:: guidelines for presenting posters

We offer workshop on how to make an effective poster and it's presentation. Information about the workshop will be communicated to presenters.

The judging criteria for PRS 2010 posters are available in Word and PDF format. We may make some modification to the rubric in the future.

Limited funds are available to defray the costs of poster printing. Please email us at prs@ if you're interested in this service. Additionally, if you're interested in a workshop on conference presentations, please write to us and mention that as well.

All presentations at PRS 2010 will need to be in poster format that fits a scale of 30" x 40". Other than that, how you construct your poster is completely up to you. If you have a larger poster please contact our organizers about this. An effective poster delivers a clear message, is highly visual and, most importantly, is read easily from 1-2 meters away. Your poster should include a title and information identifying the researcher(s) and his/her/their department(s). Other items you should consider for your poster include (note that these points may not apply to all posters):

• Background information on your work;
• Motivations for your work;
• Theoretical basis for your work (e.g. relevant/competing theories or information on previous similar work);
• Information on the sources, data, and/or methods utilized in your research;
• Results/implications of your research; and
• Information on the direction you envision the work progressing.

Here are some guiding principles you might want to follow when making the poster. Whether you will be able to follow them may depend on your area of research.

Layout

• Headings help readers find key sections - objectives, results, etc.
• Balance the placement of text and graphics.
• Don't fight "reader gravity" that pulls eye from top to bottom, left to right.
• Column format makes poster easier to read in a crowd.

Graphics

• Graphs communicate relationships quickly.
• Graphs should be simple and clean.
• Stick to simple 2-D line graphs, bar charts, and (if you must) pie charts.
• Use photos that help deliver your message.
• Use spot art - but not too much - to attract attention.

Text

• Minimize text - use images and graphs instead! Keep text elements to 50 words or less.
• Use phrases rather than full sentences.
• Use an active voice.
• Avoid jargon.
• Use a font that is easy to read.
• Text should be large - at least 36 point for title panels; 24 point for text.
• Text in figures should also be large.
• Title should be at least two inches tall.

Software tools

• PowerPoint is a good, relatively easy-to-use tool for creating posters.
• Adobe Illustrator and InDesign are even better, but more complex.
• MicroSoft Excel and DeltaGraph both can create graphics and export them for PowerPoint.
• Adobe Photoshop is great for manipulating images.
• If you made your poster in PowerPoint, there is a chance elements of the poster will get moved around when you switch computers, at the printing shop for example. You can avoid this by converting your poster into a high quality pdf format. You can do this by following instructions on this site.