Moderator Code of Conduct
Every coach is encouraged to recommend potential moderators each year. When nominating a person for the position of moderator, consider the following qualities:
Intelligence.
Moderators must possess knowledge in most if not all areas covered in competition. They must feel comfortable with the pronunciation of scientific, etc., terms.
Personality.
Moderators will need a sense of humor with which to control a tense and tension-building situation. More than anyone else involved, the moderator must be able to sense problems and anxieties and be able to put contestants at ease without showing favoritism to one team or the other. Moderators must be "performers" for the spectators, while at the same time representing authority to the contestants and knowledge to everyone (even though that knowledge may only be the information held in the hand.) The moderators must present themselves fairly, as this is the certain criterion upon which they will be judged by coaches and spectators. They must exude warmth and be able to honestly congratulate each team for its efforts.
Skill in Communication.
Moderators will need clear, strong voices and must be able to give a forceful presentation of questions and decisions. The moderators must possess genuine warmth so as to control both the contest and the audience. The moderators should sound, act, and dress as professionals.
Knowledge of the Competition.
The moderators must have an absolute grasp of the rules of the competition and an ability to sense that fairness in presentation of questions, acceptance of answers, allowable timing, conferencing, etc. is maintained. The moderators must be able to move quickly to the alternatives in competition; i.e., when a toss-up is interrupted, the moderators must know to stop reading immediately. Then, if an incorrect answer is given, he/she must go on to the complete question for the other team. Moderators should be able to re-track easily when a question is delivered incorrectly in such a way that each team has an equal chance to answer.
Moderators must sense both the closeness of the score and the amount of available time, using these to enhance the competition without being unfair to either team. In a close competition, a team, which is behind in score, wants more opportunities to answer questions, not more explanation of previous answers; a team leading in score might rather use up the time, so the moderator must be fair to each team.