EAS 450 – Scientific Communications

TIPS FOR POSTER PRESENTATIONS

David Crossley, Saint Louis University

You should first read the parallel (and much longer document) on Tips for Oral Presentations. Many of the comments are the same, though some of the more important ones will be repeated here. 

1. Know Your Audience

• In a poster presentation it is highly likely that MOST of your audience will NOT be experts in your field - therefore it is essential you prepare several introductory 'panels'. 
  
• Sympathize with the viewer and remind him or her of the basic facts: 

  - Why is this work being done?
  - What is the issue you hope to resolve?
  - What data is involved, where and how was it obtained, collected, prepared and analyzed?

• What do want the viewer to remember at the end? Make sure your message is clear - be INFORMATIVE - not DESCRIPTIVE.

2. Organize Your Poster

• A poster is normally broken into panels - somewhere between 10 and 15 is usual.
  
• Each panel should focus on one aspect of your story. Panels normally considered essential are:
  
  • Title - big and bold across the top of the poster; author(s) and affiliations(s) are in smaller font and below the title
  • Abstract - summarizing in bullet form - the essential points, results and conclusions
  • Objectives - summarizing in bullet form the purpose of the study
  • Previous Work - how does this work differ from previous studies, what other authors have considered this topic?
  • Conclusions - as a result of this study, what conclusions can you draw? What else needs to be done?

3. Design Considerations

• The idea of a poster is to be visually appealing. A text-only presentation should be avoided at all costs. Use of color is now mandatory. An equal mix of text panels and graphics panels works well.
  
• If you have created a novel or unconventional design for your poster, by all means use it! Just make sure that the basic information is still clearly and logically presented.
  
• Panels showing equipment, especially with people working on it, are always interesting. 
  
• The smallest font size for text is about 18 point, you should be able to easily read the text from a distance of 4-6 ft.
   
• Avoid written sentences on your text panels - a poster is not an essay! Instead  you should rely on bulleted lists to summarize the points being made.
  
• Choose a color scheme and design scheme that are used repeatedly in the panels to provide a design cohesion - though not every panel (e.g. those containing a photograph or a figure) has to be part of the design
  
• Arrange the panels in a logical order - this can be done through a number or letter scheme - that helps the viewer through the steps of your work. Generally the viewer will start in the top left corner and proceed row-wise or column-wise to the bottom right corner.
  
• Choose 5-9 main sections or headings for subtopics.
  
• Be very careful to proof read all text for errors - nothing is worse than having to stare at spelling and grammatical mistakes!
  
• All graphics need to be in high resolution form - avoid using bitmapped images (see below).
  
• Avoid lots of mathematics; show only the essential details.
  

4. When Standing at Your Poster

• If someone comes up to you and says 'explain this to me in 2 minutes' be prepared to do just that - with a quick overview of what you have done.
  
• Do not get into deep discussions with one person when you can clearly see others waiting to talk to you.
  
• Do not go up to everyone who is looking at your poster unless they give a signal they would like to talk to you - if the poster is doing its job viewers should be  content to browse on their own.
  
• If a small group of people develops around a questioner to hear your answers (this is  a good sign!), broaden your social 'distance' to address the group.

5. Attitudes to Discussion

• Questions and discussions are THE important part of your poster - you cannot relax until your session is over!
  
• As in all social events, be positive -- even in the face of difficulty -- maintain good humor and do not show irritation.

• Be VERY CAREFUL to listen to the WHOLE QUESTION from the viewer -- rushing to answer after a few words can lead to a wrong answer.
  
• Don't worry about stirring up discussions and controversy -- this is usually a good sign.

• Be honest about what you don't know, especially if the viewer is leading you to speculate.

6. Technical Details for Producing Posters in EAS

• (to be completed later)