Why Do Poster Presentations Matter?

Along the theme of scientific posters for my upcoming talk, I'd like to share some reasons that poster sessions are so important for your career.  Sure, everyone strives to give an oral presentation at a big meeting (and yes, oral presentations are great for your research and for your CV), but don't discount how helpful an effective poster presentation can be for your career, either.  Here are my top four reasons you should be excited about presenting your poster.

First, at a poster presentation, you interact with and receive feedback from lots of people.  You are not simply presenting your work to a large audience, who is listening; you are answering questions as you go and getting new experimental feedback and suggestions each time you present to a new person.  Be sure to bring something to jot down notes on great experimental ideas you receive.

Second, a poster session is great practice for honing your communication and presentation skills.  Over the hour or so that you stand in front of your poster, presenting it, you get immediate feedback on your presentation style, allowing you to tweak your presentation each time, making it better and better.  With that in mind, make sure you read the body language of the people who stop by your poster.  Do they look confused?  Bored?  Use their cues to think of a better way to explain your data.  If you do, when you finally stand up in front of a large audience to present your work (at a scientific meeting, seminar at your university, lab meeting, or job interview), you are going to be pretty confident that you can get your point across clearly and succinctly.

Third, this is a great opportunity to build your network.  Instead of everyone knowing who you are and how to contact you, you have the opportunity to meet people, collect business cards, set up potential collaborations, and perhaps, get a job.  Don't go to your session without business cards to exchange with others -- offering yours is a great way to get one from someone else, making that person a contact for you.  (Hint...if you don't have business cards, get some!  If you absolutely aren't allowed to have them, take your mentor's business cards and add your contact details to the back of the card -- just do this before your session starts.)

Of course, the main reason to present your work is to disseminate your ideas and your data...contributing to the scientific community and advancing scientific discoveries.  A poster presentation is one of the many ways for you to present your research that benefits you and the scientific community as a whole.  This is an exciting chance to show off what you have discovered!

Good luck with your presentations!