Moderator Guidelines
2024 WA/BC & Idaho Chapter AFS Annual Meeting at the Centennial Hotel in Spokane, Washington
Thank you for agreeing to moderate a session at our upcoming meeting. As a moderator, your job is to ensure the session is carried out in a professional, timely manner. Please review these instructions carefully to make sure you know everything you need to do.
We will be running concurrent sessions at this meeting and it is vital talks begin and end on time as indicated in the program.
Click here for a Printable Moderator Guide
A week prior to the session
Contact each speaker in your session and do the following:
- Introduce yourself as the session moderator.
- Make sure they know the date and time their presentation is scheduled.
- Obtain a brief biographical summary from each speaker for use when you introduce them.
- Answer any questions they have.
- Offer your support and assistance. Please pay particular attention to students and others who may be new at presenting at professional meetings.
A few hours before the session or late afternoon the day before an 8 AM morning session
Contact the AV Coordinator Kristi Stevenson at the Media Center table to ensure that all presentations for your session are loaded on the computer and working properly.
Review the operation of the microphone including proper placement, projector remote, laser pointer, room lights, and room lighting procedures with the AV Coordinator Kristi Stevenson.
The break before the session (or another time of your convenience)
Meet with each presenter and do the following:
- Review the operation of the microphone. If the microphone is a lapel microphone review how to put it on and proper placement. Give each presenter an opportunity use the microphone to do a ‘sound check’ so they can become familiar with the sound system.
- Review the operation of the laptop, the projector remote if there is one, and laser pointer
- Review the room light timing with the presenter
- Lights start at ‘full up’ during your introduction of the speaker
- Are dimmed for 15 minutes during the talk
- Are brought to ‘half light’ at 16 minutes as a cue
- Are brought to ‘full up’ at 18 minutes to cue, handle questions and transition to next speaker
- Inform the speaker that if you stand up by them at the podium that is their cue that they are to conclude the talk, they are out of time
- Special lighting considerations can be made upon speaker request
- Answer any questions they have
- Offer your support and assistance. Please pay particular attention to students and others who may be new at presenting at professional meetings.
Coordinate with the person running the lights and relay any special lighting requests to them
During the session
- Ensure that the session begins and ends on time (see Program and Abstracts for start and end times).
- You are responsible for starting the session. You must start the session on time. Begin by introducing yourself using only 1 minute.
- Introduce each speaker. You have been allotted one minute per speaker for the introduction. At a minimum please include the presenter’s name, affiliation, a short biographical summary, and the title of the talk.
- Work with the student handling lights to stay on time. A student will be assigned to your session room to run the lights. The schedule below will be coordinated through the use of both of your cell phone clocks. This gives the presenter visual cues to stay on time and helps you, as the moderator, move the talk to completion on time.
- Ensure the speaker stays within the allotted time. Staying within the specific times is essential, particularly during the concurrent sessions. Each talk has been allotted 20 minutes. This includes 1 minute for you to introduce the speaker, 15 minutes for the talk, and 4 minutes for questions and answers. Although not encouraged, the presenter may choose to use the entire time for their presentation and forgo the question and answer portion of their talk. However, they can not go over 20 minutes!!! If a speaker goes past 20 minutes you need to stop them by standing alongside the podium and speaker as noted above. If they have not finished within one minute of you standing up, interrupt them by saying something like "We are going to have to stop there. If you have any questions for our speaker, catch them at the break". Be kind but firm on the 20 minute limit. The speakers will be getting very clear direction on this as well.
- At the conclusion of each talk, allow for questions and answers assuming there is still time remaining in the 20 minute slot. The speaker will select the persons who ask the questions, though you can help if they need it. Conclude by thanking the speaker.
At the end of the session
- Thank all of the speakers and those in attendance
- Make any announcements that have been given you from the EXCOM
Moderator Help Contacts
Moderators who need more information or assistance should contact the following:
Related to Session Info:
Program chairs: Sean Simmons
Related to AV design & uploading questions:
Media Center: Kristi Stevenson