Poster presentation is an effective way of showing your research work, and interacting with others. Mostly you’re supposed to present your poster at conferences. In such conferences, you get a chance to expand your social circle as well. You also get to know about many well-reputed researchers because of this. Here you have to simply stand by your poster and answer the questions of visitors. There can be a brief, or detailed discussion session. It's your poster that attracts others, and urges them to ask about it. You may have done very good research. If your presentation is not good, it will not get much worth.
Poster presentation is a very good way of checking out the summarising abilities of researchers. There should only be main points in the form of text. Furthermore, you need to add graphs, charts, and figures within your poster as well.
Key Features
At every academic level, you may be asked to make a poster. From font size and colour to the data that’s being added, everything matters a lot. The font size must be clear and readable for most of the people. Also, you don’t need to add a detailed explanation of anything. Because you have to cover lots of data in a very short space. For this, it's better to add the bullet points. You should also be familiar with each section of the poster. From introduction to references, every section is important. So you should not skip any part. Also, you have to stay within a specified word count limit. In this article, experts of The Academic Papers UK have discussed in detail how to make a good poster presentation.
Working on a Poster Presentation
Any poster that is overloaded with text does not gain attention at all. The color of poster must also be an average one. Do not go for very light, or very dark color. Because the ideal colours are different shades of blue. You can use any color other than blue too, but it should be an attractive one. People who add orange, or yellow type colours don’t get much worth.
Formatting of the Text, and Graphics
In formatting, you need to consider the following aspects;
- Style of text
- Font size of text
- Size of graphics
- Clearance of graphics
- Color of text and overall poster
In style, you have to see where is a need for bold, italic, or underline text. All captions under the graphic must be italic, and bold in style. Similarly, the capitalisation of text also matters. The title of your poster must have each word starting with a capital letter. The title, and all other headings should be bold as well. Font size must be visible from at least five to six feet. Also, you have to see how font size varies from text to text. The largest font size should be of the title. The size of headings needs to be smaller than the title. All graphics must also be clear enough. There shouldn’t be any graphics with low resolution.
If it's a map, chart, or graph, everything needs to be clear, and understandable. The colour in poster presentation demands high concentration. First of all, you need to select the background colour. It should be a colour that is soothing to the eyes. Hence it is preferable to use light colors for the background of poster.
Sectioning of the Poster
You need to add all important information within the word count of 1000. Do not exceed this limit at all. Keep every section in your mind, and divide the word count as per your requirement. You’re also supposed to add the following sections within your poster presentation;
- Title.
- Introduction.
- Methodology.
- Analysis in the form of graphs, or charts.
- Results and conclusion.
- References.
- Acknowledgement.
- Name and roll numbers of group members.
In references section, you don’t need to add all the references you’ve added within your dissertation. But you need to add at least four to five references from where you have collected most of the data. In this case it is preferable to add all the charts you’ve created through the aspect of analysis.
Layout
In poster presentation the order of each section also matters. You cannot add references at the place of title, and vice versa. On top of the poster, you have to add the title. And at bottom of the poster, you need to add the reference, and author's name. There are many layouts that are available online. You can use these layouts free of cost. You can even find many layouts available on PowerPoint. In layout, you must focus on the right movement of text. Like it should move from left to right, and top to bottom. There are different types of layout, like;
- Contrasting fields layout.
- Vertical column layout.
- Graphic centred layout etc.
The selection of layout type depends on your data. If you want to compare data, it's preferable to choose contrasting fields layout.
Flow of Content
The flow in poster presentation is considered important for making it understandable. Your poster should speak for itself. And it is only possible when you ensure the right flow. Making a rough poster and asking others to read it is suggested in this case. You can ask your parents, siblings, fellows, or teachers. You can take their help and support through the collection of valuable feedback. If the flow of your poster is understandable for most of them, you should finalise it. Otherwise, keep changing it until or unless you remove all confusion from it. For flow of poster presentation, the link between each section matters a lot. You have to think about engaging the readers as well. You need to ensure that your reader doesn’t move after simply reading one section.
Final Tips
You can use the software as per your choice, or according to the demand of your advisor. The list of programs that can be used within this context is given as follows;
- PowerPoint
- Adobe Illustrator
- LaTeX
- InDesign
- Inkscape
- PosterGenius
Each program is easy to use for a poster presentation. If you find any confusion in its use, you can watch different tutorials available online. In the end, you need to proofread the whole poster, and point out any spelling, or punctuation mistakes. Because even a single mistake can ruin all of your efforts. So be careful, and do not print your poster without proofreading. In this aspect, point out if there is any change of format. You should also be consistent in each aspect, including colour, style and size.