Updated on September 22, 2018

Guidelines for Presenters, Moderators and Discussants

                           [PDF] Guidelines

The APMAA parallel sessions comprise two panel sessions: competitive paper sessions and development paper sessions. We provide some guidelines for presenters, moderators and discussants who play core role in parallel sessions. Following the guidelines below leads your session beneficial one to all, including audiences.

　

Guidelines for Presenters, Moderators and Discussants
 (APMAA 2018 parallel sessions)

For competitive paper sessions, presentations are organized into topic areas. Papers in this session are presented sequentially in 30-minute presentation blocks (15 min. presentation, 10 min. discussion, 5 min. Q&A). Each presenter's final written paper is available in the conference USB proceedings to participants. All presentation session rooms have PC, screens and data projectors. Overhead projectors for transparencies are not provided in the rooms. 
　

 
Here we provide guidelines for presenters. moderators and discussants that are beneficial to all, including audiences.
　

 1. PRESENTER GUIDELINES

During your 15-minute paper presentation, be sure to state the structure and main points of your argument explicitly and clearly at the outset and again in the summary. Your slides should contain only what is necessary to help the audience follow the key points of the paper.
 • Spend most of the time on results, discussion, and conclusions, and
 • Concisely describe your method.
 • Go very lightly on the literature.

Do not overwhelm people with a lot of tables that take time to interpret. Be a guide to the audience rather than piling on facts. DON’T put material on a slide that only the people in the front rows can read. Font sizes smaller than 28pt will likely be unreadable. DON’T use full sentences on your slides, or write out your entire talk on your slides.

Rehearse your presentation out loud several times, if possible in front of a listener who can give you feedback on both form and content. Native speakers of English need to avoid speaking too fast or colloquially; non-native speakers should enunciate clearly so that any foreign accent does not impair comprehension.

Make sure your talk fits into the allotted 15 minutes of your presentation. DO stop at the end of the allotted time, even if you have content left. No matter how hard you worked on your last few slides, the audience would rather have time for discussion. The session moderator in the room will have to cut your talk short, should it run over, to ensure all presenters in the session are allotted their full presentation time. The conference needs to keep on schedule.

Arrive early and make yourself known to your discussant and session moderator.

2. MODERATOR GUIDELINES

Session moderators introduce the speakers, keep time for the presentations, and facilitate the discussion. Make sure there is time for reasonable presentation and discussion and to finish on time. Bring along time cards large enough that the presenter can see. Have a 5-minute card and a time-is-up card. Even if it is a bit uncomfortable be firm with presenters who continue past the allowed time.
Begin on time. Start with a welcome message to the audiences, including a clear statement of the session title. Describe the process followed in the session. Tell people how many papers will be presented, how much time each presentation will be and also at what point questions will be possible. Keep your comments to a minimum other than introducing presenters.

You should go last if you are presenting your own paper during the session you are moderating, even if you need to change the order from the program. If a discussant does not show up, the moderator must discuss papers instead. Therefore, you should prepare discussion slides for all three papers.

2. DISCUSSANT GUIDELINES

If you are well-prepared, it will greatly enhance the paper session, so please spend the time needed for careful analysis. Please prepare PPT slides for your comments.