How To Get Your Research Poster
Noticed
A
research poster is a summary of your
research in a visually engaging way; it is
an advertisement of your work
 Scientific posters are presented at
conferences and enable collaboration,
support, and feedback from people in
your field
Title
Abstract
Introduction
Methods
①
②
③
④
•
⑤
⑥
⑦
(this is where images
and graphs come in
handy)
Results
Conclusions
References
⑧
⑨
Acknowledgements
Contact Information
A
well composed poster communicates
what you want to say better, and will be
taken more seriously
(Think how confusing it would be if you were reading an essay and
your paragraphs were scrambled out of order)
 (Also)
If your poster looks good, it will
incentivize others to look at it!
good
not so good
 To
properly format a PowerPoint to your
poster’s size:
1. Go to the Design tab and select Page Setup
2. A dialogue box will open  enter the height
and width of the page, and the slide orientation
(portrait or landscape) should automatically
adjust
3. If the rulers are turned on ( in the View tab
check the Ruler box), you will be able to see
that the slide is now the size you entered
To get a better idea of what
your poster will look like
when it’s printed, use the
zoom feature of PowerPoint
Take the vertical
dimension of the print
size and divide it by the
vertical dimension of the
page setup size in your
PowerPoint

•
•
42’’×32’’ poster: 42 ÷ 32 =
1.31  1.31 × 100 = 131%
Enter 131 into the Zoom
Percentage box and click
OK

Make it easy for people with any type of background here
at Ames to be able to understand the basics of your project
 Your
poster tells a story of what you did,
both descriptively and visually
 Describe
a few main points with words, but
keep text to a minimum
• If you include graphs, don’t overcomplicate them
with too many specifics
 LESS IS MORE!
• Simplify your design format based on the poster size
criteria

High contrast between the background and text
• What you see on your screen may not look the same in
print

It has been proven that visual aids (charts,
graphs, diagrams, images, etc.) increase the
effectiveness of research posters
• But be sure the visual aid is significant & informative (it
should be able to stand alone without an explanation!)
than two different fonts…it
distracts people
 More
• The easiest fonts for most people’s eyes to read
are Arial and Veranda
 Shadow
either.
 Busy
or glow effects are not helpful
backgrounds make things…busy
 Clear
 Nice
 Use
large titles
flow of poster
concise wording and larger font
 Sometimes
than words
pictures or graphs can say more
• Just remember to keep graphs simple and easy to
follow
• Web images are usually poor resolution
 Read
long
it through and make sure it’s not too
• A person should be able to read your poster in about
7-10 minutes
 Stuck?
Ask yourself:
“If a person was only able to take one thing from
looking at my poster, what would that one thing be?”
 you have your theme!
 Ask
for help if you need it! (and help others
if they’re stuck)






Smile! It will attract more people to your
poster
Introduce yourself and your project
Start with a short summary of your project
• Think of it as an abstract of your
abstract
• Don’t simply read your poster out loud
• Review what you want to say the day
before
This is your time to share all the work
you’ve done during your internship, so
don’t be shy!
Treat everyone as a potential collaborator,
employer, or someone who just wants to
learn more
Bring paper copies if you can


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
www.ccmr.cornell.edu
snras.blogspot.com/2013/08/nasa-extends-internship-for-uaf.html
makeposters.com
http://chem.virginia.edu/