Introduce the speakers by name and affiliation and then announce the talk title.
Invite the presenter to start.
Keep the schedule according to the overall agenda.
Prior to start the session, the Chair should
Arrive at the session room in which you are chairing at least 10 minutes before the session starts.
A programme will be placed on the table at the front of the room, so you can easily access the programme, speaker order, and speaker information. Please leave it in place for the benefit of all session chairs.
Please check the folder on the desktop to confirm whether all presenters have uploaded their presentations. If any files are missing, ask the audience before the session begins for the presenter to identify themselves and again when their talk is due to start. If they are not present, do not move to the next talk early. Instead, facilitate a short discussion or allow the scheduled time to pass before starting the next presentation.
Check that the AV equipment is available and functioning, including the microphone(s). If there are any issues, report them to the student helper, who will either be in the room.
Meet speakers and check they are all in the room. Invite them to sit in the front row to facilitate a quick hand over.
At the start of the Session
Introduce yourself to the audience.
Ask people to set all phones on silent.
Explain the time allocation for each speaker.
During the session
At the beginning of each presentation, introduce the presenter and the title.
Make sure the presenter adheres to the time limit.
Never start any talk before the scheduled time, even to fill the hole left by a cancelled presentation. Please use the time for questions or a short break.
Keep strictly to the time guidelines to allow for audience participation and to allow the conference delegates to move between sessions.
In the Q and A
At the end of each presentation lead/stimulate the questions and answers.
If a speaker does not leave time for questions, please proceed immediately to the next talk, without Q&A. Encourage anyone with questions to speak to the presenter immediately after the session or during the break.
Actively ensure gender representation during the Q&A session as studies indicate men are often 2.5 times more likely to ask questions than women, even when the audience is evenly split.
If there are questions that are off topic or comments as opposed to questions, please politely interject and acknowledge the point, and steer back to the topic.
Encourage relevant scientific questions from the audience and especially ECR questions.
Directly ask relevant scientific questions if there are no questions or too few questions from the audience.
Clarify questions if they are unclear to the speaker or the audience.
If there are lengthy, one-to-one or very specific discussions, ask that they are deferred to the break sessions.
At the end of Session
If there is time left, suggest a discussion of topics relevant to the presentations.
Thank all the participants and the audience.
Formally announce that the session is closed and then state the next item on the agenda e.g. lunch.