Guidelines for Session Moderators

Moderators will be needed to facilitate the oral presentation sessions. Often the session organizers also assume the role of moderator for their sessions, but that need not be the case. The primary duties of the moderators are as follows:

• Briefly introduce the session (5 minutes alloted for this) by touching upon the themes to be discussed. Remind audience members to turn off their cell phones and to hold questions until a speaker is finished with his/her presentation.

• Introduce the speakers (name, job title, affiliation, and title of presentation).

• KEEP THE SPEAKERS ON SCHEDULE! Each session includes a 5-minute introduction to the session, followed by the 20-minutes presentations (including time for Q & A), with 5 minutes alloted at the end of the session for a general Q & A period. Many attendees don't just attend all the talks in a given session, but rather seek out one talk in one session and then switch rooms to catch another talk in a different concurrent session. Thus it is important that all of the sessions stay synchronized. Timing signs (e.g.," 3 minutes left", "1 minute left") will be provided to flash to presenters to help them wrap up on time. Volunteer assistants will be assigned to each session room to assist with projection of the powerpoint files, and can also help with keeping the timing on track. If need be, stand up and politely cut off the speaker by thanking them when the 20 minutes have elapsed to clearly signal that the shift to the next talk needs to take place.

If you are interested in possibly moderating a session, please contact us to learn how straightforward and rewarding this can be.