POSTER PRESENTATION
Below is a summary of major points that have emerged during previous sessions on Poster Presentation. In a busy poster session, people will be walking past your poster and you need to grab their attention and make it easy for them to answer the following questions -
- What is this about?Title
- What are they trying to do?Aims
- What is the bottom line?Conclusion
- I am interested, how do I find out more?Introduction, Results, Methods, Contact details
VISUAL IMPACT - Is the poster eye-catching? A symmetrical layout with neat columns or rows of individual sheets looks good from a distance and gives an impression of being organised (like your science!). Use colour; photographs: even non-data pictures catch the eye and look more friendly as well as signaling the subject area; Avoid overcrowding – don’t be afraid of space; Do not intimidate the viewer with information overload in the form of blocks of text or detailed figures.
TITLE - Keep it short and punchy, including keywords; Consider framing it as a rhetorical question or statement, or making it comparable to the "running head" at the top of the page in journals (30-40 characters); Use a banner heading separate from the main text area; Use the largest font on your poster or title but DO NOT USE CAPITALS AS THEY ARE LESS EASY TO READ; Remember to think about the title at the time of submitting your abstract; Avoid using a title you may want to use later for a paper (identical titles confuse Endnote and make your c.v. less exciting).
AUTHORS- Place names below title, in a smaller font; Make sure that the presenter is identified with an asterisk or by displaying a photo; Use first names (to help in introductions); Make it clear where presenter comes from; an Email address shows who is responsible and makes full postal address unnecessary; Include University Crest (available from AVS) adjacent to address.
LAYOUT - Prepare poster as a single sheet or in modules - all sheets the same size (A3 is convenient for transport); Make sure that it is easy to follow the sequence by arranging in 2-3 distinct vertical columns, by numbering each section and/or by use of sub-headings (if you have several sheets, a good test is to ask whether someone else could pin it up for you); Include not more than 2 or 3 clear AIMS and CONCLUSIONS (top left/bottom tight); Keep them very brief; Avoid all clutter such as full stops at end of bullet statements.
- Use bullet points but not to excess. Limit them to lists.
- You do not need a bullet for every paragraph
Do not be constrained by a traditional paper layout - this is a poster!
READABILITY - Use adequate font size; Avoid BLOCK CAPITALS; Only use abbrevs if real. abs. necc.; Be extremely careful not to use full justification as it can stretch out your text and may result in interruptio-
n of words; Avoid using more than 3 font sizes on the poster; Use bold in preference to underlining or italics; Aim at 50-60 characters per line; Sans-serif fonts are good for headings but serif fonts like this may be better for lines of text; Use short paragraphs of 4-5 lines and leave space between paragraphs; If you are preparing an A1 or A0 size poster, print it out on A4 - you should be able to read the A4 draft easily at arms length. Use black text on a light background. A shaded background may look good on the screen but never prints satisfactorily.
METHODS – A separate Methods section may not be appropriate – can a method be included in the legend for a figure? Do not go into excess detail; Do not bother with references to standard methods; Reference to your own lab’s work will be most useful.
RESULTS - Figures are essential; Ensure variety of styles and colour; Histograms and graphs are generally preferable to tables; Make them BIG but all of matching scale; Keep each figure self-contained with its own legend;Use headings to state the finding (don't leave readers to work out the implications for themselves); Highlight most important features and leave out any clutter of irrelevant data; Label lines rather than explaining symbols in legend; Avoid reader having to cross-refer around poster; It may be better to incorporate Discussion with Results, rather than have a separate section.
AIMS and CONCLUSIONS– These may be the only bits that people read! Make them clear and stand-alone; keep brief (max. 2-3 bullet points); Avoid abbreviations or cross-reference to other sections; Place Aims top left and Conclusions bottom right on poster; Make sure Aims and Conclusions match up.
PRACTICALITIES – Are you sure of the shape and size of the conference boards? Remember to bring your own drawing pins (large map pins are better), Velcro, Bluetack and/or doublesided tape; Never trust arrangements to be as promised! Chose a colour scheme so your poster stands out on any background – add a dark border; use matching pins. Pin your poster as high as possible to allow a comfortable reading height.
Some websites that you may find helpful:
Audio Visual Service
This site provides some templates for posters and useful advice on topics such as importing images.
Print Services (Robinson Library)
Note that AVS moved from the CooksonBuilding to the Robinson Library in February, 2004. The websites have not yet been completely altered.
Some websites with advice on PowerPoint and Posters:
Poster Sizes
Set up your poster on PowerPoint using ‘custom size’ in page setup according to what is required for your conference. This allows to you see how it will look full-size, and you can reduce the scale to view the whole poster.
Note that currently the University can only print up to 87 cm (34.5") wide, though you could make your poster 100 metres long!
A0841 x 1189 mm
A1594 x 841
A2420 x 594
A3297 x 420
A4210 x 297
Images
Use high resolution images. Images for your poster should be of sufficient resolution to print at 300dots per inch (dpi) to look nice. For instance, if you wish to print an image 4 inches wide, the pixel (picture element or dot) width should be at least 4x300 or 1200 pixels. Images downloaded from a web page will never be of sufficient quality to look good on a poster - for instance, if you download a logo image that is 1 inch wide from a web page it will be only be about 75 pixels wide (monitor resolution). Then when you print it 3 inches wide - that is a printed resolution of only 75/3 or 25 dots per inch. This will not look good. Also remember that if you set your poster size to 50% when viewing it on your PCscreen, your images will be twice as large when printed.
Most common errors:
Poor Aims and Conclusions
Blocks of text too long
Information not presented in a logical order
Figures too small or inadequately labeled and explained
Too many bullets
Font too small
Background too dark/too fussy
RRB Russell January 2008