Skip to Main Content

Poster Presentations

A guide to researchers preparing posters or presentations for scientific conferences

Design Basics

The most important rules:

  •  Have your poster fit in the space provided 
  • Make your poster readable from 5 feet away
  •  Don’t try to put EVERYTHING on your poster 
  • Limit text

More Design Tips

  •  Use dark text on a light background 
  •  Avoid garish colors and complicated backgrounds 
  • Check for color blindness - how does it look in gray-scale?
  •  Use one font and style for the whole poster - sans serif fonts are best (Arial, Helvetica)
  •  Leave space between columns 
  •  Try to use bullet points and pictures instead of text 
  • Label figures clearly

Common Mistakes

  • Too much total content
  • Too much text
  • Poor layout
  •   Blocks of text longer than 10 sentences 
  •  Waiting until last minute to print 
  • Neglecting to prepare your presentation