Guidelines for Preparation & Display of Posters
for the 14th WCTOH |
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Each poster will be displayed for one day only.
The Poster session is a graphic presentation of your work. For those who may be unfamiliar with a poster presentation, below is a brief description. If you are familiar with poster presentations, please skip to the section on “Poster Help Desk”.
In a poster presentation, the authors illustrate their findings through graphs, photos, diagrams and a small amount of text on the poster boards. The authors then hold discussions with the conference attendees who are circulating among the poster boards.
The main thrust of the material displayed on the poster board should be to:
- clearly identify the topic, so that interested delegates don’t miss it.
- provide visual aids to your discussion.
Many authors find it helpful to start with a brief introduction and allow the remainder of the time for more in-depth questions.
The author must remain by his/her poster board for the duration of the poster session assigned to him or her.
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A typical Poster Session using Octonorm poster boards.
The board on the extreme left has good diagrams but too many pages of text.
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| Preparing your Poster Presentation |
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- A Poster Presentation is not always a “Poster” in the sense of being just one large piece of paper. It often consists of many different sheets containing text as bullet points, charts, tables, graphics and photos to help a face-to-face explanation of your topic. These sheets can be prepared using software such as Word or PowerPoint.
- The title of a poster should be exactly as it was written in your original submission for review. At the top of the poster there should be a banner indicating the title, authors & institutions. The lettering for this section should be not less than 2.5cms (1 inch) high. Letters in the title should be at least 2.5cm high.
- You may wish to put your e-mail address onto the poster as an easy point of contact for interested viewers.
- Organizing the poster presentation into sections such as Introduction, Methods, Results and Conclusions are very helpful, organizing the section in the sequence that the viewer is expected to read them.
- If the poster represents scientific findings, data, or other information that required specific methods, be sure the poster includes this "methodology". For example, how many people were surveyed, how they were recruited, what statistics were used, and any other information that will help explain the data.
- The material should be well labelled and legible from a distance of up to 2.5 meters. Lettering should be bold and at least 1cm (3/8 inch) high. Use 2.5cm margins. Avoid use of fancy fonts. Use upper and lowercase letters. Fonts such as Times New Roman and Arial are easier to read.
- Avoid rows and rows of closely spaced text. You should prefer to explain verbally rather than expect visitors to read pages after pages of text.
- Words should be spelled out, avoiding unfamiliar abbreviations.
- The text, tables and graphics should look integrated. The same typeface should be used for all, and ruled lines separating different types of information should be avoided.
- Lines of text should contain about 6 to 8 words.
- Colors should be used to establish differences, not for decoration. Elaborately coded shadings and cross-hatching should be avoided.
- Explanations should be used to enhance access to the richness of data and make graphics more attractive to the viewer. Little messages help explain data. Labels should be placed on the graphics itself, no legend is required.
- Words and illustrations should go together - tables and graphics should be integrated within the text whenever possible.
- The official language of the WCTOH is English. Please PROOF READ your poster carefully before printing it, and get assistance from other colleagues with strong English skills.
- The author should prepare all printed materials in advance and bring it with him /her to the conference. Sheets should be numbered.
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| Poster Help Desk |
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- A Poster Help Desk will be set up by the organisers in the Poster display area.
- Please come to the Help Desk by the evening of the day before your session. If you have numbered your sheets, the Help Desk staff can put up your poster for you, you need not wait.
- If your poster consists of sheets which should be arranged in a complex pattern, then please stay and guide the Help Desk staff in putting up the sheets.
- The Help Desk staff will take down all posters every evening and store them. To take back your poster, please contact the Help Desk and tell them your poster number. Posters remaining unclaimed at the end of the conference will be discarded.
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| Displaying your Poster |
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- Poster sessions consist of rows of posters on similar topics. The poster boards will be numbered. You will be provided with the number of your poster board. The Poster Help Desk will help you to locate your board.
- WCTOH will provide poster boards. These will be made of Octonorm panelling as illustrated in the photograph above. Octonorm panels are hard plasticized board. Thumbtacks do not penetrate it, so soft double-sided putty tape will be available at the Help Desk for sticking your papers. Use this at the corners of each sheet in case you want to put up your poster yourself.
- The area for sticking your poster will be no more than 5 feet (60 inches or 150 cms) in height, by 38 inches (96 cm in width). Do not exceed these size limits.
- If you want to distribute handouts, bring approximately 30 copies. Highlight the authors’ names and contacts in case the viewer is interested in contacting them for more information. Bring your business cards.
- The conference will NOT offer presenters any additional media for the poster sessions (audiovisual equipment, Internet/computer connection).
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| More Tips |
Lettering:
Title and subtitles should be in capital letters, although the authors and affiliations in the main title can be lower case to accentuate the title. General text should be in lower case, as this is much easier to read and should be double-spaced in large font.
One word: Simplify! Complex graphs are too difficult to read and comprehend. Lettering on the graph should be at least 1/4" (7 mm) high and lines on the graph no thinner than 2 mm. Simple use of color can add emphasis effectively. Each graph should have a heading of 1 or 2 lines stating the take-home message. Detailed information should be provided in a legend accompanying each graph. Overall graph size should not be smaller than 5" x 7" (12.7 x 17.8 cm), the larger 8" x 10" (20.3 x 25.4 cm) format is preferred.
Photographs:
Photographs and micrographs should have good contrast and sharp focus and should not contain unnecessary or distracting detail. Remember that they will be viewed from a distance of from 3 to 8 feet and should be large enough to be understood from that distance. Important objects should be labelled, and there should be clear indication of scale. Each photograph should have a heading of 1 or 2 lines stating the take-home message. Detailed information should be provided in a legend accompanying each photograph. The same size scale as stated for graphs applies: 5" x 7" (12.7 x 17.8 cm), the larger 8" x 10" (20.3 x 25.4 cm) format is preferred. |
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