Poster Presentation Tips
Poster presentations are a common way of sharing RSCA work with audiences in an informal concise format, compared to giving a talk.
What is a Poster Presentation?
Similar to a science fair, poster presentations typically involve a presenter or presenters consolidating all of the information about their project into one visual display. Then, the presenters stand or sit next to the poster while audience members approach and ask them questions. Presenters might have a short spiel (no longer than 5 minutes, and usually shorter) to summarize the content of their posters for audience members.
SDSU Resources
- SDSU University Library Poster Printing: instructions on setting up your poster so that it can be printed well on the University Library's wide-format printers
- SDSU University Library Poster Guide: basic elements of a poster and video examples on creating research posters
- SDSU University Library SDSU Student Symposium (S3) Digital Collections: includes examples of previous student posters
- Official SDSU Logo and Design Element Downloads: You are going to want to represent SDSU well, so use high-quality, up-to-date logos for SDSU and follow the policies on logo usage. Follow similar guidelines for any other logos you are adding to your poster.
- SDSU Poster Templates: These are a good starting point for how to format a RSCA poster. These templates are not required; your mentor or peers may have other templates they recommend for your discipline's best practices.
- Instructional Technology Services: This resource prints posters for conferences other than the SDSU Student Symposium.
Preparing Your Poster
- Check the recommended dimensions of the poster for the event you're presenting at, ensuring you have the correct length and width that the event can accommodate.
- Add content about your project to your template. It can be helpful to follow the stages of the scientific process (background, research question, methods, results, future directions, and citations).
- Ensure your poster is readable from at least 10 feet away: tweak the size of your text and make sure any images or figures are legible for audience members who may have vision impairments.
- Double-check all content and formatting is how you want it before printing.
- Allocate enough time before your presentation for printing; printers malfunction or other students might also be printing at the same time so there may be a long wait.