Presentation Tips

Have a 3-4 minute talk/presentation ready to go. Poster sessions are often loud and chaotic and audience members will get bored or distracted within a few minutes. This should include:

• What is the motivation for your research?
• What have you found?
• Why is this important?

Create a narrative - have a beginning, middle, and and end. Your talk does not need to include everything that is on your poster.

Be welcoming and engaging. Show your enthusiasm for your project. If you show the energy, your audience is more likely to follow what you are saying that getting distracted by reading other parts of your poster.

Be confident. You have worked hard on this work! You are the expert!

Do not apologize for not having done enough. Research almost never goes according to the plan and almost everyone feels like they could have shown more. Remember the point of the poster is to show one important point, not everything that you have done.

Thank everyone who stops by to talk to you and see your poster.

Practice with an audience, and with your poster. Try to practice with friends and roommates that might not be familiar with your research. Their questions can help you prepare for what kinds of questions you might encounter at the event. You want to be comfortable where you should be pointing on your poster and what everything shows. But also be comfortable saying "I don't know" or "I'll need to think about that".

It's ok to have some notes with you but you should be comfortable telling your story without having to read them.

Be yourself and have fun!

It is helpful to have handouts to supplement your poster. This can be a copy of your poster but more helpful would be the main point with a key diagram. Make sure to include your contact information so that anyone can follow up with you later.

It is becoming more and more common to have props or other things that help with your presentation. For example, you can have a 3D model of the protein you work with, or an important piece of clothing from a play you analyzed. These help bring people to your poster and help bring your project to life.

Every discipline has different dress codes, and we are not in the business of telling people how to dress. We suggest talking to your research mentor about what the typical dress at your event will be. If you are unsure, overdressing is always better than underdressing.

Business casual is often a good choice, but make sure you are comfortable! This applies to how you feel about your look but also how you feel physically. Poster sessions are typically about 2 hours and you'll be standing that whole time. You want to be able to move around and engage with your audience. Test those shoes ahead of time!

We also suggest bringing a water bottle and some snacks you can easily sneak between visitors. Again, two hours is a long time and there's a chance you can be talking that whole time. Staying hydrated and nourished is key to staying sharp. Poster sessions often have food and drinks but you don't want to depend on that in case you don't have time to grab something or they run out.