6 Steps to Poster Presentation Success
Make the most of a unique experience—find your research collaborators at PharmSci 360!
Poster floors are a hotbed of research at any scientific meeting. So, why do researchers treat posters as the poor cousins to the more traditional oral presentations or published papers? A poster presentation provides a unique opportunity to convey important research findings while interacting with a targeted audience and expanding one’s professional network. By the end of an active poster forum at AAPS PharmSci 360, both poster presenters and attendees will have learned from each other. This exchange can be especially important to presenters who intend to continue their work in future presentations and proposals to journals.
Posters must be explained quickly and clearly so that your audience understands why a project is important and what your findings mean. Effective communication is a vital skill every scientist uses day to day! Presenters at PharmSci 360 grow their ability to network and collaborate.
Posters are a hybrid form of learning. They are more detailed than a general lecture, but less demanding than a full research paper. Most important, they are more interactive than either. In a lecture, the presenter determines the goal and the focus of the presentation. But in a poster session, the audience drives the conversation with their questions. A poster presenter will be approached by a number of people—all with different expertise and knowledge levels—who will ask about different facets of the research.
This provides an opportunity for presenters to collaborate and promote their research. So, capitalize on this experience.
A GOOD POSTER MUST:
Be written with the audience in mind—As you design your poster, provide enough background on both the topic and the methods to convey the purpose, findings, and implications of your research to the expected range of readers/audience.
Tell a simple, clear story—Providing a clear take-home message that can be grasped in a few minutes is key!
Explain statistical methods and results—Present statistical significance that keeps the focus on the results, not on the arithmetic needed to conduct inferential statistical tests.
Use graphs and charts—Let your figures do the talking! Reduce the need for long text descriptions or complex tables with lots of tiny numbers that are cumbersome to read.
Have a short, specific title—This is the first glimpse of your poster, so make a good impression. Let it be inviting and easy to read from a distance.
Be ready with your story—Keep it short! Prepare a few sentences that highlight what you are studying, present a couple of key findings, and explain why they are important for your initial pitch to attendees to capture their attention.
Update: Posters at PharmSci 360
AAPS President Chris McCurdy, Ph.D., and Executive Director Walt Marlowe, CAE, recently confirmed that:
- Each poster presenter will be assigned to a specific screen for 60 minutes—no more sharing screens!
- Poster titles will always be visible—AAPS is working with its software consultant to ensure poster titles and numbers are easy to see, even when a poster is in zoom mode.
- Screens will be numbered, and the app will have all the location info you need—posters will be easy to find.
- All screens will be unassigned for the 1st hour each morning for browsing—arrange to meet an author you may have missed!
- Posters will again be displayed in poster forums—Response to the topical networking spaces created by more than a dozen poster forums in 2017 was strong and positive. Expect to see these spaces again at PharmSci 360.
Learn more about PharmSci360!
Find Your Neighborhood in the Solution Center!
The PharmSci 360 Solution Center is divided into neighborhoods that mirror the five program tracks:
- Preclinical development
- Bioanalytics
- Clinical pharmacology
- Manufacturing and bioprocessing
- Formulation and quality
You can visit any neighborhood, or spend your time in the one that focuses on the topics that matter most to you.
Each neighborhood includes or shares the following:
- Exhibiting Partners—meet scientific experts who can provide solutions to your challenges.
- Poster Forums—find experts and
collaborators around specific topics.
- A Learning Lounge—listen to 20-minute Chalk Talks in an informal setting around your neighborhood topic.
- Huddle Rooms—join small, relaxed group meetings focused on the work challenges you face (meetings are preset by exhibiting partners).
Other key areas include:
- The Hub—find your community and learn how to best navigate the Solution Center.
- The Career Development Center—attend professional development sessions, speak with hiring companies, review your LinkedIn profile with an expert, and more.
- Partner presentations—learn about the latest topics through case studies, panel discussions, and roundtable discussions.
Learn more about the Solution Center.