Edited by Sophia Savva
Last week, I had the opportunity to participate in my first-ever poster presentation at a research conference. There, I was greeted by a plethora of free food, friendly faces, and a greater range of knowledge to be gained than I could imagine.
Prior to the event, a poster presentation help session was launched by the event organizers, where they gave helpful advice for first-timers like me. In a research presentation, you’re often trying to contain a lot of detailed, heavy information into a five-minute talk that can be understood by a general audience—a challenge even PhD students and professors must tackle when trying to get funding for their work. For me, this was an opportunity to practice my communication skills, and take my research out for a spin. So, what did I learn? And if I could, what would I do differently?
Well, the first thing I found out was that the poster should be able to speak for itself. During a poster session, event attendees and presenters alike are free to walk around a large room, to hear from as many people as they’d like. This means, for a good amount of time, your poster may be unattended but still available to be glimpsed by curious readers. So, don’t feel obliged to hover around your poster, just make sure the poster design is easy to understand, and the text is clear.
What came as a surprise to me was just how loud it was! Turns out, it’s difficult to speak at the same time as dozens of other people, especially when taking on the challenge of being understood by an audience of various degrees of association with your field. So, don’t be intimidated, and don’t worry, you might have to yell a little!
Overall, it was a lot less intimidating than I had feared; I received good questions and a lot of interest from people in a variety of fields. In addition to the free cookies and the resume-worthy material, I also met many incredibly bright students I had a lot to learn from, whom I hope to see again in future conferences like this one.