How to Prepare a Poster

Sven Hammarling and Nicholas J. Higham

Poster sessions are an increasingly important part of scientific conferences, and many of us are rather inexperienced in their preparation and presentation. Having been involved in organizing and judging poster sessions, however, we have given some thought to what we consider to be desirable features of a poster. (We do not address here the publication of the poster material in a conference proceedings.)

What Is a Poster?

A poster is very different from a paper or a talk, and so different techniques need to be used in its preparation. In particular, a poster is not a conference paper, and simply pinning a paper to a poster board usually makes a very poor poster. A poster board is typically 4 feet high and 6 feet wide, but the reverse orientation (tall and thin) is also seen. It is advisable to check beforehand on the size of the boards that will be available to you. A poster itself is a visual presentation comprising whatever the contributor wishes to display on the poster board.

The purpose of a poster is to outline a piece of work in a form that is easily assimilated and stimulates interest and discussion. The ultimate aim is a fruitful exchange of ideas between the presenter and the people reading the poster, but you should not be disappointed if readers do not stop to chat—a properly prepared poster will at least have given useful information and food for thought.

A Poster Tells a Story

In preparing a poster, simplicity is the key. A typical reader may spend only a few minutes looking at the poster, so there should be a minimum of clutter and a maximum of pithy, informative statements and attractive, enlightening graphics. A poster should tell a story. As always in a scientific presentation, the broad outline includes a statement of the problem, a description of the method of attack, a presentation of results, and then a summary of the work. But within that format, there is much scope for ingenuity. A question-and-answer format, for example, may be appropriate for part of the poster.

A poster should not contain a lot of details—the presenter can always communicate the fine points to interested participants. In particular, it is not a good idea to present proofs, except in brief outline, unless the proofs are the focus of the presentation. Keep in mind that the poster will be one of many in the exhibition area: You need to make sure that it will capture and hold the reader’s attention.

The poster should begin with a definition of the problem, together with a concise statement of the motivation for the work. It is not necessary to write in complete sentences; sentence fragments may be easier to comprehend. Bulleted lists are effective. An alternative is to break the text into chunks—small units that are not necessarily paragraphs in the usual sense. For presenting results, graphs and figures—easier to scan than the columns of figures in a table—are even more appropriate than in a paper. Legends should be minimal. A brief description of the implications of a graphic, placed just above or below it, is helpful. For ideas on graphic design, a wide selection of books is available; either of the books by Tufte [3, 4] would be an especially good choice. Conclusions, again, should be brief, and they should leave the reader with a clear message to take away.

Designing Your Poster

Suggestions on the physical design of a poster range from the obvious to the not so obvious. First, as we mentioned earlier, it is definitely unacceptable to post a copy of a paper!

The typeface chosen should be considerably larger than standard. Because not all readers will have perfect eyesight, and because the crowd of readers around a popular poster may be several people deep, the type should be easily readable by a person standing a few feet away. In particular, the title of the poster and the author’s name should be large and prominent. Good use can be made of color, both to provide a more interesting image and for color coding of the text. For added interest, try including an appropriate cartoon, photograph, or quotation. There is plenty of scope for creativity.

Images of some of the posters presented at the IMA Conference on Linear Algebra and Its Applications, held at the University of Manchester in July 1995, are available at http://www.ma.man.ac.uk/MCCM/laa95.html. Several examples of layout and further discussion are given by Matthews [2].

The Poster Session

Once the session starts, stand near the poster but not in a position that obscures it from view. Be prepared to answer the questions that a good poster will inevitably generate. But keep in mind the advice of one expert: “A presenting author at a poster session should behave like a waiter in a first-class restaurant, who is there when needed but does not aggravate the guests by interrupting conversation every ten minutes to inquire whether they are enjoying the food” [1].

References [1] Robert R.H. Anholt, Dazzle ’em With Style: The Art of Oral Scientific Presentation, W.H. Freeman, New York, 1994.
[2] Diane L. Matthews, The Scientific Poster: Guidelines for Effective Visual Communication, Technical Communication, 37 (3) 1990, 225–232.
[3] Edward R. Tufte,The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, Graphics Press, Cheshire, Connecticut, 1983.
[4] Edward R. Tufte, Envisioning Information, Graphics Press, Cheshire, Connecticut, 1990.

Sven Hammarling (sven@nag.co.uk; http://www.nag.co.uk:70/0/Homes/Sven.html) is a principal consultant at NAG Ltd, in Oxford, England; currently, on sabbatical from NAG, he is a research professor at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. Nicholas J. Higham (na.nhigham@na-net.ornl.gov; http://www.ma.man.ac.uk/~higham/) is a reader in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Manchester.