Poster Presentation

Overview
A poster is made for readers to easily see and read what your project is about. Presentation is important to convey the overall message.
 * A poster is not a manuscript.
 * Salient points are captured in bulleted items.
 * Don't use paragraphs.
 * Bulleted items are your talking points!
 * Graphics illustrate results effectively. At least one-third of the poster should be graphics.
 * The poster structure closely follows the abstract structure.

Size and organization requirements

 * Size MUST BE 30" x 40" with landscape orientation. This is to match the poster size with standard size of foam boards on which posters are mounted, if displayed on easels.
 * PowerPoint "Design" tab has "Page setup" panel with settings for "custom" size and orientation.
 * Use three columns for a 40-inch wide poster. For example, 3 columns 12''-wide, with 1-in space between columns, and 1-in wide margin covers the 40-in width of the poster.

Font size and type choices

 * Title stretches across the top of the poster
 * Title font size should be between 72 to 80 points. To have 1.4-inch tall letters in the title, for example, use 76 point font size for Calibri bold.
 * Subtitle has the author name(s). Using Calibri again, 54 point produces 1-inch tall letters.
 * Section headers should be between 66-72 points. Calibri 66 pt produces 1.2-in tall letters.
 * Body text has font size between 32-40 points, which is roughly half the size of the section headers.
 * Subsection headers should be around 54 points.
 * Choose a serif type that is very readable.

Guides and gridlines

 * Use guides and gridlines to help with placing textboxes and pictures. They are non-printing horizontal or vertical lines that your text, photos, and other objects will "snap to" when laying out your poster.
 * In PowerPoint->View->Show panel has settings for girds and guides.
 * Check off all boxes when you develop your poster.
 * Select grid spacing at 0.2 in
 * To insert guides, press Control and drag an existing guide.

Picture resolution

 * Pictures from the Web are low resolution, 72 dpi images.
 * Pictures for use on poster should be 150 dpi, but not higher to restrict the overall size of the poster file.
 * Do not enlarge pictures once they are inserted into PowerPoint.

Template
A poster template in PowerPoint format can be downloaded from PowerPoint template under Poster section (scroll all the way down the page). The poster content is shown below.

 Other templates courtesy of Colin Purrington, Department of Biology, Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania:
 * The Poster Template poster template in PNG format
 * Designing conference posters - Templates'''

Tips

 * The key to preparing a good poster is writing a great abstract.
 * A poster is NOT a manuscript:
 * No paragraphs!
 * Use itemized lists.
 * Follow the rules of good graphic display.
 * Graphics illustrate results effectively.
 * At least one-third of the poster should be graphics.
 * Do not make your poster look too busy.
 * Keep text boxes approximately 30 characters (on average 10 words) per line.

Useful reference: Tips on Making a Poster: A Baker's Dozen

Title, authors, and affiliation

 * All authors are listed
 * College and academic program affiliation of the authors is included
 * Use of the UNH Manchester and Computing Technology logos is recommended.

Components
NOTE: Do not include an abstract section!
 * Use the  abstract as the "foundation" and "story line" of the project that you present in your poster.
 * Review the Abstract Writing wiki page to learn about the abstract's sections.
 * The abstract's sections structure the poster's organization in at least five required sections, as described below.
 * Introduction - max length 200 words
 * Introduce the research question/topic/project
 * Get your viewer interested about the issue/topic/problem addressed
 * Give some background to place the research topic in context
 * '''Objectives
 * Formulate what the project is accomplishing
 * Approach/Methodology - max length 200-300 words
 * Overview of the research process/tools used to achieve the project's objectives
 * If appropriate, use tables, graphs, diagrams, pictures
 * Results - max length 300-400 words (some wording space is substituted for pictures)
 * Usually the largest section, placed in the middle of the poster, possibly along with the Approach section
 * Use images, diagrams, logos, graphs, pictures, screenshots
 * Conclusion - max length 100-200 words
 * Remind of the problem and result, connect the two
 * Relevance of your work
 * Optional sections that you are highly encourage to include:
 * References - max 50-100 words
 * List two or more references of published work that has informed your project
 * Acknowledgments - A MUST!
 * Thank people from the partnering organization.

Tools

 * PowerPoint Tips. http://www.wakehealth.edu/aboutus/aboutusl1.aspx?id=17938
 * Building a Poster using PowerPoint. http://it.unh.edu/media/websolutions/posters/buildingaposterusingpowerpoint.pdf
 * Poster Checklist. http://it.unh.edu/media/websolutions/posters/checklistbeforeprinting.pdf

Resources

 * Mitrany 2008. "Creating Effective Poster Presentations: The Editor's Role," Devora Mitrany. In Science Editor, July-August 20005, vol. 28, no. 4.
 * Purrington, C.B. Designing conference posters. Retrieved , 2011, from http://colinpurrington.com/tips/academic/posterdesign.