Poster Presentations: Top Tips
One of the most common mistakes people make when creating a poster is to
overload it with information - TRY AND AVOID THIS! No one wants to
read a poster that is jammed full of text.
A poster should represent a ‘snapshot’ of your work - so show the bits that
are most interesting and which can be represented by both text AND high
quality images.
Your poster should be eye-catching; it should draw people towards it.
However, be aware that your use of colours is just as important in the poster
as it is when you’re making a PowerPoint presentation. So, avoid clashing
colours!
A background colour for the poster board that contrasts with the colour of the
paper used for the text often works well, e.g. a dark blue poster board with
text printed on white paper.
Your title, affiliation and authors should be clearly represented at the top of
your poster.
It is useful to design your poster around the standard ‘Introduction’,
‘Methods’, ‘Results’ and ‘Conclusions’ approach. However, since posters
often represent work currently in progress, there is more flexibility to
represent a few (or perhaps only pilot) results along with a speculative set of
conclusions.
Make sure that your poster is actually legible and remember that people may
be reading it from a distance of a metre or more away - SO KEEP THE
TEXT SIZE LARGE (minimum 24 point font).
Keep the text formatting consistent throughout (i.e. use the same font and
colours for main text, titles of individual sections etc.).
Make sure that your poster has a ‘story’ to tell but remember that people will
not necessarily be reading all of it, or they may read just bits of it…. so
make sure that whatever you include, that it is interesting!
Make good use of images throughout your poster - but make sure these are of
high quality and are relevant to the work you are presenting.
If you are creating a poster using board and text/images that will be glued
onto it, make sure you try out various combinations of where these pieces of
text/images will go. It can be very helpful to put the board onto the floor and
arrange your text/images onto it to see how they look. Ask colleagues and
friends for their opinions of how your poster looks in different combinations
of text/image placement. Remember, you want your poster to attract people
to come and read it, so test this out before you print the final versions and
stick them onto your board!
Posters can also be produced using PowerPoint, which has the advantage that
changes can easily be made on screen before final printing. However,
printing large posters in this way can be expensive.
Make sure that your contact details are clearly given on the poster and make
acknowledgements to all those who helped you at the end of the poster
(usually placed somewhere in the bottom left or right-hand side)
It can be useful to attach some of your business cards to your poster (in a
plastic wallet attached to the bottom of the poster) so that people can take
one if you are not actually standing next to your poster when they view it.
This is an important way of making contacts, and is particularly relevant if
you are presenting your poster at a conference.
Make sure that your poster conforms to the size specified by the conference
organisers etc. You should take Velcro tape with you on the day of your
poster presentation just in case none is available when you arrive.
Making a high quality poster is time-consuming. Do not underestimate how
long it will take ! You should allow for at least 4 weeks from original plans
to the final version.
Useful Websites
Designing Effective Poster Presentations
Biological Sciences in the Science and Engineering, University at Buffalo, The
State University of New York Library. This site contains numerous links to
other websites that deal with communication via posters.
Poster Presentations
(See also “Effective Presentations”) Compiled by Jeff Radel at Kansas
University Medical Center, this guide is intended to:
”- Illustrate elements of layout and design for poster presentations
- Illustrate common errors in design and how to avoid them
- Provide a convenient reference for students and faculty “
Presentation Skills
By Ming T. Tham of Chemical and Process Engineering, University of
Newcastle Upon Tyne.
Also includes useful hyperlinks to related websites on presentations (posters
and oral), public speaking etc.
In particular, See: Poster Presentation of Research Work
Oral and Poster Presentation Guidelines by American Society for Microbiology
Developing a Poster Presentation, The University Writing Center, George
Mason University.
Poster Presentation
A very good step-by-step guide to preparing a poster using Powerpoint. (The
University of Strathclyde)
Poster Presentations
Comprehensive and impressive account of poster presentation. Part of BIO
801: Scientific Literature and Writing: By Gary Richison, Department of
Biological Sciences, Eastern Kentucky University.
Gosling, P.J. 1999. Scientist's guide to poster presentations. New York :
Kluwer Academic/Plenum Pub. See Chapter 7- Data presentation.
Murray, R., Thow, M. and Strachan, R. 1998. Visual Literacy: Designing and
Presenting a Poster, Physiotherapy, 84(7): 319-327.
Woolsey, J D, 1989. Combating poster fatigue: How to use visual grammar and
analysis to effect better visual communications. Trends Neurosci. 12, 325-332.
