Poster presentation advice.

Hey,

I've got a poster presentation coming up for a national conference and I've never done a poster before so I'm not sure where to start.

Does anyone have any general tips/advice about where I can start?

Do I have to include everything in the poster that I submitted in my abstract?

In the poster itself, should I include the abstract, methods, etc, or is it just the results?

Cheers.

Reply 1

carcinoma

A research poster should usually have an introduction/background, aims, methods, results and a discussion/conclusion.

They also tend to have tables and figures.

I would suggest you look at the various research posters around the hospital in each department and if you can a poster that was presented at the same conference you are presenting.

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Reply 2

fortysixandtwo

Original post by carcinoma

That's great, thanks.

Reply 3

hoonosewot

Original post by fortysixandtwo

Yeh as above, intro, aims, methods, results, discussion should all be represented on the poster.

However the big thing to bear in mind with these national conferences is that 99% of people just browse the posters, they aren't going to stop and read every one. If you want people to take anything from yours it's important that it has the vital conclusions and results outlined in a concise, clear way.

Use graphs and charts freely (and colourfully) and bullet-point in big text the main takeaway points from your poster. It's tempting to try and say a million things you found out, but it's far more digestible if you only present 2 or 3 max. Also think of a 10 second shpiel that summarizes the crux of your poster in case someone asks, then if they want to know more you can embellish.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 4

username634718

I'd recommend asking someone separate from the work to read to make sure it makes sense. Sometimes, being heavily involved in your own poster can make it hard to see where you've over-complicated things or missed out important points.

Reply 5

Becca-Sarah

Has anyone got any more specific tips on posters, please?

I.e how many words total? Minimum font size? I'm making an A0 poster on a 10" laptop so I can't gauge how readable it is without printing. Should it have more detail than the abstract or is this just a very big shiny abstract with pictures?

Also, on a slight tangent - how on earth do you get the damn thing to conferences? Fairly sure my poster is wider than my allowed cabin luggage.

Reply 6

Medicine Man

For the A0 posters I have done, I stuck to a font size of about 25/26 for text (and nothing smaller). If you are using boxes for individual sections, it sometimes helps to number them. Can't say much about the number of words, but from a general point of view, the fewer words, the better. There definitely should be more information than the abstract (I'm guessing it 250/300 words long?), especially if its an A0 poster.

As for carrying it, when you print posters out, they usually give you a carrying tube to carry it in (it's usually part of the printing price). Some people buy their own carrying tubes, but I have always used the card box one I get when I print at uni and that has been ok to date (couldn't find a decent picture of the card box ones :tongue:

). I don't know how much it'll cost in Aberdeen but at BL, its about £35 for the gloss paper printing and the carrying tube. If it's cheaper here, I don't mind printing it for you here and then passing it back on to you/someone else? Just let me know.

Reply 7

Medicine Man

This was something that was freely available on the AMEE website that helped for a poster I presented there - it might help with yours too? It has some pretty detailed information, but that was because they had pretty specific requirements back then.

Hints on preparing posters for AMEE Conferences.pdf106.8KB

Reply 8

Becca-Sarah

Original post by Medicine Man

Thanks MM! Had I thought about this in advance I would def take you up on that offer, just got back from London day before yesterday - not back again before the conference though. Will try to get my supervisor to print it and bring it with him, my query about travelling with it was more to do with the carry tube being too long to be allowed on the plane with me!

Reply 9

Medicine Man

Original post by Becca-Sarah

Nvm. Hopefully you sort it out and it isn't too costly.

Is it too long to have on the plane? When the Med Ed guys presented, we all took our poster tubes on the plane with us. Granted it was a year and a half ago, but it was with Easy Jet who are usually quite awkward about these things...