Preparing an Effective Conference Poster

Introduction

A poster has been an effective and efficient mechanism for presentation of new information for many years in scientific meetings and conferences; however, they are in less common usage in the humanities and the arts. Nonetheless, in a small-meeting format, the amount of time available to accommodate everyone who wishes to deliver a paper is very often limited. If every wishful speaker were to be scheduled, they would have around 10-minutes allotted per paper in the program, satisfying neither the speaker nor the audience!

It is for this reason that the "poster session" was invented, so that everyone would have a good chance to display their work and to interact with a putative audience. In fact, many scholars, having tried the poster technique, refuse to return to the lectern (unless, of course, they've been invited to present a review or award paper). The discussion in this note, is intended to help anyone in the preparation of an effective and useful conference poster. The discussion is also open to anyone who has their own tips or other "helpful hints" to offer. Communicate all such by E-mail to the Webmaster.

One of our colleagues recently offered the following comments about posters:

"I had never heard of them before INSAP II. I actually enjoyed preparing a poster for INSAP III and felt slightly smug in relation to oral presenters: certain advantages in preparing posters became apparent. I had no pre-lecture nerves, did not have to worry about my place on the programme (in the early morning while people are arriving, the after-lunch slump, the 4 o'clock doze) and knew that my work was available throughout the conference."
--- Nick Campion, 11 July 2001

The Scenario

The poster session(s) will be held in a large room, in order to accommodate the many poster set-ups. In many meetings, it has been found to be more salubrious to have the whole poster space contiguous to or actually incorporated into the "happy hour" room. A "poster board" is, usually, a piece of sound-deadening board (or similar), 1-m wide by 2-m long, mounted on a framework that displays the board, and its contents, vertically. More often than not, both sides of the board are used to display the informative materials.
Each poster presenter is assigned a 1-m square space for their display; if more room is desired, the presenter should make their requirements known early on in the application process. For the sake of the discussion, assume that a 1-m square is available for a potential display. If a VCR unit is required to run a dynamic display (including the small table for the unit itself), that information should be made known to the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) as soon as possible. Also, if a small table might be required for distributing handouts or pamphlets, then the LOC should know about that, also; preferably not on the opening day of the conference or meeting.

Mechanical Details of a Good Poster Presentation

1. Install the display at the time(s) specified by the LOC (given in the invitation letter);
2. Don't cover every square centimeter of space with material -- if there is so much material to display, then ask for additional poster space -- leaving abundant "white space" is good;
3. The title of the presentation should be in a large font (48-72 points) and in the top-middle of the board;
4. Avoid pages and pages of closely-typed text. Have such material available as handouts;
5. Go in for visuals -- graphics, art, figures, graphs, ..., whatever -- with clear but minimum titles and explanations;
6. Don't try to make more than one main point in a poster and make that point simply but effectively;
7. Use a font for all of the printed sheets, including (and especially) for the captions of pictorial/graphical illustrations, which can be read easily by the viewer from a distance of 2-m;
8. Avoid using too many different sizes or styles for print fonts (how much is too many? Good question -- any answers?);
9. Do not use "starburst" or "explosive" or otherwise "dynamic" effects to "rivet attention" to the display -- most people just walk on by;
10. Personal demeanor:
• clean, neat, and modest clothing;
• a friendly attitude;
• SMILE;
• greet the person who pauses in front of the display (they'll be wearing a name-tag, too);
• listen to their question(s) and give answers to them in a non-supercilious manner;
• if a crowd develops in front of the display, make sure that the "just-arrived" don't have to climb over the bodies taken root in front of the display -- move the implanted ones and their conversation(s) away from dead-front ... do it politely.
11. Take down the poster materials before 1) the next poster session or 2) leaving the conference -- don't leave the disposition (keep or throw away) of the material to the LOC: it's the presenter's responsibility;

One technique being seen at recent meetings in the physical sciences is to prepare a poster at home base, at your convenience, on a computer -- titles, text, pictures, and all. This way you can vary colors, types, picture placement, and so forth, until the effect is optimal. Then print it out full-size on heavy stock (*), roll it up, and take it to the meeting. Unroll it there and mount it on the poster board. Presto -- a maximum-impact poster. Small copies (A4, or 8½ × 11, or 11 × 17) can be run off and handed out at the meeting so viewers don't have to make detailed notes. This is the way of the future.
[(*) If your institution doesn't have such capabilities yet, there is (in the USA) always your friendly neighborhood Kinko's -- they can do such jobs.]

Illustrations of 'Good' and 'Bad' Poster Presentations

Future editions of this note will have illustrations of "good" and "bad" examples of posters, with accompanying commentary; they're just not yet available.

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This page modified on: 25 March 2007