Chairing policy

If you are chairing a session, thanks so much for agreeing to do it! Good chairing will be essential to its success. This means that there are quite a few important responsibilities for chairs, which we hope you won’t find too onerous. 

If you are an audience member, please read the ‘Managing questions’ part below.

Before your session starts

• IT equipment: Guest log-in instructions for the PC should be right there on the console; any problems, ask at conference reception. Make sure the IT kit is turned on and working; it can take a couple of minutes to boot up. If there is a problem you (or someone in the audience) can't fix, let Raheem on conference reception know and he will try and get it sorted. But don't wait! The speakers will just have to make the best of it until it's fixed.

• Make sure your speakers are there, and check how to pronounce their names if necessary.

• Symposia: It is up to the symposiasts how they organise the time allotted to their session. Please check with them before the session how they want it to be run (e..g back-to-back talks and one Q&A at the end, or three 30-minute slots with separate Q&As)  and what they would like you to do (manage Q&As, 5-minute warnings, etc.)

During the session

Introductions:  Introduce yourself, and your speaker. When introducing speakers, follow the same simple format for all: their name (no title), and the title of their talk – no preamble!

Five-minute warning/end of talk: It's the speaker's responsibility to finish their talk on time, but feel free to give them a 5-minute warning. If they run over, let them carry on until 25 minutes are up, but don't be tempted to let the Q&A to run over time as a result.

Break between talk and questions: For the keynotes only (not parallel sessions), please have a 3-minute break before going to questions.

Timekeeping: Be very strict about ending two minutes before the scheduled start of the next talk. Cut the speaker/questioner off if you have to. Strictness may result in momentary annoyance for some but it is a cause for rejoicing in most, and even the annoyed quickly see that it is right. Do not be tempted to squeeze just one more question in!

If you have an empty slot in your session: Please stick to the published times so that people can still move between sessions.

Managing questions

• Hands only, please: no hand-finger distinction!

• There is no obligation to take questions in the order in which people put up their hands. E.g. you might call on people who you haven’t heard from already at the conference, and/or look out especially for questions from the back. Resist any urge to give preference to people who are famous or who look like they'll be annoyed if you don't call on them.

• Please have a One-Question-Per-Question policy. Just cut someone off if they have already asked a question but are still speaking! (‘And my second question is …’.) You might let people get away with asking a short clarificatory question first. (‘Is this your view …? If so, my question is …’.) 

• Questioners should generally resist the urge to ask a follow-up question, and should definitely not do so without asking the chair’s permission first. Grant permission sparingly, especially if there are a lot of other people with questions.

• Questioners should also keep their questions are brief as possible! As Chair, you are perfectly within your rights to ask someone to hurry up, or indeed, in extremis, to shut them down.

• Interjections and queue-jumping are not allowed. If anyone tries it, cut them off and go to the next question on your list. 

In an emergency

Contact Campus Security's emergency number, 0113 343 2222. ( IT problems are not emergencies! Please see the instructions above.) For an ambulance, it's 999.

Thank you!