FACILITATOR GUIDELINES

​Session Time Zone
All sessions will be held in Eastern Time. ​NOTE: If you are viewing the program in the Whova meeting app you may see your session in your local time. There may be a toggle located on the upper right-hand side that can be switched to Central Time. ​
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Before the Conference

Prepare for Assigned Session

• Read the presentation descriptions of your assigned sessions.
• Prepare the introduction of each presenter: full name, institution and department. Do not plan to read their bio. 
• Keynote and Featured Presentations facilitators will be provided with the introduction.
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If for any reason you are unable to facilitate a session, APTR must be informed immediately up to the time of your assigned presentation. Please email APTR at [email protected] as soon as possible. “No Shows” are strictly monitored and may not be allowed to present at future meetings.

​At the Conference

• Arrive at the room 10 minutes prior to the beginning of the session.
• Introduce yourself to the presenters and the presenters to each other. Verify or obtain presenters' titles and pronunciation of their names.
• Give a brief introduction of your speakers. Introductions include name, institution. Be sure you can pronounce the name correctly.
• As the Facilitator, it is your responsibility to keep the presentation moving. If there are any technical difficulties, consider reordering the presenters. Do not keep the audience waiting while people work on technical problems. If the problem is corrected in a timely manner, reorganize the presentations as you deem appropriate.
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Q & A 

• During the question and answer period, repeat the questions asked from the audience, if needed. There should be time for one or two questions at the end of each talk. Alert the audience to this at the beginning of the session. If there is extra time at the end of the session, ask for additional questions for any of the presenters. Having a session end a little early is acceptable.
• Panel and Seminar sessions: Prepare a couple of your own questions in case there are few from the audience. First, ask the audience for questions. Use your own questions as you choose. Later, you might ask the panelists if they have questions they would like to ask each other or the audience.
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Time Limits and Closing

• Monitor the time and ensure that session starts on time. To enforce time limits, show the presenter the sheet of paper with "five minutes" printed on it; follow this up with the two-minute warning.

• Close the session on time. Thank the speakers and lead a round of applause for them. Remind audience to complete session evaluations in the meeting app.
• It is important to clear the podium, stage, and surrounding area immediately following any session as the next set of speakers will be organizing their presentations.