Being asked to chair is a small responsibility that is easy to do badly. The most common failure is a chair who adds commentary to every talk — taking time from the speakers the audience came for.
Your actual job
- Keep to time, strictly and visibly.
- Introduce each speaker briefly and correctly.
- Make sure questions reach the speaker.
- Ensure a range of people get to ask, not only the loudest.
Before the session
- Ask each speaker how to pronounce their name.
- Agree the timing signals with them.
- Prepare one question per talk in case nobody asks.
Timekeeping
- Give visible warnings at five minutes and one minute.
- Stop an overrunning speaker; it protects the next one.
- Letting the first speaker run over damages the whole session.
Managing questions
- Take questions from a spread of people, including junior researchers.
- Cut off a questioner who is delivering a monologue.
- Restate an unclear question for the speaker.
- Protect a speaker from a hostile exchange.
Your own contribution
- One prepared question if the room is silent.
- Not a summary of every talk.
- Not your own related work.
One thing worth remembering
Stop the first speaker from overrunning.
Every minute lost at the start is taken from the last speaker, who has done the same work and often has the smallest audience left — and the whole session's fairness is decided in that first ten minutes.
Câu hỏi thường gặp
What is the most common chairing failure?
Adding commentary to every talk, which takes time from the speakers the audience came to hear.
What is the chair's actual job?
Keeping to time strictly, introducing speakers briefly and correctly, making sure questions reach the speaker, and ensuring a range of people get to ask.
What should you do before the session?
Ask each speaker how to pronounce their name, agree timing signals with them, and prepare one question per talk in case nobody asks.
How should you manage questions?
Take questions from a spread of people including junior researchers, cut off monologues, restate unclear questions, and protect a speaker from hostile exchanges.
Why does the first speaker matter most for timing?
Every minute lost at the start is taken from the last speaker, who often has the smallest audience left.
