Research Posters and Presentations

Review guidelines for the conference, event or class at which you will be presenting your poster

What are the dates for submission and presentation of your poster?

What are the size parameters for you poster?

Is there any information that you are required to put on your poster, such as specific sections, funding information or conference logo?

Identify your audience and the message that you want to convey about your research

Identifying your audience and message will help you decide what information (text and graphics) to include on your poster.  Who will be viewing your poster?  How likely is it that your viewers will be knowledgeable about your topic?  What information you need to include in order to convey your message?

Most people will not read your entire poster.  Viewers should be able to figure out what you did, what you found, and why it's important by scanning the title, results, graphics and conclusions of your poster.

If the information is not essential to understanding your message, then don't put it on your poster.

The following sections are usually included on a poster:

• Title
• Authors and their affiliations
• Introduction/background
• Materials and methods
• Results
• Conclusions
• References
• Acknowledgements

Tips for writing content for your poster

• Be concise
• Use active voice
• Use language that your audience will understand
• Use bulleted lists when possible
• Spell out acronyms the first time you use them

Write your content first, then transfer to a design program

Type your content, without formatting, in your preferred word processing program.

Then, copy and paste the content into the design program that you have selected for making your poster.