Nursing
PURPOSE
AUTHORS
Creating Posters that Dazzle!!
Tips for
Use a simple, easy to read font. Calibri is ideal.
Use boldface and all-caps for the title itself.
Use boldface and mixed upper/lower case for the authors names.
Use plain text, no boldface, and mixed upper/lower case for affiliations.
Use boldface for the poster session number (the number you will be assigned).
Title Font
Organize your poster into subdivisions, e.g., Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusions, and Literature Cited (avoid using too many citations).
Since the abstract is usually published, there is no need to repeat it in the poster.
A brief introduction should be sufficient to identify the purpose of the study.
Tips: Body of Poster
Text should be in bullet points. Posters with 800 words or less are perfect. Avoid submitting compactly packed, high word-count posters.
Do not include material (text or visual) extraneous to the focal point of the poster.
Edit Ruthlessly! There ALWAYS is too much text in a poster. When in doubt, rephrase that text or delete it. (Keep chanting this mantra: There always is too much text. Always too much text.)
Poster Tips (…con’t…)
Use active voice when writing the text; instead of “It can be demonstrated…” say “Data demonstrate that...”
Avoid acronyms and nursing jargon as much as possible.
Use bright colors to enhance the detail.
Keep in mind that posters are primarily visual presentations so they should not appear cluttered!
Poster Tips: Visuals and Text
Present numerical data in the form of graphs and/or tables (graphs make trends in the data much more evident). If data are presented in table-form, keep it simple.
Graphs & figures should have explanatory captions as opposed to labeling the graphic with Figure 1, Table 2, etc.
The poster is not a publication of record, so excessive detail about methods, or vast tables of data are not necessary.
Poster Tips (…con’t…)
Visuals should be simple and bold.
Look critially at the layout. If there is about 20% text, 40% graphics and 40% empty space, you are doing well.
Poster Tips (…con’t…)
I also highly recommend this website for more poster tips…
The next 7 slides provide poster exemplars re. layout, content, flow of information, font, etc.
Use these examples as a visual and organizational guide for development of your group posters…
The next 3 slides are posters from previous MSN5300 student groups…Keep in mind these are physical posters 6’ x 3’, not PowerPoint posters, so your finished product will look a bit different…but you can get a sense of format, color, visual pics and graphics, etc.
I took the photos on the next 3 slides from the Vanderbilt University Nursing Research Day 2019 Poster Session website. They were chosen as the Judges' Favorites…
See these for yourself, plus other professional research posters:
2nd Place
1st Place
Good luck and have fun creating!!!
~ Dr. R.