POSTER SIZE

Poster boards should be no bigger than 3'-4' (height) by 4' (width). Your faculty adviser will usually know the best way to print your poster board on campus, but poster boards can also be purchased at a printing or stationary store. Pushpins and tape will be available at the conference to assemble your poster board, but we strongly recommend that you bring your own assembly materials. Easels will be provided at the event. If you need a table for additional materials, please request it from us as soon as possible.

POSTER BOARD FORMATTING AND LAYOUT

The presentation title should be printed across the top of the poster at least two inches high. Beneath the title, the name of the student presenter, faculty advisor, and home institution should be at least 36 pt or about one inch high. Subheadings should be at least 24 pt and all text, including figures and tables, should be no smaller than 16-18 pt. Everything should be large enough to read from several feet away. Arrange materials in columns rather than rows. Text should not be less than 16 pt in size. Use a font that is easy to read from a distance such as Arial or Times Roman. As a general rule, place an introduction at the upper left of the poster and conclusions at the lower right, both in large letters. Use ample white space as an organizational tool. Stick with a simple color scheme and up to two fonts. Include appropriate graphics and text, and make sure everything is spelled correctly. Inappropriate or incomplete poster boards will not be displayed.

ILLUSTRATIONS

The poster will be viewed from a distance, so pictures can effectively communicate what might take many words to explain. Carefully considered use of charts, tables, figures, graphs, or photos can capture important aspects of your research and reduce the amount of text. Use figures to illustrate your experimental design, theories, procedure, stimuli, and results. Each illustration should have a heading in large type that clearly states the significance of the figure. A caption of detailed information should be provided below. It should clearly describe the content of the illustration and the conclusions to be drawn from it.

HANDOUTS

Consider preparing a short handout about your poster so that conference participants who view it will have information for reference. Include your contact information (especially your e-mail address) on handouts.