Advice for Moderators
Creating an Inclusive Experience
IMC 2025 will be a hybrid event. This allows delegates who would otherwise be unable to access the Congress to participate virtually in sessions, as well as providing session recordings for all registered delegates to view until 20 September 2025.
Speakers and moderators are expected to facilitate delivery of hybrid sessions. At the start of each paper, you must check that slides are shared through Zoom and that both virtual and in-person delegates can hear and see the presenter.
We recommend that you encourage your speakers to go through the Speaker's Checklist prior to presenting: Are my slides shared to Zoom? Can I be heard by the virtual audience? Is my face visible on camera?
Contacting Speakers
We strongly recommend that moderators contact all the speakers in their session before the IMC to familiarise themselves with each speaker’s paper and research.
Please ensure that speakers are reminded of the following:
- The audience is likely to include delegates whose native language is not the language of delivery in the session; speakers should therefore speak slowly and clearly to accommodate all audience members.
- Papers should last no more than 20 minutes (15 minutes in a 4-paper session).
- All sessions will benefit from automatic closed captioning, which can be activated by anyone in the session from the ‘CC’ button on the main Zoom taskbar.
- Unless we have received a specific request from a speaker/moderator not to record a particular session, all sessions will be automatically recorded and made available to registered delegates only via the virtual event platform until 20 September 2025. Recordings are automatically edited to start when the session starts, none of the set up will be recorded.
- Speakers should expect delegates to post online about their papers unless they expressly state that they do not want to be posted about. Please ask your speakers how they feel about live posting on social media and communicate this to the audience at the start of the session. Where the speakers do not object to live posting, please encourage the use of #IMC2025 and the hashtag for your session, which is #s followed by the session number, e.g. #s9999.
Speakers should familiarise themselves with the full Guidance for Speakers available on our website.
Duties of All Moderators
You have not already, please read the Session Room Set Up page carefully.
The main duties of a session moderator are to:
Facilitate Accessibility
- Ensure that the session is accessible for virtual and in-person delegates.
- Familiarise yourself with using Zoom (e.g. raising hands, enabling and disabling attendee microphones/cameras) in order to ensure both in-person and remote speakers’ presentations run smoothly.
- Inform the audience whether the speakers are happy for the audience to discuss their paper on social media.
- Ensure background noise and disturbances are minimised during speakers’ presentations, both virtually and in-person.
- Alert your Session Room Organiser if you become aware of any harassing, bullying, or otherwise inappropriate behaviour whether in the room, the virtual room, or via the chat function.
Keep to Time
- Make sure each speaker finishes their paper on time and be assertive on this issue if necessary. Papers should last no more than 20 minutes (15 minutes in a 4-paper session).
- Make sure the session starts and finishes on time.
Support Speakers
- Introduce each speaker, being aware there may be non-specialists in the audience.
- Initiate and moderate questions and discussion after the papers, ensuring all speakers and audience members adhere to our Policy on Dignity and Mutual Respect.
- Ask questions if they are not forthcoming from the audience.
- Repeat in-room questions to ensure they are audible for virtual attendees or ask delegates to come to the microphone to ask their question.
- Monitor the chat and repeat questions sent in the chat to the in-room audience or invite virtual delegates to turn on their microphone/ camera to speak, dependent on facilities and preferences.
- Complete our feedback form, which will be given to you as the session ends.
Wholly Virtual Moderation
If you are moderating a wholly virtual session and are participating virtually yourself, ensure that you download the ‘Zoom Client for Meetings’ here: https://zoom.us/download. It will not be possible to join sessions without access to Zoom so make sure you have it installed before the IMC begins!
If you have not yet received your login credentials for IMC 2025 by 30 June prior to the IMC, please let us know as soon as possible by emailing imc@leeds.ac.uk.