How to Prepare a Proper Scientific Poster Presentation

The link between communication and science is crucial to the spread of information and catalyzing discussion amongst researchers. This article will focus on one aspect of communication in the sciences: research posters. It will explain how to prepare a professional poster for conferences or meetings aimed at researchers and academics.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Computer with Microsoft Power Point
• Printer capable of printing poster sized prints
• Laminating machine
• Research results (images, numbers, etc.)
• Image enhancement software & graphing software

1. 
   Graphs such as these provide a visual representation of data that would be fairly useless to the audience if not graphed

   Organization & Visualization
   
   Organize research results and notes for easy access during the following steps. As you organize your results, start visualizing how you would like to present the results. Quantitative results need to be placed in the format of a figure to show relationships. For instance, a simple line graph of bacterial population growth in the presence and absence of certain nutrients can reveal relationships that the numerical values hide. A table may be used for some numbers if there is no direct relationship present. A line graph is just one example, numerical results can be presented as pie charts, bar graphs, etc. depending on the context. Overall the figure should be stand alone and show obvious relationships between results. Qualitative results can be presented in different formats, the most striking being clear images of results. For instance, many phenotypic responses to mutations in organisms cannot be quantified. Therefore, a picture of the phenotype is a clear way to present the mutation's affect. However, qualitative results are less restrained to images as quantitative results are to figures. There are many different options for presenting qualitative results and each should be examined as a possibility to put your results in the clearest form for your audience. Don't be afraid of trying new presentation tactics, as long as it fits your data best.

2. Poster Layout
   
   As important as organizing everything before actually starting the poster is the actual layout on the poster. It's crucial to include these sections (in this order):
   -Abstract
   -Objectives
   -Materials and Methods
   -Results
   -Summary
   -References
   -Acknowledgments
   Now, as important as those sections are to have on your poster, it is also important that you follow the guidelines for whatever conference you are attending. Some conferences may require an introduction section, or name the section differently. But the basic poster should contain some form of all of the previously mentioned sections. The most attention should be paid to the abstract, results, and summary. This is where 95% of your audience will be looking, especially at the abstract. It provides the audience with a quick look at what you did and how you did it. Make sure you proof read all sections several times for mistakes as one mistake can ruin a perfectly good poster.

3. 
   This menu is under Format then Page.

   Construction of the Poster
   
   The easiest and most attractive way to construct your poster is by using Microsoft PowerPoint. You will basically be making a single huge slide. To start, make sure you know the capabilities of your poster printer. Most print in landscape format with a width of 48 inches and a height of 36 inches. If you would like to make a longer poster, increase the width. For the most part the height should be left the same as this is dictated by how wide a piece of paper the printer can print out. You can now begin adding text boxes and manipulating them to make your different sections. You can also start adding images and figures (don't forget figure legends!), notice they are all small as the slide is so big.

4. Make the Poster Attractive
   
   Another important step is to add visually appealing elements to your poster. An easy way of doing this is increasing the border width and color around figures and boxes. Also, adding a background image that is both pertinent and attractive (electron micrograph, aerial photograph, etc.) is a great way to make the poster interesting. To avoid losing text to similar colored background, change the background of the text box and implement the transparency function to allow the overall background image to shine through.

5. Spell Check, Spell Check, Spell Check!
   
   There's nothing worse than seeing a mis-spelled word or mis-placed figure in an otherwise great looking poster. Before going to Step 6 make sure everything is in place and correct.

6. Print & Laminate
   
   Find out how to use your poster printer. It may vary from any printer you've used before. Also make sure if you had to transfer to a different printer computer that nothing changed in your poster. Stand at the printer while it's printing to make sure the paper unrolls correctly. Once printed, admire your work for a few minutes, then make sure all of the edges are straight and cut any extra paper off (using a straight edge with a razor attached). Never use scissors to straighten edges, the edges won't be straight. Laminate the poster. Laminating is easy and it preserves your poster for the future, as well as adds that glossy finish which helps make it look more professional. Your poster is done! Make sure to transport it in a roll tube as bending the corners makes the poster look less professional.

[stevetech]

on 7/14/2009 Regarding step number 3, and Powerpoint being the easiest tool to use, perhaps you would like to consider PosterGenius: http://www.postergenius.com

This is a newer application which focuses on simplifying and speeding up the process to create a scientific poster, without compromising the esthetical quality.

There are some sample videos on how to create a scientific poster with PosterGenius here: http://www.postergenius.com/cms/index.php?q=front/tutorials

Hope you find this useful.

[digiboy]

on 6/17/2009 Another site that might help you with your scientific poster board design is:

www.ArtSkills.com

They have a free Poster Idea Gallery and a free online Poster Wizard design tool.

Hope this helps!