Poster Presentation Toolkit: Step by Step

Before starting your poster, be sure to get all the necessary instructions and requirements for your final product. Check with your instructor if it's for a class. Organizations hosting poster sessions will normally have the information on their website.

Some things you will need to know:

• size and materials for the poster
• any information required to be included on the poster
• any formatting requirements
• will the whole poster need to be printed, or is posting separate pages on a background acceptable?
• is the poster session being held virtually, in person, or both?
• any instructions for printing the poster
• due date for the poster
• if a formal oral presentation is required

Better Posters Blog

Academic conference posters are often ugly, with tiny text, confusing layouts, and dubious colour schemes. Better Posters is about making posters informative and beautiful. This blog usually updates on Thursdays.

Steps by José Manuel de Laá from NounProject.com

1. Choose Your Content
2. Design Your Poster
3. Choose Colors & Font
4. Set up the slide size and any guides you need
5. Source/Create your images and/or diagrams
6. Create your text and layout the poster
7. Proofreading & Printing
   • Printing requires a PDF file set to your custom page size for proper printing. To save a Powerpoint to PDF, follow the steps outlined in Saving PowerPoints Presentations as PDF Files.
8. Present your poster!

Too many references to list on your poster? Consider using a QR code on the poster to lead your audience to a list of References online, or your full research paper. You may also have a handout with references and a summary of the poster. 

Free QR Code Generator: https://www.the-qrcode-generator.com/

Why archive your poster?

Scholarly and research posters are typically one-time use items; once the conference or presentation is over, the poster is hung on a wall somewhere or recycled.  However, these "grey" publications often have value as citable items later in the lifecycle of research.  Archiving your poster allows you to:

• Point to a permanent location for your poster

• Cite the actual poster with data and conclusions, not just an abstract

• Archive research that may have value but not result in a published article

• Provide a record or timeline for research progress

• Include official links on reports, CVs, etc.

• Extend the reach of innovations and ideas to a greater, public, audience

• Market the secondary research output of a lab, division, department, or school.

Archiving Locations

• Felician University Library Institutional Repository

• The FUL IR safeguards and provides access to the scholarly work and research files produced or collected by faculty, students, and staff at Felician University. This includes scholarly posters. Send an email to the Library, with any questions. 

• F1000 Posters

  The Faculty of 1000 post-peer review project has a dedicated area for posters that have been presented at major conferences and/or reviewed by experts for inclusion in the database. The project encourages scientists to comment on and review others' work in an effort to continue the scholarly conversation after publication.