Matthew is a group leader and he has seen and made many posters during his career. He holds a PhD in Neuroscience and an MD, so his advice works mainly for researchers in the Natural Sciences (however, some is true for any discipline). You can find him on his institute’s website, his personal website, and on Twitter.

Matthew’s best tips on preparation, structure and content:

• Think about your audience – not about yourself: What is interesting for them to know? What background do they need?
• Tell a story!
• Find the right amount of information: Not too much and not too little
• Start by making a sketch of your poster, e.g. by drawing, and structure it as if you are telling a story with a beginning, a middle part and an ending

• Start preparing as early as you can: Things always take more time than you think
• Get your data ready (if you have some already)
• Choose a short and clear title conveying your main message
• Don’t forget to mention all involved people and their affiliation
• For the middle part: use visuals and think about a clear order on how to read the poster

Prepare a mini-presentation along the questions – and practice it in front of an audience (e.g., your fellow PhD researchers, the postdocs in your lab or your PI)

Since a poster presentation is also about interacting with the audience, here are a few tips on that from Matthew:

• Be proactive and engage with the guests/audience: Can I tell you something about my research? Would you like to know something about my research? Would you like to hear about the story I am currently working on?
• Make eye-contact and pay attention to a welcoming body language

Be prepared for the following questions (by the way, these are also typical questions for a  PhD defense):

• What are the weaknesses in your research?
• Why did you choose this topic/approach/method?
• Are there other approaches/methods?
• Why did you interpret the data in that way?  Are there other possible interpretations?

If you can’t answer a question: Stay calm – it’s no shame to say ”I don’t know at the moment – but my guess is…” and offer a reasonable/possible interpretation or explanation.

And overall: Commit! Have confidence! Own it! Don’t take it personal! Cherish the feedback!