ommunication skills areimportant abilities forengineers to acquire. Forinstance, engineers want

to share their ideas and projects’results advantageously withother engineers at professionalmeetings. Reputations and con-nections partially depend on get-ting the word out about yourwork. (Simply building a bettermousetrap will not get anyone tocome to your door. You needword-of-mouth advertising.) Theability “to confer and confab” with oth-ers in your technical area is part ofdeveloping your career. This informa-tion exchange at technical meetingstakes place both in written and spokenforms of presentations. Various methodsof presentation are available including,lecture, poster, precis poster, video andon-line demonstrations.

Many professional societies havefeatured poster sessions successfully inmeetings and conferences for manyyears. Frequently, student presenta-tions, when featured at professionaltechnical meetings, are in the form ofposters. Unfortunately, for some, theterm “poster sessions” has a stigmaattached to it. Some people think thatposter sessions are only for those whoare afraid to speak in public. Others areof the opinion that posters are too time-consuming to prepare compared to lec-tures. Still others think that postermaterial is not good enough for lecturesessions. However, these viewpointsare misconceptions.

Posters vs. lecturesAs stated, some authors are reluctant

to select poster sessions as their firstchoice of presentation method. Theyare unfamiliar with the format and havenot been sufficiently exposed to posterpapers. So how do poster presentationscompare to lecture presentations?

Because of their temporal nature,lecture sessions run strictly according tothe clock. Each presentation has a spe-cific time slot and authors are stronglydiscouraged from speaking longer thantheir scheduled time allotment.

In contrast, poster sessions are allocat-ed a large overall time slot. This permitsconsiderably more informal discussion,such as questions and answers, than alecture session would allow.

Generally, communication in oralpresentations is mostly one way. How-ever, communication exchanges can be

much greater in poster sessions. Someauthors think the chief advantages ofposter sessions are personal contact andexchange of ideas, especially for noviceswho feel inhibited to ask questions aftera lecture in front of a large audience.

Although almost everyone usesvisual aids in lectures, speakers includethe slides or viewgraphs to support thelecture. Speaking is the primary modeof information delivery in lectures. Alecture can be delivered without visualaids, if need be.

Unlike a lecture, which is a temporalpresentation, a poster is a spatial presen-tation. The poster itself is the presenta-tion. It should be constructed as aself-explanatory medium to stand alonewith no verbal comments necessary. Ver-bal clarifications are included in postersessions to support the poster. In mostcases, poster presenters need not preparea short speech as part of their poster pre-sentation; however, they are permitted todo so provided the “canned” speech islimited to five minutes. This is similar to“precis poster” presentations.

(A precis-poster session is differentin that prior to displaying their posters,authors are allotted five minutes each onthe program to deliver an oral summaryof their posters with up to five viewgraphs. This short lecture preview will

stress key points, such as theresults and conclusions. The ideais to encourage the attendee tovisit that particular poster station.Unlike many ordinary poster ses-sions, precis presentations aregrouped by topics.)

Occasionally, posters may beassociated with more extensivelecture material presented by thesame author at the same confer-ence. In this case, the lecture-and poster-session portions ofthe presentation will be sched-

uled at different times. For example, atone conference, 40 posters from lecturesessions were presented.

In some conferences, poster and lec-ture presentations are on an equal foot-ing. Both are intended to describe thematerial in the paper or abstract submit-ted for publication in the conference ormeeting proceedings. The format forpapers or abstracts in these conferenceproceedings is identical for papers pre-sented in both types of sessions.

In other cases, the format in the pro-ceedings is different. Poster-paperauthors are only allowed a one-pagepaper or abstract while longer papersare allowed for authors whom presenttheir papers as a lecture.

One conference draws an even sharp-er distinction. Technical papers are pre-sented orally and the more speculative, oruntested, ideas are presented as posters.A poster session here is a forum for out-lining novel ideas, techniques and meth-ods. Thus, the presented concepts are notrequired to have gone through the levelof rigor expected of technical papers.

Viewers vs. audiencesLectures have audiences since people

grasp the presentation primarily by lis-tening to the speaker. In contrast, postersessions have viewers since the main

©A

rt T

oday

/Pho

toD

isc

Com

posi

te: D

. Can

tillo

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2000 0278-6648/00/$10.00 © 2000 IEEE 33

Posters vs lecturesA poster upbringing can visiblyenhance your presentation skills

at technical meetings

CC

Marion G. Ceruti

34 IEEE POTENTIALS

mode of poster presentation is visual.In a lecture, everyone hears the pre-

sentation, regardless of his or her levelof interest. Some people in the audienceare very interested in the topic, whereasothers wish they were elsewhere. Incontrast, only those interested in thetopic will spend considerable time read-ing and observing a poster. Viewerswho are only casually interested in thepaper will glance at the material, per-haps ask for clarification, and move on.A poster session provides the opportuni-ty for more in-depth discussions withcolleagues of like mind.

The lecture format is designed toaccommodate many listeners simultane-ously. Thus, lecture audiences tend to belarger than the typical groups of viewersat poster-sessions. However, posterviewers can compensate for their small-er numbers with higher quality dialogue.

A significant advantage of poster ses-sions is that viewers can absorb the ideasat their pace and not at that of the presen-ter. This differs sharply from audiencesin oral presentations who may becomelost early on because an important pointdid not receive sufficient definition andclarification. The poster format providesa closer and more informal interactionbetween the presenter and viewer.

General information &recommendations

National and international meetingsand conferences with very large atten-dance have several poster sessions perevent. Organizations that hold theselarge meetings regularly feature manyposter sessions, whereas other confer-ences, colloquia and symposia includeat most one poster session per event.

The IEEE distinguishes betweenconferences and symposia by the num-ber of attendees, with conferences beingdesigned to accommodate a largergroup. A colloquium traditionally hasbeen defined to mean usually an acade-mic meeting in which one or more spe-cialists delivers addresses on a singletopic or on a group of related topics andthen answers questions relating thereto.Some colloquia that have poster ses-sions also have about the same numberof attendees as a symposium (roughlybetween 100 and 300).

Whether or not a poster session isavailable at a meeting depends on themeeting’s attendance size. Small meet-ings, such as workshops sponsored bythe IEEE Computer Society, do notinclude poster sessions on the program.

Two examples are the IEEE Knowledgeand Data Engineering Exchange Work-shop and the IEEE Workshop on Object-oriented Real-time Dependable Systems.

Some meetings or conferences withmedium to large attendance feature onlyone poster session. Examples in this cate-gory include the Armed Forces Commu-nications, Electronics Association’s(AFCEA’s) Federated Database Collo-quium and the IEEE International Con-ference on Software Engineering (ICSE).

Typically, each poster-paper author isallowed one poster station unless therules state otherwise. Due to the logisticsof poster sessions, most organizationsallow only one poster per principal authorper poster session. Conference organizersusually provide for each poster station, or“booth,” a vertical poster board for dis-playing a summary of the paper. In manycases, the poster board is four feet (122cm.) high and eight feet (244 cm.) long.However, this is not always the case.

At the IEEE ICSE 2000, the confer-ence organizers provided each posterpresenter just an easel for holding theposter. Presenters had to prepare andbring the poster itself not just the mate-rials to attach to it.

At some conferences and colloquia,each poster station also will have a hori-zontal table and a chair, if space per-mits. Poster-paper authors can placehandout material, business cards andany electronics equipment on theirtable. Poster presenters should bringcopies of their data, conclusions, andany other literature they wish to handout. They should not assume that dupli-cating facilities will be available.

Authors also may use the table to pro-vide a “sign-in sheet” to record thenames, email addresses, phone numbers,etc. of viewers who visit their poster.This is a convenient way to provide theseviewers additional information, such asreprints or other literature at a later date.(Note: Sign-in sheets work best if theyare printed in advance on a word proces-sor prior to the poster session.)

Poster presenters, who wish to col-lect their viewers’ business cards, canprovide a labeled container such as abox or a can on the table; or, they canpin an envelope onto the poster boardand label it “business cards.”

During the initial setup of the posterhall, tables are placed in front of theposter boards. During the final setup,the poster presenters may arrange theirtables in any convenient configurationthat suits their presentations. Some

poster presenters want the audience tobe able to get close to their posters. Inthis case, the poster presenter may placethe table to the side of the poster, per-pendicular to it to facilitate access.

At some poster sessions, space maynot permit the use of a table at each posterstation. Therefore, authors should inquirein advance from the meeting organizers asto the availability of tables for each poster.

Unfortunately, no uniform standardposter size is used commonly across allorganizations. For example, at meetingsof the Optical Society of America andAFCEA’s Database Colloquia, postersare in the landscape format, 8′ (244 cm)wide and 4′ (122 cm) high. In contrast,at the 137th Meeting of the AcousticalSociety of America and the second con-vention of the European AcousticsAssociation: Forum Acusticum, posterswere mounted on a vertical board, 3.0′(90 cm) wide and 4.3′ (130 cm) high(portrait format). Each organizationsponsoring an event with poster sessionswill specify poster dimensions and noti-fy poster-paper authors about them inadvance. Table 1 provides sample com-parative information regarding postersessions by sponsoring organization.

Prior to the presentationAll illustrations, charts and textual

material to be posted must be prepared inadvance. The authors should not assumethat the materials for constructing postercharts and such will be available. Gener-ally, poster presenters can mount theirpreviously prepared poster material onthe poster board using thumbtacks. Somethumbtacks, push pins, masking tape andfelt tipped pens may be available. But allpresenters should bring an ample supplywith them when they come to set up theirposters just in case.

The heading will be the title of thepaper. A heading whose letters are at least1.5″ (3.81 cm.) high is very desirable.However, this may be difficult or incon-venient to do with common software. Forexample, a capital letter in the Times 96-point font measures about 7/8″ (2.22 cm).This may be the largest size availablefrom some slide-presentation softwareand word processors. In this case, thegraphics department at the author’s orga-nization may be able to assist.

Illustrative material should be legibleto viewers from a distance of 3′ (92 cm)or more. Thus, lettering on illustrationsshould be at least 3/8″ (0.95 cm.) high.Most word processors can accommodatethis dimension. However, if authors can-

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2000 35

not construct their posters easily usingthese guidelines, the printed materialshould be as large as possible. Also,the poster station will need to be con-figured to allow the viewers a closeapproach to the poster.

The poster’s title, author(s) andaffiliation(s) with logos can be postedon the top section of the poster. Illus-trations should not be pre-mounted onheavy stock. This may make themdifficult to mount on the posterboards. However, if authors haveused a certain kind of backgroundstock to mount material successfullyin previous poster sessions, they maycontinue to use it.

Most meeting organizers stronglyrecommend that authors determine thelayout of items to be mounted beforethe meeting. This will facilitate thefinal construction of the poster. Eachsheet should be numbered in thesequence in which the viewers shouldread the material. This sequenceshould contribute to the logical devel-opment of ideas the authors are trying toconvey to the viewers. One way is todivide the poster presentation into sectionssuch as introduction, development, andconclusion.

Another technique is to prepare a scaledrawing of the poster and rearrange ituntil it works. Color background materi-al, made of either paper or cloth, is wel-come. Mock-ups of the poster to assessits visual impact, suitability, legibility andlogical train of thought help create aneye-catching poster.

FlexibilityAlthough posters don’t have to look

like works of art, authors can improvetheir effectiveness by considering theirgraphic impact. Whereas ease of read-ing and simplicity are more importantthan artistic flair, these goals need notconflict with each other. However, pre-senters should avoid certain color com-binations that look beautiful at shortrange, but may be almost impossible toread at a distance.

Most organizations do not restrict thefont or color schemes that may be usedas long as the material is legible. Forexample, in past poster sessions, blackand dark blue lettering have been easierto read than red, yellow or light greenlettering on a white background. Whiteon black works but it is more difficult toimplement.

Because of the relatively large timeperiod allocated to poster sessions, a

wider variety of presentations is possible.Some poster presenters find it convenientto use all 8.5″ (21.6 cm) x 11″ (27.5 cm)sheets of paper on their posters. But thisis by no means a requirement.

For example, at one AFCEA’sDepartment of Defense Database Collo-quium, a poster presenter constructedhis entire poster from a single 8′ (244cm) x 4′ (122 cm) specially preparedsheet of cardboard. His multi-coloredpresentation was very effective. Anoth-er year, one poster presenter used four11″ (27.5 cm) x 17≤ (43.2 cm) and sev-eral 8.5″ (21.6 cm) x 11″ (27.5 cm)sheets with color backgrounds. Thisalso was very attractive.

Laptop demonstrations are becomingmore common in poster sessions thathave enough room for tables. If anauthor wants to present a demonstrationusing a laptop computer or some otherelectronic device, the organizing com-mittee will need to know well inadvance. They need time to be able toarrange the poster board and table in thevicinity of a power outlet.

If anyone wants to use a blackboardduring the poster session, this should berequested in advance of the meeting.However, most of the time, this is notdesired or necessary.

Poster sessions are particularly suit-able for a presentation with detailed dia-grams and flowcharts that cannot berestricted to one page. Whereas rectan-gular material usually is the most con-

venient to use on posters, any shape isallowed. In any case, much more detailis permitted in a poster session than isacceptable in the lecture format.

On the day of the sessionAuthors should mount their poster

material during the time allotted by theorganization sponsoring the meeting.Generally, this will be about a half-hourprior to the opening of the poster ses-sion. Presenters should show up early toset up with ample time to spare andwith all the necessary materials (includ-ing a ruler). This time mindset alsohelps when an extra chair or an electri-cal outlet that was requested is missing.

Unless told otherwise, poster-paperauthors are expected to be in the vicinityof their posters for at least 90 percent ofthe time the poster session is conducted.They are encouraged to be present dur-ing the entire time. For papers with mul-tiple authors, at least one author alwaysshould be present to answer questions.

Authors will leave their posters inplace until the close of the session.Authors are responsible for removingthe materials from their poster stationswithin a reasonable time after the ses-sion’s conclusion. A typical time framefor this activity again is a half-hour.

Poster-constructionexamples

The methods discussed here are notmutually exclusive, as elements of each

Sponsoring Meeting or Poster Poster Poster-session Number ofOrganization Conference width height duration poster

sessions

ACS 218th National Mtg. 2 to 2.5 hr. 16

AFCEA Database 8’ (244 cm.) 4’ (122 cm.) 2 hr. 1Colloquium

ASA 127th Meeting 8’ (244 cm.) 4’ (122 cm.) ~2 hr. 131 to 2 hr. 5*

ASA/ICA 135th Meeting, ASA 8’ (244 cm.) 4’ (122 cm.) ~3 hr. † 14

16th meeting, ICA ~1 hr. 15 min. 4*

ASA/EAA Forum 90 cm. 130 cm. ~ 3 to 7 hr. ‡ 17Acusticurn 1 day‡ 1

2 days‡ 1

IEEE & ACM ICSE 2000 1

IEEE ICMCS199 1 hr. 40 min. 62 hr. 10 min. 1§

IEEE & EIA 49th ECTC (1999) 4 hr. 30 min. 2

OSA Sep. 1992 Meeting 8’ (244 cm.) 4’ (122 cm.) 1.5 to 2 hr.

TAPPI Oct. 1998 Conference 8’ (244 cm.) 4’ (122 cm.)

USENIX 7th Tcl/Tk Conference 3’ (92 cm.) 4’ (122 cm.) 1

Key: *Precis poster sessions † Authors are required to be present for half this time. § Poster/exhibit session‡ Authors are required to be present only at designated times during the poster display.

Table 1 Data on poster sessions in various technical meetings and conferences

36 IEEE POTENTIALS

can be implemented together in thesame poster. This discussion assumesthat the poster will be 8′ (244 cm) longand 4′ (122 cm) high, as these dimen-sions are popular with several organiza-tions. However, the principles couldapply to other poster sizes as well.

“Power-point” method. An efficientway to produce poster materials, oftenwith the least amount of work, is to usesoftware such as Microsoft Power-point(tm) to make about 24 sheets of largetext, diagrams, tables and illustrations. Anorganizer sheet also is helpful for record-ing the order of the poster presentation.

With 24 sheets, the author can makefour rows of six sheets each on theposter. Hard-copy company logos andcolor background paper can be added tothe 8.5″ (21.6 cm) x 11″ (27.5 cm)printed sheets that this method willyield. This method also can be com-bined with the three-panel method orthe cloth-background method.

Three-panel method. Using thismethod, the entire poster may be pre-pared in advance, transported in a fold-ed manner, and mounted to the posterboard. The advantage of this method isthat the set-up time for a three-panelposter is very short. The disadvantage isthat it involves the purchase of addition-al supplies and equipment.

For a poster, 8′ (244 cm) long and 4′(122 cm) high, the following materialsare required:

• Six sheets of 24″ (61 cm) x 32″(81.3 cm) lightweight paper. Color Aid isan example of a suitable paper found inmajor art supply stores. Alternately, alocal paper merchant may have equiva-lent brands available.

• A roll of strong 1.5″ (3.81 cm) or 2″(5.08 cm) tape. Cloth tape works well.

• Art case, 31″ (78.7 cm) x 42″(106.7 cm), for the transportation of theposters. Art cases are available at art-supply stores. Airlines can check themwith luggage during flights.

• Push pins.The procedure is as follows:1) Lay two sheets of paper together

(reverse side up) on the 32″ (81.3 cm)edge.

2) Cut tape and apply over thepieces. This will act as a hinge for easyfolding into the art case for storage andtransportation.

3) Repeat this twice, thus creatingthree panels.

4) Hang these panels together to con-struct an 8′ (244 cm.) x 4′ (244 cm)image.

5) Use push pins in the comers of eachpiece to mount it to the poster board.

Cloth-background method. Thismethod can be used to produce an attrac-tive poster that stands out from the others:

• Obtain a large sheet of fabric to useas a color background for the poster.

• Drape it over the poster board andpin it to the board using thumbtacks orpushpins.

• Mount the poster materials on thecloth using push pins or Velcro strips.

SummaryThe most successful poster presenters

pay close attention to the visual impact,clarity and readability of their posters.They use their own creativity and theinherent flexibility of posters to achievetheir goals. The key is to communicatetheir ideas efficiently to others.

AcknowledgmentsThe author thanks the American

Chemical Society (ACS), the AcousticalSociety of America (ASA), the DefenseAdvanced Research Projects Agency,and AFCEA for many helpful insightsand creative examples of posters inmeetings, conference and colloquia.This work was produced by a U.S. gov-ernment employee in the capacity ofofficial duty and is not subject to copy-right. It is approved for public releasewith an unlimited distribution.

Read more about it• J.C. Borchardt, “Preparing and Pre-

senting Scientific Posters,” Today’sChemist, Vol. 8, No. 2, pp. 31-34, Feb.1999.

• O.K. Li, “Hints on Writing Techni-cal Papers and Making Presentations,”

IEEE Transactions on Education, Vol.42, No. 2, pp. 134-137, May 1999.

• M. Jacobs, Editor-in-chief, “NewOrleans Final Program, AmericanChemical Society 218th National Meet-ing, August 22-26, 1999,” Chemical &Engineering News, Vol. 77, No. 30, pp.59-159, July 26, 1999.

• D.W. Martin, Editor-in-chief, “Sug-gestions for Effective Poster or Precis-Poster Presentations,” J Acoust. Soc. Am.,Vol. 95, No. 5, pt. 2, p. xxviii, May 1994.

• IEEE -CS and ACM SIGSOFTWeb page describing poster exhibit ofthe 22nd International Conference ofSoftware Engineering, ICSE 2000<http://www.ul.ie/~icse2000/rdemo-sposters.html#posters>.

• IEEE ICMCS’99 final program,<http://www.dsi.unifi.it/~icmcs99/prelim-inary.html>

• 49th ECTC, sponsored byEIA/ECA, IEEE CMPT and IEEE. website: <http://www.ectc.net>.

About the authorDr. Marion G. Ceruti is a scientist in

the Advanced Concepts and Engineer-ing Division of the Command and Con-trol Department at the Space and NavalWarfare Systems Center, San Diego.She received the B.S. degree in 1973from the State University of New Yorkat Stonybrook and the Ph.D. in 1979from the University of California at LosAngeles. She has organized technicalmeetings and conferences since 1987and has presented posters since 1992.

Dr. Ceruti is a senior member of theIEEE and the author of over 50 publica-tions on various topics in science andengineering. You may contact Dr.Ceruti at <ceruti@spawar.navy.mil>.

Glossary (abbreviations of organizations and conferences)ACM —Association for Computing MachineryACS —American Chemical Society

AFCEA —Armed Forces Communications and Electronics AssociationASA —Acoustical Society of America

CMPT —IEEE Components, Packaging and Manufacturing Technology SocietyDoD —Department of DefenseEAA —European Acoustics Association

ECTC —Electronic Components and Technology ConferenceEIA/ECA —Electronic Components, Assemblies, Equipment and Supplies Associa-

tion Sector of the Electronic Industries AllianceICA —International Congress on Acoustics

ICMCS —International Conference on Multimedia Computing and SystemsICSE —International Conference on Software EngineeringIEEE —Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

KDEX —Knowledge and Data Engineering Exchange (Workshop)OSA —Optical Society of America

SIGSOFT —Special Interest Group on SoftwareTAPPI —Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry

USENIX —Advanced Computing Systems AssociationWORDS —Workshop on Object-oriented Real-time Dependable Systems