POSTER

PRESENTATION
What is a poster?
 A poster is a tool to present work to an
audience who is walking through a hallway
or exhibit.
 In poster presentations at conferences, the
presenter usually stands next to the poster,
thus allowing for passers-by to engage in
one-on-one discussions with the presenter.
 In other situations such as the hallways of
laboratories, universities, and corporations,
posters are stand-alone presentations for
passers-by
An effective poster …

 Focuses on a single message.

 Lets graphs and images tell the

story; uses text sparingly.

 Keeps the sequence well-

ordered and obvious.
An affective poster…

... engage colleagues

in conversation.

... get your main

point(s) across to
as many people
as possible.
Poster features
General guidelines to make a
poster
 First, the title should quickly orient the audience.
1. Make the title the most prominent block of text on the poster (either center or left
justify at the top).
2. Do not typeset the title in all capital letters (such text is difficult to read).
3. Use small words such as of, from, with, to, the, a, an, and to separate details in the
title.

 Second, the poster should orient the audience to the

subject and purpose.

 Third, the specific sections such as the results

should be easy to locate on the poster.

 Fourth, you should design the individual sections of

a poster so that they can be quickly read.
 For more information: http://
www.ncsu.edu/project/posters/IndexStart.html
 Your poster should ...

•use a visual grammar

to guide readers to the important parts of your poster.
•use a column format
to make your poster easier to read in a crowd.
•use organization cues
to guide readers through your poster.
•use "reader gravity“
which pulls the eye from top to bottom and left to right
(Wheildon 1995).
•use headings intelligently
to help readers find your main points and key information.
•balance the placement of text and graphics
to create visual appeal.
•use white space creatively
to help define the flow of information.
Visual grammar is a graphic hierarchy that
helps readers identify the most important
parts of your poster.
A good use of grammar hierarchy
But not…
Balance and white space
Balance occurs when images and text are reflected (at least
approximately) across a central horizontal, vertical, or diagonal axis.
This axis is know as the axis of symmetry.

Horizontal & Vertical Symmetry

Diagonal Symmetry Asymmetry

(text-heavy on left, image-
heavy on right)
Use organizational cues
Another way to make sure readers know how to navigate your
poster is to use cues - numbers, letters, arrows - to guide
them.
Minimize text and make it
large!!

•Minimize text - use images and graphs instead.

•Keep text elements to 50 words or fewer.
•Use phrases rather than full sentences.
•Title should be at least 5cm tall.
Many ineffective posters suffer
from easy-to-fix problems,
including…

 objective(s) and main point(s)

hard to find
 text too small
 poor graphics
 poor organization
POSTER SAMPLES