Modern Philosophy Poster Board

Poster presentation should be approachable at three levels:

(1) a title and organization that inform the casual passerby of the general nature of your work;

(2) a presentation method that would let a somewhat interested observer know the trends of your argument and the nature of your conclusions;

(3) enough information to convince an individual working in the same area to stop and find out more about your project (i.e., engage in conversation with the presenter). Remember, the major role of a poster, or of any presentation, is to communicate your results and ideas to the audience.


1. The size of the poster must not be excessive. Reasonable, maximum dimensions are approximately 3 feet high and 4 feet wide.

2. The title should be displayed clearly across the top in large letters. Beneath the title, and in smaller print, should be the name of the presenter and the course in which the work was done.

3. Verbiage should be kept to a minimum. Written statements should be in large print, which is easily readable from a distance of 3 to 4 feet.

4. An abstract may be included, but space limitations may dictate that you concentrate on the more important components such as introduction, methods, sources, etc.

5. The Introduction should be moderately brief and to the point so that the reader becomes immediately aware of the purpose of the investigation. It probably should be confined to one paragraph, and should be located at the upper left of the poster.

6. The Materials and Methods (or argument(s)) section should be labeled clearly as such, and should follow immediately after the Introduction. This section often lends itself to the diagrammatic presentation with a minimum of verbiage. Insofar as possible, easily followed flow diagrams should be used.

7. Results are the most important part of the poster and generally should occupy the center of the exhibit. The results should consist of a maximum number of illustrations (i.e., graphs, photographs, etc.) that are simple and easy to read, and a minimum of verbiage. Color-coding graphs and figures facilitate ease of interpretation.

8. Conclusions should be stated in a clear and especially concise fashion. Generally, this section would be located to the right of the results. Itemization (listing) of conclusions is legitimate and can facilitate comprehension. Discussion should be kept to a minimum and should include only the most important points.

9. A reasonable number of figures included on a poster is six, but this depends on the subject matter being presented.

10. For investigations consisting of separate components, the sequence in which the components are described in Materials and Methods should be maintained in the Results and Conclusions section.
TIPS:

1. Try to create a well-balanced board.

2. Except for the TITLE and Subtitles keep font size consistent.

3. Start early so there is time to make alterations.

4. Don't go wild on having too many colors - be consistent and reasonable.

5. Fancy borders, weird colors, and neon colors are distracting.