Instructions for Moderators

Thank you for agreeing to serve as a session moderator.

If there are schedule changes after you have checked in, an updated schedule will be brought to the meeting room and placed on the speaker’s podium before the session begins. If there are announcements to be made, those will be brought to you or placed on the podium before your session begins.

1. Arrive at the meeting room at least 15 minutes prior to the beginning of the session. Introduce yourself to the Student Volunteer. They are there to assist you.
2. This year Office 365 auto closed captioning is used for all presentations. Please check that it is working with the person in charge.
3. The underlying theme is: STAY ON TIME!
4. Stand up @ 12 min; go towards the speaker @ 14 min; direct them off the stage @ 15 min. Tell the speakers that you will go through these stages.
5. Run your session on real time, not elapsed time (In other words, all Contributed Paper sessions include 15-minute talks that start precisely on the quarter hour. Symposia may be different, pay attention to the schedule). The clock starts ticking even if the PowerPoint presentation sputters and the presenter laments, “It worked last night on my computer.” Remember, people are dashing between sessions, and all sessions should be running on the same schedule.

6. The time of the talk includes the moderator’s introduction. Keep the introduction simple. Example Introduction: “Our first talk, Title of talk, will be presented by Name of Presenter from Name of University or Institution. Name of Presenter is competing in the Name of Student Award Competition (if applicable).”NOTE: If the presenter is in a student competition, please include this information in your introduction to make sure everyone knows the presenter is a student competitor.

7. If a talk ends early or if a talk is canceled, DO NOT go ahead, and introduce the next talk. Take a break, or take questions for the previous speakers, then start again with the next scheduled talk. Do not move a paper scheduled later in the session to end the session early.
8. The speaker needs to leave time for questions; if not, NO questions are allowed.
9. If there is time for questions, and the audience does not ask a question, be prepared to ask one yourself. This often kick-starts audience questions.
10. Please keep track of no-show presentations in your session (these are speakers who have failed to notify us of their cancellation 24 hours prior to the start of the meeting.) If there are other notes you wish to make on the schedule about your session, please do so. Return any comments to the registration desk.
11. Recognize and respond (by contacting a Safety Officer) to conduct that violates the Code of Conduct.
12. Be respectful of speakers and do your best to enforce professionalism in audience members – no favoritism and no harsh commentary.

Accessibility Recommendations:

Before Sessions:

• Review room for obstructions to mobility. Please direct any concerns regarding the meeting room to Lori Strong, the Meetings Director or to the Registration desk. She can contact the venue about temperature adjustments, need for extra chairs, etc.
• Over 10% of our membership are hearing impaired. Speakers must use the microphone to speak. Tell the speakers and attendees that this is a requirement.
• Check in with speakers beforehand. Be mindful of pronouns and pronunciation of names of speakers and places. Remind speakers to look at timekeepers.
• Adjust microphones before talks begin. Show speakers how to adjust standing microphones to match their height and how to use the remote for slides.

During Sessions:

• Repeat questions / have speakers repeat questions.
• It’s more constructive to ask, “is anyone struggling to hear?”  rather than “did everyone hear that?” because the latter phrasing can subconsciously make people feel an inconvenience if they can’t hear.
• Announce that all speakers should use the microphone and point out the seats reserved for hearing and/or visual impaired use.
• Face the audience and do not obscure your mouth. This is important for those who use speech reading techniques.
• Speak clearly, use simple language, and try to avoid idioms, unnecessary jargon, and undefined acronyms. Audience members have diverse experiences and backgrounds and may not be familiar with the terms. Ask for clarification on jargon or acronyms to the speakers if needed/possible.
• Use gender neutral language when possible and appropriate. The use of gendered pronouns (his or her) can exclude non-binary people and can also result in a mistaken guess of someone’s gender. “They” is increasingly acceptable for both plural and singular gender-neutral pronouns.
• Adopt good practices for gender-inclusive language. These practices are not always intuitive or automatic. The links below aim to raise awareness and guide learning:

• • Avoid Sexist Language, by Jennifer Klein, Hamilton College
  • Good Practices: Inclusive Language, by University of Maryland
  • LGBTQ-INCLUSIVE LANGUAGE DOs and DON’Ts, by The Safe Zone Project
  • , by MAP and GLAAD

Questions & Answer Time (Q&A)

As a moderator you play an important role for facilitating meaningful and rewarding Q&A participation for a diverse group of people, representing many career stages and identities.  

Tips to promote greater inclusivity in the Q&A portions of your session:

• Try calling on a woman, an early career professional, or a member of an underrepresented group. Studies have demonstrated that men are more likely to ask a question during Q&As; however, this dynamic changes if the first question is asked by a woman (e.g., Charutard & Hann 2019, Carter et al. 2018).
• Intentionally encourage multiple perspectives from multiple types of meeting participants.
• Make it clear that no question is too simple or silly, all ideas are welcomed, and the conference is non-judgmental.

Most of the ideas summarized here come from resources from different private and public institutions, and personal experiences. Please refer directly to the links if you want to learn more.

References

1. Carter, A.J., Croft, A., Lukas, D., Sandstrom, G.M. 2019. Women’s visibility in academic seminars: Women ask fewer questions than men. PLOS ONE 14(2). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0212146
2. Charutard, A., and Hann, C.  2019. Best Practice Guide: Developing inclusive conferences. REACH University of Oxford School of Geography and the Environment.
3. Pendergrass, A., Zelikova, J., Arnott, J., Bain, H., Barnes, R., Baron, J., Dutt, K., Gay-Antaki, M., Haacker, R., Jack-Scott, E., Lauer, Aj., Morris, A., Morrison, D., Nunez, A-M., Steltzer, H., Thompson, L. 2019. INCLUSIVE Scientific Meetings: Where to start.

This document is the result of joint efforts and contributions of the four DEI’s societies (ASIH, HL, SSAR, and ASE). We would like to thank you Dr. Lynne Parenti for constructive comments and edits to the final version of the document.