and text are reflected (at least approximately) across a central horizontal, vertical, or diagonal axis. This axis is know as the axis of symmetry.

41. Horizontal Symmetry Diagonal Symmetry
Horizontal & Vertical Symmetry Asymmetry (text-heavy on left, image-heavy on right)

42. Headings Use headings to orient readers and convey major points.
Headings - including the title, section titles, and figure captions - should ...
Summarize Use headings as opportunities to summarize your work in large letters. A hurried reader should be able to get the main points from the headings alone.

43. Headings Cont…
Organize Good headings are part of the visual grammar that helps move readers through your poster.
Be Hierarchical The more important the point, the larger the type.
Be Bold Make the strongest statements your research allows.

44. Example
Note how headings convey the message - viewers in a hurry need not read further.

46. Graphics Simple, clean graphics communicate relationships quickly.
Good graphics - graphs, illustrations, photos - are the centrepiece of your poster.
Good graphs communicate relationships quickly.
Graphs should be Simple and clean.
Write explanations directly on figures, instead of referencing from elsewhere.
Use simple 2-dimensional line graphs, bar charts, pie charts.

47. Avoid 3-dimensional graphs unless you're displaying 3-dimensional data - and then proceed carefully, as many 3-D graphs are difficult to interpret.
Text on graphs must follow same guidelines as all other text so that it will be visible.
Use photos that help deliver your message.
Use spot art - but not too much - to attract attention.

48. No!
Better!
Edward Tufte has written several books about the visual display of information. They contain a wealth of detail about how to display data visually in a clear and honest manner - way more information than I can provide here.
Posters could be improved greatly by adhering to a few principles (see Tufte for details - and he'd likely scream to see these in a bullet list). Please keep in mind that this panel only skims the surface. There's much more that can be done!
As with everything else on a poster, your job is to communicate clearly and directly with your audience. You should work to eliminate anything that distracts from this.
First, be sure you plot the relationship you want to show. If you want to see the change in populations through time, the X-axis should be time and the Y-axis should be population. Nothing else makes sense.
The ratio of information ink to total ink in a graph should be as large (close to one) as possible. Information ink includes the markings on the graph that show the data. Anything else is just distracting - Tufte calls it "ChartJunk". In the above example, only the two lines show your data. The axes give the reader a sense of the range of your data. Everything else is ChartJunk: the grey background, the grid lines, the legend, and the overly-abundant axis labels.
Maintain graphic integrity - tell the truth about your data! - physical area on graph should be proportional to numbers represented
- data should not be displayed out of context
- explanatory material and labels should be included on the graph
- time series with money should be inflation-adjusted

49. Here's a very simple example showing the relationship between two populations through time. The main point to be made is that the lynx (predator) and hare (prey) populations oscillate through time in a somewhat predictable manner. [ This is a classic example of predator-prey oscillations from the ecology literature, and has been interpreted as evidence of the regulation of prey populations by predators. ]
Straight out of Excel, here's what you get:

50. There's a Lot of Ink Here That Doesn't Convey Information Relevant to the Main Point You're Trying to Make. Plus It's Ugly.
Grey background: not only does it provide absolutely no information, it's also unsightly. After you remove it, you will likely have to darken some of the lines.
Grid lines: it's very unlikely that your audience cares about the exact values at each data point - it's the pattern that matters. The grid lines compete with the pattern you're trying to show.
Legend: it's taking up space that would be better spent on the graph
X-axis: The labelling between tick marks is confusing.
Axis scales: Because the pattern is the main focus, we don't need to have such finely detailed scales - just enough to provide a sense of the range of values plotted.
Y-axis label: Why make the reader tilt his or her head to read?
Legend: Why make the reader look back and forth between lines and legend? Just label the lines - then eliminate the legend.
Line types: Use colour and line type to differentiate - this will help people who have colour impaired vision, and also any grey-scale copies of the poster you make (as for handouts).

51. It's Easy to Make a Graph That Looks Cleaner and Has a Higher Ratio of Information-to-total Ink:
Without all the distractions, the relationship comes through loud and clear.

52. Text Text should be simple, direct, and large
Posters are a visual medium.
Minimize text - use images and graphs instead.
Keep text elements to 50 words or fewer.
Use phrases rather than full sentences.
Use an active voice.
Avoid jargon (depends somewhat on the audience).

53. Text Cont…
Left-justify text; avoid centring and right-justifying text.
Use a serif font (e.g., Times) for most text - easier to read.
Sans-serif font (e.g., Helvetica) OK for titles and headings
Text should be at least 24 point in text, 36 for headings.
Pay attention to text size in figures - it must also be large.
Title should be at least 5cm tall.

54. Minimize Text and Make It Large!!
Helpful hint: If you print your poster on a standard sheet of paper, you should be able to read all of it - including text in figures - comfortably. If you can't, your text is too small.

55. Consider the Alternatives
Do this ... Make text simple, direct, and large enough to read so that your message comes through loud and clear!
Title and major headings should be readable from 2m away. Headings carry your main message and can attract viewers to your poster.
Supporting material should be visible from 1m away.
Details should be kept to a minimum, and still visible from 1m away.
Avoid long lines of text.
Keep text blocks compact - single spaced and 50 words or fewer - and separate with white space.
Use straight fowrard left-justified text, with ragged right margins, for clean word spacing and ease of reading.

56. ... not this
Make text convoluted, impenetrable, and small enough that viewers will go away.
Headings are to be small, so you can fit everything in.
Only text that lacks intrinsic content - like "Results" - should be readable from 1m away.
Make text tiny, as in a published paper, so you can squeeze in all the detail.
Make lines of text so long that the readers lose their place when trying to find the next line.
Create long text blocks and word hard to fill all available space.
Center-, right-, or full-justify large blocks of text, to increase the difficulty of reading even further.

57. Colours
Use colour to attract attention, organize, and emphasize - but don't overdo it.
Use a light colour background and dark colour letters for contrast.
Avoid dark backgrounds with light letters - very tiring to read.
Stick to a theme of 2 or 3 colours - much more will overload and confuse viewers.

58. Colours Cont…
If you use multiple colours, use them in a consistent pattern - otherwise viewers will spend their time wondering what the pattern is rather than reading your poster.
Overly bright colours will attract attention - and then wear out readers' eyes.
Consider people who have problems differentiating colours, especially when designing graphics - one of the most common is an inability to tell green from red.

59. Colours Cont…
Consider people who have problems differentiating colours, especially when designing graphics - one of the most common is an inability to tell green from red Strawberries as they appear to a person Strawberries as they appear to a person with full-colour vision who cannot tell red from green
NOTE: need a simple list of safe colour combinations to use, or combinations to avoid.
. .
Additional information about color deficiency ...
Making figures and graphs that are colour-blind friendly.
Wikipedia article on colour blindness.
Simulations of what people with colour deficiencies see.
Ishihara tests for colour deficiencies.
Information about web safe colours that help avoid issues with colour deficiencies.

60. Editing
If it doesn't provide critical support for your main message, ELIMINATE IT!
Edit! Edit! Edit ruthlessly! to reduce text.
Edit all text to simplify verbiage, to reduce sentence complexity, and to delete details.
If it's not relevant to your message, remove it!
Have colleagues comment on drafts. Print a small version and circulate for comment, or hang a full-size draft with pens and invite them to critique.

61. Editing Cont… Evaluate your work - try the 60-second evaluation.
Are your objective and main message obvious?
Will readers be able to contact you?

62. 60-second Poster Evaluation
Rating Criteria - Circle rating that applies. Overall Appearance 0   Cluttered or sloppy appearance. Gives the impression of a solid mass of text and graphics, or pieces are scattered and disconnected. Little white space.
1 Pleasant to look at. Pleasing use of colours, text, and graphics.
2 Very pleasing to look at. Particularly nice colours and graphics.

63. White Space 0. Very little. Gives the impression of a solid
White Space 0   Very little. Gives the impression of a solid mass of text and graphics.
1 OK. Sections of the poster are separated from one another.
2 Lots. Plenty of room to rest the eyes. Lots of separation.
Text / Graphics Balance 0   Too much text. The poster gives an overwhelming impression of text only. OR Not enough text. Cannot understand what the graphics are supposed to relate.

64. 1. Balanced. Text and graphics are evenly. dispersed in the poster
1 Balanced. Text and graphics are evenly dispersed in the poster. There seems to be enough text to explain the graphics.
Text Size 0 Too small to view comfortably from a distance of meters.
0.5 Main text OK, but text in figures too small.
1 Easy to read from meters.
2 Very easy to read.

65. Organization and Flow 0   Cannot figure out how to move through poster.
1 Implicit. Headings (Introduction, Methods, etc) or other device implies organization and flow.
2 Explicit numbering, column bars, row bars, etc.
Author Identification 0   None.
1 Partial. Not enough information to contact author without further research. This includes missing zip codes on addresses.
2 Complete. Enough information to contact author by mail, phone, or without further research.

66. Research Objective 0   Can't find.
1 Present, but not explicit. Buried at end of "Introduction", "Background", etc.
2 Explicit. This includes headings of "Objectives", "Aims", "Goals", etc.
Main Points 0   Can't find.
1 Present, but not obvious. May be imbedded in monolithic blocks of text.
2 Explicitly labelled (e.g., "Main Points", "Conclusions", "Results").
Summary 0   Absent.
1 "Summary", "Results", or "Conclusions" section present.

67. Software There are many software options for creating your poster.
MicroSoft PowerPoint is a relatively easy-to-use tool for creating posters – see instructions. One benefit of PowerPoint is that many people already know how to use it.
Adobe Illustrator and InDesign have more features and can provide very professional results - especially for posters including lots of high-resolution images - but are more complex and expensive.

68. Software Cont…
MicroSoft Excel can create graphics and export them for PowerPoint - but you'll need to clean them up. DeltaGraph is also a nice tool, but keep your graphs clean.
OpenOffice offers no-cost alternatives to MS Office. Impress is the PowerPoint alternative, and Draw is a vector graphics software package. See the OpenOffice web site or their documentation section for further information.
Adobe Photoshop is great for manipulating images, but is also complex and expensive.
All software packages will allow you to print a scaled-down version of your poster on a standard (for the US) 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper. This is an excellent way to improve draft posters - and circulate them for editing - because if you can read the reduced version comfortably your fonts are large enough to be seen from 1-2 meters away at full scale. Plus you have an instant handout!!

69. Present Your Poster
Use the graphics on your poster to support conversations with colleagues.
Focus on the evidence: your graphics.
Arrive early at the display site.
Unless you're confident the organizers will have proper supplies, bring a poster hanging kit with you.
Hang your poster square and neat.
Make sure you're at your poster during your assigned presentation time.

70. Present Your Poster Cont…
You want people to remember you and your work! Bring copies of a handout for your readers. It should include a miniature version of your poster and more detailed information about your work, in an illustrated narrative form. Consider doing this on an 11x17-inch sheet of paper, folded in half. This allows three pages of information, in addition to the miniature of your poster.
Put handouts, business cards, reprints nearby - on a table or in an envelope hung with the poster.

71. Present Your Poster Cont…
Restock supplies periodically, if poster is up for a long time.
Consider leaving a pen and pad inviting comments from viewers.
Use your poster as a visual aid - don't read it!
Prepare 0.5-, 2-, & 5- minute tours of your poster.

72. Present Your Poster Cont…
Tell viewers ...
the context of your problem and why it is important (Introduction),

73. your objective and what you did (Objective & Methods),
what you discovered (Results), and
what the answer means in terms of the context (Discussion).

74. Consider the Alternatives
Do this ... Use the graphics when you talk and focus on your evidence.
Use your poster as a visual aid.
When people ask you for a tour of your poster, use the graphic elements to explain your work.

75. Consider the Alternatives Cont…
Face your audience and tell them the context: identify the big problem, explain why the problem is important, and tell what you did to answer it, what the answer is, and what the answer means.
As you talk in an audible, measured pace, point to the graphic features that demonstrate your message. Glancing at the figure as you point to it will direct your viewers' eyes to the figure.

77. Consider the Alternatives Cont…
... not this Give a detailed tour and be compulsively complete.
Read carefully every line.
Read all the text, trace every line on every graph, and dwell especially on the details of the methods.
If you stand with your back to your audience, many people will find it easier to escape. Glance over your shoulder periodically to see if you can stop reading yet.

78. Consider the Alternatives Cont…
Speak in a low and hesitant tone - a whisper is ideal - and don't help viewers see what you're trying to show them.