August 6, 2015
By Aja Frost for BioSpace.com
Poster presentations are great opportunities to present what you’re working on to other people in your field and prepare it for eventual publication.
In addition, you get to enhance your professional reputation, get material for your resume and show off your public speaking skills.
But all of those career benefits rely on giving a good poster session—not a mediocre one. So check out our five tips for acing your next presentation.
1. Develop an “Elevator Pitch.”
The term “elevator pitch” is typically used for the 30-second speech people use to introduce themselves or sell their business idea. However, at a conference, your elevator pitch is the short, five-sentence summary of your research. You want to make it quick and interesting. Your prepared intro, if done right, will draw in people so you can give them a more in-depth explanation of your work.
2. Make it a conversation.
You don’t want to be the only person talking during your session. Not only will this allow your poster visitors to get bored and day-dream, but you’ll lose the chance to get valuable feedback.
To make your presentation more conversational and interactive, ask your guests questions. You can either prepare questions in advance or ask them spontaneously, but whichever strategy you take, try to get them talking at least one-third of the time.
3. Don’t be too aggressive.
With all that being said, you’ll also want to let people read your poster. (After all, you probably spent lots of time creating it!) Make sure you’re giving attendees enough time and space to absorb the material on your poster. After they look like they’ve finished, you can ask, “What do you think?” or “Is there anything I could improve?”
4. Choose the right people.
Not everyone who comes through will be the right audience members for your presentation. If you’ve repeatedly tried to engage someone, but he or she just isn’t interested, you don’t have to force it—just wrap up what you’re saying, and then give the person the freedom to browse your materials independently.
In addition, you’ll want to change up your speech depending on to whom you’re talking. For example, if someone works in a different field and is pretty unfamiliar with what you’re doing, dial down the jargon so the person can actually understand and appreciate your work.
On the other hand, if you’re presenting to people with an intimate knowledge of the topic, feel free to reference high-level topics and the more nuanced portions of your research.
5. Use the right body language.
One of the key elements of a great presentation is body language. Engage your visitors by making eye contact and smiling at them, gesturing with your hands and leaning in slightly. Just make sure you’re not standing too close or being overly enthusiastic, or you might come off a bit creepy.
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