Recommendations for Effective Scientific Poster Communication
- Please remember that you are not writing an article.
- Seek simplicity; keep text to a minimum and avoid redundancies.
- Be sure that your poster attracts attention, emphasizes important points, reads easily, and stimulates interest. Use, but don’t overuse, bold fonts and colors.
- Facts should be printed in single phrases or words.
- Define unfamiliar or complex terms as simply as possible.
- Use pictorial or graphic illustrations to clarify and enhance a message. Figures and tables should cover approximately 50 percent of the poster area.
- Use a typeface that is legible from six feet away.
- Use a consistent font throughout.
- Use a minimal amount of punctuation. Avoid abbreviations and acronyms where possible, especially in the conclusions.
- The viewer should be able to grasp the total message in five minutes.
- Feel free to provide one or more key references.
- Handouts of your abstract, with your contact information, may facilitate future research communications with fellow conference attendees.
