Present your Poster

Use the graphics on your poster to support conversations with colleagues.

Focus on the evidence - your graphics - walk viewers through your poster.

Use your poster as a visual aid - do not read it to people!

Prepare 0.5-, 2-, & 5-minute tours of your poster.

Be sure to tell viewers ...

The context of your work and why it's important

Your objectives and what you did

What you discovered (this should be your main focus)

What your discovery means in terms of the context

Anticipate common questions, especially as a student in a competition ...

Tell me what you found?

What will you do next?

What are the implications of your findings for ... ?

What might you have done differently?

Do this ...

Use your graphics when you talk and focus on your evidence.

When people ask you for a tour of your poster, use the graphic elements to explain your work.

Face your audience. Identify the big problem, explain why it's important. Tell what you did to address it, what your findings were, and what the findings mean in terms of the big problem.

As you talk in an audible, measured pace, point to the graphics that support your message. Glace at the figure as you point to it to direct viewers' eyes.

Not this ...

Give a detailed tour and be complulsively complete.

Read carefully every single word.

Trace every line on every graph and dwell especially on the details of the methods.

Speak in a low and hesitant tone and don't help viewers see what you're trying to show them.

Stand with your back to the audience while reading, making it easier for them to escape.

Logistics

Arrive early at the display site.

Unless you're confident the organizers will have proper supplies, bring a poster hanging kit with you.

Hang your poster square and neat.

Make sure you're at your poster during your assigned presentation time.

You want people to remember you and your work! Bring copies of a handout for your readers. It should include a miniature version of your poster and more detailed information about your work (on the reverse), in an illustrated narrative form. Consider doing this on an 11x17-inch sheet of paper, folded in half. This allows three pages of information, in addition to the miniature of your poster.

Put handouts, business cards, reprints nearby - on a table or in an envelope hung with the poster.

Restock supplies periodically, if poster is up for a long time.

Consider leaving a pen and pad inviting comments from viewers.

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