PRESENT AT ABRCMS

Guidelines and Best Practices for Poster and Oral Presentations

Download the ABRCMS Judging Rubric for Poster, Oral & ePoster Presentations and follow these guidelines to have a successful presentation experience.

Previous ABRCMS in-person presentation awardees and Master’s students are ineligible to receive awards.

View all abstracts being presented at ABRCMS 2022.

Guidelines for Poster Presentations

NEW in 2022

In order to abide by COVID guidelines, we ask that no more than two individuals, in addition to the poster presenter, view a poster at a given time.

Poster Policy

The only items allowed to be adhered to the poster board are the poster and poster number. No other visuals are permitted. All images used within a poster must add to the scientific discussion. Apart from the university and funding agency logo, non-scientific images are not allowed. In addition, no computers or other aids may be used. Failure to abide by this policy will disqualify the presenter from receiving a presentation award.

Designing your poster

  • The poster board provided is approximately 4' high x 8' wide. Your poster presentation must fit within 4' high X 8' wide. Most posters range from 36'' to 96'' in length X 24'' to 48'' in width.
  • Lay your poster sections in a logical order so that other scientists can follow your presentation. A good method is setting up your poster in a column format so that individuals interested can read your poster, 1st vertical, then top to bottom, and then left to right.
  • Use a type size that can be read easily from a considerable distance (4 feet or more). Try using a type between 14 – 20 pt. The title should be larger than the rest of the text. Select a legible font such as Times Roman, Times New Roman, Baskerville or Palatino.
  • Space your information proportionally: divide your poster either horizontally or vertically into three or four sections, and place your materials within those spaces. Like a layout of a magazine.
  • Posters should stimulate discussion, not give a long presentation. Therefore, keep text to a minimum, emphasize graphics, and make sure every item in your poster is necessary.
  • When choosing a background, remember that neutral or gray colors will be easier on the eyes than bright colors. In addition, color photos look best when mounted on gray.

Preparing for the conference

  • Hand carry your poster to the meeting, using tubular packaging or a portfolio case. Do not mail your poster to the conference headquarters or to the meeting site.
  • Come prepared with any relevant handouts you may wish to share and business cards to hand out.
  • Be sure to bring pushpins, thumbtacks or velcro to mount your poster. They will not be provided to you at the conference.

Presenting your poster

    • No computers or extra aids may be used during a poster presentation.
    • Keep your poster presentation to about 5-8 minutes per visitor/judge and allow an additional 5 minutes for questions and answers.
    • Try not to stand directly in front of your poster, allow other scientists to view the entire poster. Stand to the side.
Guidelines for Oral Presentations

Preparing your PowerPoint

  • All PowerPoint presentations must have 16:9 dimensions (full aspect ratio).
  • To ensure your PowerPoint presentation has the correct dimensions, open PowerPoint and click on the "Design" tab. Then select "Page Setup" and click the drop-down for "Slides sized for" and select "On-screen Show(16:9)." Click "Ok" to save the changes.
  • Sans serif type is typically more clean and legible (Arial or Geneva).
  • Upper and lower case lettering is more legible than all capital letters. 
  • Graphics you project on the screen to support the spoken word should help clarify ideas, emphasize key points, show relationships, and provide the visual information your audience needs to understand your message.
  • Make sure the type is large enough to see in the size room you will use (room used at ABRCMS seats about 100). 
  • Simple graphs, charts and diagrams are much more meaningful to an audience than complex, cluttered ones. Keep visuals CLEAR and SIMPLE.
  • Use a minimum of words for text and title frames. Five to eight lines per frame and five to seven words per line are the maximum - less is better. 
  • Vary the size of lettering to emphasize headings and subheadings - but avoid using more than three font sizes per frame. 
  • Try to maintain the same or similar type size from frame to frame - even if some frames have less information.
  • Each frame or slide should have a title.
  • Title of any data slide should be the conclusion reached from the presented material.
  • Use the format that matches the material you are presenting. Use a table for exact values, a graph to show relationships, a figure for a picture, and a chart for a process or sequence. Label everything.
  • Keep the color scheme consistent throughout your presentation. Changing colors and type styles can be very confusing and distract from your message. 
  • The most effective background colors are blue, turquoise, purple, and magenta. A good rule of thumb: use a dark background color with a lighter color for text and graphics. Avoid intensely bright or saturated colors that compete with the text. You can never go wrong with black on white or white or yellow on dark blue. 
  • The background should be just a background. It shouldn't call attention to itself or cause clutter or confusion…it should enhance the foreground data.
  • In addition to the use of graphics, photographs can provide an excellent means of communication.

Giving your talk

    • All ABRCMS oral presentations will be given 10 minutes for the presentation and 5 minutes for questions and answers. Laser pointers will not be available, you must bring your own if you would like to use one.
    • Check each slide in a similar room with similar equipment before your presentation. (ABRCMS rooms will be equipped with a computer and LCD project).
    • Practice, practice, practice.
    • Prepare for questions and answers. 
    • When asked a question during your presentation, repeat the question so that the entire audience knows what the question is.
    • Keep to the allotted time. 
Guidelines for Virtual ePoster Presentations

The ePoster, audio file, and transcript must be uploaded by 11:59 pm PT on No. 2. No exceptions will be made.

View the ePoster presentations. 

Designing your ePoster

  • Your ePoster can be any size, but it is typically similar to a printed poster with the dimensions 36'' to 96'' in length X 24'' to 48''. Remember you are creating the ePoster the same way you are creating a poster for an on-site event, you simply aren't printing it.
  • Use a type size that can be read easily. Although users will be able to zoom and out of your PDF, you don't want them to zoom in so far that they get lost where they are in your poster. Try using a type between 20 – 30 pt for the body of the text, with at least 80 pt font for titles. Select a legible, sans-serif font such as Arial, Helvetica or Calibri. 
  • Lay your poster sections in a logical order so that other scientists can follow your presentation. A good method is setting up your poster in a column format so that individuals interested can read your poster, 1st vertical, then top to bottom, and then left to right. 
  • Space your information proportionally: divide your poster either horizontally or vertically into three or four sections, and place your materials within those spaces. Like a layout of a magazine. For an ePoster it is important to orient objects in such a way that it allows attendees to navigate your ePoster easily. 
  • ePosters should stimulate discussion, not give a long presentation. Therefore, keep text to a minimum, emphasize graphics, and make sure every item in your poster is necessary. It is important to keep in mind resolution of your images. Note that because attendees will be zooming in and out, high resolution is needed.
  • When using colors within your ePoster, select colors that have high contrast values (ie black and white; blue and yellow).

Recording your ePoster Presentation

  • All ePoster presenters must submit an mp4 file of their ePoster presentation (please note the maximum file size is 500 MB). 
  • You should pull up your ePoster PDF on your computer and then record yourself going through the presentation. Keep in mind you should only have one PowerPoint slide of your ePoster. There is no need for additional slides. 
  • Your presentation should be a 5-7 minute walk-through of your ePoster. 
  • Keep in mind the ePoster rubric as this is what the judges will be using to score your presentation. 
  • Zoom is the recommended method of recording your presentation. ABRCMS created two videos on how to record your presentation using a free Zoom account and a paid Zoom account. Please note that a paid Zoom account can auto-generate a transcript.

Uploading a Transcript or Script of your Presentation 

  • In the spirit of inclusivity, we require ePoster presenters to also upload a transcript or a script of their audio file for attendees who are hard of hearing. 
  • If you created a script to use for your ePoster presentation, you can simply use this as your transcript, however, if a script was not created you can use Microsoft Word 365 or additional free options to create one.


share this page