Guidelines for Moderators
Thank you for accepting this valuable role! Please find below detailed information to help you prepare for the moderation of your session and feel free to contact us at isppd@kenes.com if you have any questions.
General Information
- Please refer to your email for details on your session. You can also find your schedule via the interactive programme HERE by searching for your last name.
- Please arrive at the session hall/location about 15 minutes before the session start.
- Consider possible questions to the speakers in advance and engage speakers in a discussion. Please take the initiative when appropriate and help to stimulate questions from the audience.
- The speakers will most likely be seated in the first row of the hall for plenary and parallel sessions and will make their way to the lectern on stage when it is their time to present.
- A technician/staff member will also be present in the hall at the AV table/at the E-Poster stations to assist with all technological features taking place during the session. Please notify them immediately of any equipment problems.
Before the start of the session: Please ask people to take their seats and encourage them to take front and center seating.
Ask them to silence any mobile devices, and refrain from photographing / recording the lectures.
- Introduce yourself and your co-chair by name and affiliation
- Welcome the audience in the hall and those joining online.
- Outline, very briefly, the session content. “We are going to present: x,y,z”
- Encourage the audience (both onsite and online) to ask questions via the Virtual Platform or Mobile App from the beginning of the session. Q&A time is included in each speaker’s presentation duration and should take place right after each presentation. There will be no collective Q&A time at the end.
- Introduce the speakers and presentation titles as indicated in the Symposium App (note there could be last minute changes).
- Please follow the schedule closely and gently interrupt speakers if they exceed the allocated time for their lecture. Please keep in mind that Q&A time is included in each speaker’s presentation duration.
- FOR PLENARY & PARALLEL SESSION CHAIRS: You can follow the questions from the audience (both in person and online) on a tablet that you will receive before the session starts. Please check the questions throughout the session and ask the best ones to the speakers during the Q&A portion after each lecture.
- FOR E-POSTER SPOTLIGHT SESSION CHAIRS: Session attendees will stand around you and the presenter. After each presentation, please encourage the audience to raise their hands and ask questions verbally.
Please note:
- If a speaker fails to attend the session, please excuse to the audience and move to the next speaker.
- If the session ends early, please solicit questions from the audience and lead a discussion.
- FOR PLENARY & PARALLEL SESSIONS: There might be pre-recorded presentations in your session since the speaker was not able to join in person. Typically, these are played at the end of the session unless advised otherwise and there is no Q&A for them. Instead, you are welcome to encourage the audience to contact the speaker via the ISPPD-12 Virtual Platform if they have questions.
- At the end of the session, kindly thank the presenters, the onsite and online audiences for their participation.
Further specifics by session type
- Plenary sessions typically have three to four lectures with 20 to 30 minutes per lecture including Q&A. More details on your session were sent to you via email and can also be found via the interactive programme.
- Plenary speakers were not requested to submit abstracts prior to the Symposium. You are welcome to contact the speakers in advance if you require more details from them.
- Plenary sessions typically have two moderators. Please discuss the flow of your session with your co-moderator prior to the beginning – opening and closing notes, speaker introduction, etc.
- Parallel sessions typically have 7 or 8 abstract presentations. Each presenter has 10 minutes including Q&A. For the Late-Breaking Quick Hits session, there are 12 presentations with 8 minues per presenter including Q&A. More details on your session were sent to you via email and can also be found via the interactive programme.
- Abstracts of the presenters in your session were sent to you via email. Please go through the abstracts and prepare at least one question per abstract in advance in case of low activity from the audience.
- Parallel sessions typically have two moderators. Please discuss the flow of your session with your co-moderator prior to the beginning – opening and closing notes, speaker introduction, etc.
- E-Poster Spotlight sessions typically have 9 or 10 presentations. Each presenter has up to 6 minutes including Q&A. More details on your session and all abstracts were sent to you via email.
- Please go through the abstracts and formulate at least one questions per abstract in advance in case of low activity from the audience and take the initiative when appropriate and help to stimulate questions from the audience.
- These sessions will be held at the E-Poster stations in a designated area of the Symposium venue and not in the session halls. There will be no sitting arrangements.
- Please note that there will be NO microphones and headsets at the E-Poster Spotlight sessions, so please encourage the presenters to speak up and check if the audience hears well.
- All E-Posters at your station will be opened in advance in different tabs. Speakers will be able to navigate through their posters using a laptop. There will be staff members onsite to assist in bringing onscreen the correct poster depending on the presentation schedule.
To download the Moderator Guidelines, please click HERE.
Print-outs will be available onsite.
