• English

Chair instructions

 

 

 

The chair of an oral session holds a key position in making the programme run as smoothly as possible. The chair is considered an expert in his or her field and therefore is very important in supporting the speakers as well as giving the participants a good session.
These guidelines are to help the chair before, during and after the session.

 

Before the conference 

  • If the session includes abstracts, these will be sent to you by EPUAP Secretariat. Please familiarize yourself with the abstracts. It necessary, contact the presenters directly.
  • The EPUAP Secretariat will give you the name of your co-chair. We encourage you to contact him or her to discuss the session.
  • Please prepare some possible questions for the presenters in case no one from the audience will ask a question.
 

Right before your session 

  • Please arrive in the room of your session at least 10 minutes before it starts.
  • 1 or 2 hostesses will be in the room, preparing name signs, water etc. and welcoming the participants. Please ask any question you may have and they are instructed in what to do.
  • A technician will be present in the room checking that all devices and audio equipment operate as planned. The technician can assist you in any technical question you may have.
 

During your session 

  • Please remind the speakers of the time limit of their presentation (varies from session to session).
  • Please ask the presenters to speak slowly and clearly for the sake of non-native English speakers.
  • If a presentation cannot be given or if a presenter does not appear (no-show), please fill out the remaining time with questions or start a discussion.
  • Discussion: Take charge of the discussion period. Recognize questions from the audience and allow each person who would like to do so to participate in the discussion. Ask the participant to introduce herself/himself and to speak slowly into the microphone. If you think it is necessary, repeat or paraphrase the question or the answer, to make sure that everybody can follow the discussion.
  • Comments from the chair: Comment on the data presented in relation to accepted current knowledge. The audience may believe that the lack of comments from the chairs means acceptance, or agreement, on the presented data.
 

Right after your session

  • Your feedback is important to some presenters and they may want to stay to discuss their presentation with you. If you have time, we appreciate your extra effort.

 

If you have any questions before, during or after the conference, please contact the EPUAP conference secretariat: office@epuap.org