Introduction: Poster presentations are a common event in many modern academic and professional settings. An academic poster is an effective means for visualizing and conveying knowledge. However, to do this effectively requires considerations involving the poster design and the communication skills of the presenter. Objective: To characterize the main considerations for the elaboration and presentation of an academic poster. Methods: Information sources from 2010 to 2020 were explored in the Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus and SciELO databases. The following key terms in Spanish were used: comunicación y divulgación científica [communication and popular science], carteles como asunto [posters as a topic], cartel [poster], exposición [presentation] and póster académico [academic poster]. Through random searching, 31 information sources, eight institutional pages, one book and 22 scientific articles were found. Conclusions: The elaboration of an academic poster requires knowledge related to research methodology, scientific writing, graphic design, advertising, data analysis, verbal/nonverbal communication, and so on. Text, words and visualizations are juxtaposed as a whole within the communicative function. This implies the mastery of communicative skills that must be learned by authors if they wish to convey knowledge to viewers efficiently.