A poster is an organized, visual display of your research project or your business project. Conference or seminar attendees will walk by your poster, study its contents, and ask you questions. You should be prepared to answer questions and to explain your project frequently throughout the poster session.
For an effective poster:
- Presents your research in an organized and visually pleasing way. Posters typically contain both text and graphics (charts, tables, lists, etc.).
- Is self-explanatory. In the case that you aren’t standing by your poster, or if you are otherwise engaged in conversation, anyone walking by should be able to view your poster and understand your project.
- Is easy to read. Be sure your text and graphics are large enough that multiple people standing a few feet away can read your poster simultaneously.
- Is concise. Your poster should summarize your project quickly and efficiently. Avoid long paragraphs. Bullet points are often very effective. Figure out how you might present parts of your project through graphics. You should be able to explain your poster from start to finish in ten to fifteen minutes.
Elements
- Title
- Author(s) with affiliations and emails
- Introduction or objective
- Methods
- Results
- Conclusions and/or discussion
- Acknowledgements
If your poster is a representation of an event or other kind of project, you may want to forego formal abstract sections in favor of the 5 Ws
- Who (introduce the author, organization, or community)
- What (what do you want to do? How will it be done? )
- Where (where will you do it?)
- When (when will it take place?)
- Why (what are the outcomes, implications, or future possibilities?)
- Acknowledgements
Suggested elements
- Your affiliation’s logo
- Relevant graphs and charts
- Relevant pictures.