Poster Tips
A well-constructed poster is self-explanatory, achieving both coverage and clarity. Your e-poster can consist of multiple slides or just one. Use the tips below for formatting and making the most of this presentation.
Formatting Tips
- Less is more. Be clear and concise with poster design and content. Overcrowding a poster makes it difficult to read.
- Include your name and title in a larger, bolder font than you use throughout the rest of your poster.
- Provide clear labels or headings for each section of your presentation.
- Remember contrast. Put light-colored fonts on dark backgrounds and dark fonts on light-colored backgrounds so your viewers can see your text clearly.
- Imbed high-quality graphics and videos.
- If uploading a video presentation, avoid hyperlinks. Instead, links can be provided in the dedicated chat window on the platform for your presentation.
Content Tips
Coverage: In addition to title/author and abstract, most successful posters provide brief statements of introduction, method, subject, procedure, results, and conclusions. Ask yourself the following:
- Have I provided all the obvious information?
- Will a casual observer understand my major findings after a quick perusal of my material?
- Will a more careful reader learn enough to ask informed questions?
- What would I need to know if I were viewing this material for the first time?
Clarity: People attending a poster session will have difficulty reading excessive text and small fonts. With this in mind, we recommend you do the following:
- Use large fonts and limit text to essential information. Place your major points in the poster and keep the nonessential, but interesting, sidelights for informal discussion.
- Keep content simple and communicate clearly.
- Consider whether the sequence of information is evident. Indicate the order of your material with numbers, letters, or arrows when necessary.
- Use captioned illustrations, photographs, graphs, video, or other types of visually appealing material.
- Make your conclusions or summary a concise statement of your most important findings.
Online Resources for Poster Creation
These sites may provide other useful tips for preparing your e-poster. Be sure to adjust any formatting tips provided for best display as a PDF file on the platform.