Standard poster board size how to#

We believe this is the way it should be done and what makes us seem most intelligent. Its purpose is to be accessible and to drive attention to your research.Īs academics, we like to write using impossible words, passive tenses, and convoluted sentences. A concise and visual summary of your research. And here’s the secret: a scientific poster is simply a visual abstract. Then, as people step closer and begin reading it, go ahead and give the background information necessary so that they can put your work into context, understand what you have done, why you have done it, and come to realise its broader impact.ĭoes this ring a bell? It’s no coincidence that the key information you’d include in your poster is the same information that you’d find in any scientific abstract. Second, a poster is a communication tool. A poster should use visuals to draw people in from a distance. And the poster is not going to do the talking for you. Repeat after me: a poster is a conversation starter. What they want is for you to share the story of your research and engage in informal conversation about it. Seriously, after a long day of presentations, no one wants to read walls of text as the wine kicks in.

Think about the typical conference poster session it’s at the end of the day, and there is often a copious amount of alcohol in the mix. The primary purpose of a poster is not to communicate every little detail of your fantastic research, but rather to attract people’s attention and serve as a conversation starter. Now let’s talk about what a poster should be instead.Ībove all, a poster should be a networking tool. I know you have eight fancy 3D plots that you can’t wait to share with the world, but ask yourself, are they really necessary? Do you really need eight of them when just one would do the trick? Only carefully selected information and visuals should go into your poster. But it’s not your fault, and we’ll set things straight in this post, so hang tight!įirst off, let’s make clear what a poster is not.Ī poster is not a bottomless pit where you dump all of your data and technical lingo. I mean very terrible! Therefore, any ideas you might have about what a scientific poster should look like are probably, well…terrible. The problem is that 90% of the scientific posters that you’ve seen at conferences and in the corridors of your university are terrible. Think hard now.ĭone? Great! Now erase those ideas from your memory.

Standard poster board size how to#

Tullio Rossi offers guidance on how to produce an outstanding conference poster, considering the scripting, concept, design, and logistics.īefore we get started, I want you to think about three things that you know about scientific posters. But many academics fail to produce a truly visually arresting conference poster and so opportunities to garner interest and make connections are lost.

A good academic conference poster serves a dual purpose: it is both an effective networking tool and a means by which to articulately communicate your research.