Poster presentation characteristics: How they affect the viewer.

Poster sessions at professional conferences are an important part of the research process. Once research has been completed, it is necessary to share the findings with others in the field. However, in order to share scientific findings in a poster format, the poster must attract observers. Questionnaires assessing participants\u27 impressions of the posters were distributed at four poster sessions of the 1999 WP A convention. Posters that contained certain colors were more likely to. be named as stand(ing) out most by the participants. Posters that included graphs and/or photos were more likely to be named than were posters without graphs and photos. Posters with fonts between the sizes of 5 and 8 characters per inch were more likely to be named than posters with larger or smaller fonts. Attention to these details may increase the effectiveness of a poster as a tocl for communicating research results