Developing a Scientific Poster
Your poster abstract has been selected for a conference or you've been invited to present your research at a meeting — congratulations! As soon as you receive confirmation, begin to plan ahead; it's important to leave enough time for production and problems. As you develop your poster's content and formatting, keep the following questions in mind: What is the research question, and why is this question important? What strategy is used? What are the results? Why are these results unique or important? How does this relate to other research? What comes next?
Poster Content
- Make it easy to read and understand; most poster sessions take place in crowded or distracting conditions
- Make it self-explanatory; verbal explanations should supply details, not essentials
- Address one central question. State the question clearly in the poster, then use your discussion time with individuals to expand or expound upon issues surrounding that central theme
- Provide an explicit take-home message
- Summarize implications and conclusions briefly, and in user-friendly language
- Give credit where it is due to contributors and funding organizations
Design Tips
The success of a poster directly relates to the clarity of the illustrations and tables.
- Follow the conference organizer’s guidelines for size and content
- Determine the logical sequence for your material.
- Organize material into sections, e.g.
- Title (stating the conclusion not the process of what was done)
- Authors and affiliations (include in the heading)
- Introduction
- Methods
- Data and results
- Conclusions, implications and future work
- References and acknowledgements
- Show your work (schematic diagrams, arrows, etc.) rather than telling it (straight text or including too much text).
- Use empty space to differentiate elements.
- Graphic materials should be visible easily from a minimum distance of six feet.
- Using 2–3 colors for emphasisis effective; any more than three risks looking unprofessional and makes it difficult for viewers to understand the differentiation of material/emphasis
- Use 3–5 columns
- Arrange material vertically from top left corner to bottom right corner.
- Boldface numbers (36–48 points) help tosequence sections of the poster.
- Use the following suggestions for text size:
- Title — 96 pt
- Authors — 72 pt
- Affiliations — 36-48 pt
- Section Headings — 36 pt
- Body text — 24 pt
- Acknowledgements — 18 pt
For more information, see:
Poster Presentation Tips
- Be prepared to give an overview of your work in 3-5 minutes
- Practice your presentation in advance for flow and timing
- Get feedback from colleagues
- Make eye contact
- Avoid jargon and acronyms
- Speak clearly and slowly; don’t go into detail unless asked
- Give people time to look at the poster; stand to one side but stay in the picture
Q&A Sessions
- Anticipate questions and rehearse answers, especially “How does this work differ from the other research in this area?”
- Listen carefully and wait for the person to finish the question
- Rephrase the question, answer it and then ask if you’ve answered the question
Heart Rhythm Society Poster Resources
Additional Poster Resources
- PhD Posters prints posters for poster sessions at scientific meetings and conferences; the company website offers a gallery of customer samples
- Swarthmore College has developed a poster template using Powerpoint — download PPT template.
- For tips on digitization and working with commercial poster production companies, see Frequently Asked Questions section of the SciFor Inc. website (printer of science presentations)
