Poster Sessions
About Poster Sessions and the Virtual Poster Gallery
Occurring Mondays–Thursdays, March 15–18 and March 22–25, the Poster Sessions will allow attendees to view ePosters and interact directly with the poster authors through online chats.
Poster Sessions are scheduled into one of two time blocks: 11:15 am to 1:00 pm (US EDT, UTC -4) or 1:00 pm to 2:45 pm (US EDT, UTC -4). During the Poster Sessions, presenting authors will be participating in live online chats with attendees. In addition, beginning March 12, all posters from that session will be available in the Virtual Poster Gallery, where Annual Meeting participants can view the posters and listen to audio recordings by the poster author(s).
2021 SOT Virtual Poster Presentations Sneak Preview
How to Design Your ePoster
ePoster Layout
Create your poster as a single slide in PowerPoint or in a program that allows you to create a photo file (PNG, JPEG, TIFF, etc.), ideally in a 16 x 9 ratio for optimal viewing.
Headers Come First
At the top of each poster, you should post a label stating the title, authors, and author affiliations, in addition to the abstract final ID number.
COI and Logos
Conflict of interest disclosures should be included on your poster. Institutional logos, but not product logos, are allowed on your poster.
Keep Visual Balance in Mind
Make an initial rough layout, paying attention to the proportions of figures, tables, and text. Try to maintain a balance of using ~50% of the poster for figures and tables.
A Good Poster Is Like a Good Paper
Include your objective, the design/methods, the results, and the conclusion, but avoid displaying a short manuscript. Experimental details should be concise. Tables and conclusions should be clearly stated.
Keep It Simple
Don’t overload your poster with excessive text and data. Where possible, organize tables and figures chronologically in vertical progression.
Choose Photographs with Caution
Illustrative drawings should be used to depict animals. Photographs of animals should be used only where absolutely necessary for the scientific presentation. Because SOT does not condone inhumane treatment of animals, photographs depicting such treatment (as well as data derived from such treatment) will not be permitted under any circumstances. Posters for which human subject data are presented should indicate on the poster that protocols were reviewed and approved by a Human Subjects Institutional Review Board.
No Active Promotion of Exhibitor Booths
SOT policy prohibits the active promotion of ToxExpo exhibitors on scientific posters (e.g., “visit XXX’s Virtual Booth”). SOT reserves the right to remove scientific posters that specifically promote a ToxExpo exhibitor. Listing author affiliations in the poster title is not considered active promotion.
Instructions for Finalizing Your ePoster
Instructions for Adding Audio Narration to an ePoster
Poster presenters are encouraged to record up to eight minutes of audio narration for their poster. SOT has created an instructional video on how to record audio narration for your poster using PowerPoint 365 and create the file containing your narration and poster for uploading into the SOT Speaker Management System.
Additionally, the following steps outline the process demonstrated in the instructional video or you can download the Adding Audio Narration to an ePoster Instructions.
Note: the photos accompanying these instructions can be opened in a new window to increase their size and readability.
Instructions on Recording an ePoster Audio Narration
- Create your poster as a single slide in PowerPoint or in a program that allows you to create a photo file (PNG, JPEG, TIFF, etc.), ideally in a 16 x 9 ratio for optimal viewing.
If you create your poster outside PowerPoint, open a blank PowerPoint document. Insert your poster by going to the “Insert” menu option and selecting Pictures > Insert Picture From > This Device. Once your poster graphic is inserted, you can resize it to fill the PowerPoint slide.
- With your poster on a PowerPoint slide, you can open the PowerPoint recording feature by going to the “Slide Show” menu option and selecting Record Slide Show > Record From Current Slide.
If you are using a version of PowerPoint older than 365, the exact screens and tools for recording that you encounter in this step and step 3 will vary. Please reference the tutorials for PowerPoint 2016 and PowerPoint 2013 on GCFLearnFree.org for instructions on how to use the recording features on those versions.
- In your new Recording Screen, ensure that your microphone is on and your camera is off by referencing the icons in the lower-right portion of the screen. Then, use the record button in the upper left to begin your audio narration. You may press pause or stop at any time, and select record again when you are ready to proceed—this will not overwrite anything recorded thus far. If you want to start a new recording, select Clear > Clear Recordings. When you are satisfied with your recording, close the Recording Screen window.
- If your audio recording was successful, you will see speaker icon on the lower-right portion of your PowerPoint slide. You can play your audio from this location if you want to double check the narration.
- Next, select File > Save As. Once you have selected the location in which you are saving your poster with audio narration, be sure to select the file format MP4. This is the video file format that is required for successfully pairing your narration and poster for display in the SOT Virtual Meeting Platform.
- Once your MP4 file is saved, open a blank presentation in PowerPoint. Then, go to the “Insert” menu option and select Video > Video on My PC. Choose the MP4 file that you just created. When inserted, your video should fill the blank slide, but if it does not, you can resize and position it.
- Now, you need to save this new PowerPoint slide by going to File > Save As. This time, save your file as a PPTX file, which is the standard PowerPoint file format. This PPTX file is the file that you will upload to the SOT Speaker Management System to allow attendees to view your poster, zoom in on specific features, and listen to your audio narration.
Uploading an ePoster
Poster Session presenters are responsible for uploading their posters into the SOT Speaker Management System—presenting authors were sent an email containing a link to this system in late January 2021. Contact David Rossé if you did not receive this email, have questions, or need assistance.
All posters should be uploaded as PPTX files, which is the standard file format for Microsoft PowerPoint, by March 1, and no later than March 5.
Poster Presentations and Sessions FAQs
Create your poster as a single slide in PowerPoint or in a program that allows you to create a photo file (PNG, JPEG, TIFF, etc.), ideally in a 16 x 9 ratio for optimal viewing. If you create your poster outside PowerPoint, save it as an image if you intend to add narration or as a PDF posting without audio.
While recording your poster presentation, clicking the right mouse button will generate a menu option for a pointer. The pointer should be used as a method to navigate through your poster presentation.
ePosters will not be downloadable.
In addition, upon registering for the meeting, attendees agree to not capture, copy, or take screenshots of any aspect of the Virtual Annual Meeting without the consent of the presenter(s)/author(s)/exhibitor(s)/etc., including but not limited to slide presentations, video presentations, audio presentations, Q&As, chats, exhibits, posters, and abstracts. Individuals found on violation of this Annual Meeting policy will be removed from the meeting.
Yes. Poster Sessions will occur Mondays–Thursdays, March 15–18 and March 22–25, during two time blocks: 11:15 am to 1:00 pm (US EDT, UTC -4) or 1:00 pm to 2:45 pm (US EDT, UTC -4). During the assigned Poster Session, the presenting author is expected to be virtually attending the poster to engage in digital chats with other attendees.
Annual Meeting participants will be able to view the posters and listen to audio recordings by the poster author(s) on-demand until May 31, 2021.
Posters are scheduled to be visible in the Visual Poster Gallery beginning on March 12.
Send a message to SOT Headquarters including your poster abstract number and arrangements will be made to only display your poster during the designated Poster Session.
Objectives
The primary objective of the Poster Session is to foster and encourage discussion and debate of important scientific questions relevant to the major themes of the session. Secondary objectives include providing specific feedback to the authors concerning their data and its interpretation and fostering interchange between the presenters and the observers of the poster material.
Chair Role
SOT is seeking at least one Chair per Poster Session. Before the Poster Session, Chairs are asked to:
Review and become familiar with all the abstracts in their session.
Keep track of posters assigned to the session and note that all posters are viewable.
Visit each poster in the session and share details about the Poster Session experience in a survey which will be sent to Poster Chairs following the Virtual Annual Meeting.