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(Hess et al., 2011). If appropriate, you can enhance your title and
make it visible to a broad spectrum of people by using
keywords that link your work to major issues or debates in
your field of geoscience.
Formulate Your Poster Storyline
Before starting poster design and construction, you should
formulate your storyline with the “give and receive” opportunity
in mind. For example, include data and findings that you want to
discuss because they either support your ideas or perplex you.
Although guidelines may vary by meeting, an organized poster in
the geosciences usually follows the format of a scientific paper:
introduction, methods, results, discussion, conclusions, refer-
ences, and acknowledgments. Again, remember to anticipate your
audience. Make your presentation relevant and tangible to this
group of people. For example, if you know that the session audi-
ence will be less quantitatively oriented, you should use model
schematics instead of systems of equations.
MAKING THE POSTER
Follow the Guidelines
Always know the conference regulations and obey them. Pay
particular attention to allowable dimensions, because they vary
between GSA, AGU, and EGU. This easily avoidable mistake is prob-
ably one of the most frequently made. You do not want to show up
and realize your poster is intruding on your neighbor’s space.
Use Appropriate Formatting
The layout and formatting of your poster content is immensely
important. You must obey guidelines for the inclusion and style of
text and figures (e.g., amount of text, minimum font sizes, figure
resolution, visualization design, and color selection). This topic is
discussed thoroughly in other resources (see these open-access
references: Miller et al., 2002; Faulkes, 2011; Hess et al., 2011;
Purrington, 2011). Use these resources to avoid the cardinal sins
of poster design and formatting (e.g., fonts and figures that are too
small). In general, less is more when it comes to posters, especially
for text. The most effective posters contain only the most funda-
mental and interesting material from the study (Hess et al., 2011).
Your poster does not need to contain all the details, because you
will be at the poster to enhance the presentation.
Create a “Brand” That is Memorable and Visually Appealing
Keep an eye out for engaging and inspiring designs—you do
not have to reinvent the wheel, but you do want to find a func-
tional, reproducible design that can become your “brand.” There
are effective and ineffective posters all around you (e.g., in your
institution’s hallways), so learn from these examples and Web
resources (e.g., Faulkes, 2011, Hess et al., 2011, Purrington, 2011).
Rather than copy a specific format, pick and choose pieces of
style and design that appeal to you, while avoiding common
design pitfalls.
Get Coauthor Support
Make sure all of your coauthors review and approve your poster
prior to printing. Build this step into your schedule so that there is do this during your breaks so you do not disrupt the flow of your
time to include their valuable input.
PREPARING TO PRESENT THE POSTER GSA TODAY | www.geosociety.org/gsatoday
Practice
Always rehearse the “walk-through presentation”—your
2–3-minute oral presentation of your poster—with your peers
and colleagues. Rehearsal will immensely improve your delivery
at the conference. Get and incorporate feedback from your peers
and colleagues. You are likely to give this walk-through many
times during your session; deliver it with enthusiasm every time.
Provide Handouts
Bring “mini-posters”—letter-sized versions of your poster.
Make sure your poster content is still legible in this smaller
format. If it is not, your text and figures are probably too small on
your full-size poster. Make these mini-posters available by your
poster and carry some with you so that you can hand them out at
opportune times. If applicable, it also helps to have supporting
materials on the back of your mini-poster (e.g., additional figures,
equations, or a list of your related publications). These mini-
poster handouts also serve as valuable reminders for people to
follow up with you.
PROMOTING AND PRESENTING YOUR POSTER
Self-Promote and Be Outgoing
Enlist help from peers, colleagues, and advisors to send folks
your way before and during your session. Coordinate with
colleagues who present before you to advertise your poster during
their poster or oral presentation—and then do the same for those
presenting after you. Most people wait for you to engage them at
your poster, so be outgoing and welcoming. An easy first step to
engaging someone is to smile and make eye contact. You do not
want to spend many hours standing alone, especially after you
have invested the time and money to attend the conference.
Science is fundamentally about sharing ideas, and these social
interactions are necessary for advancing science.
Hook Your Audience
When new audience members arrive, introduce yourself with
your affiliation. Make sure to note their names and briefly learn
about their research. Ask them if they would like the “walk-through”
or have questions. Connect your research to the interests of the audi-
ence quickly so as to “hook” them. During your walk-through,
always start broad and work toward specifics, while gauging your
audience’s level of knowledge on the topic and adjusting your presen-
tation accordingly. It helps to bookend your brief presentation with
the motivation for the study, because that is likely the common
scientific thread between you and your audience.
Maintain an Audience
Be interactive with your audience and use questions and
frequent eye contact. Continually check in with your audience
and make sure they are still engaged. This is very important,
because a poster with an interested audience will draw other
curious attendees from the crowd and give your science more
exposure. Be prepared to take notes on feedback and names, but
presentation or interactions with your audience. As you part ways
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