What to Do When a Session Goes Wrong

Most of these happen at most conferences. Handling them well is almost entirely a matter of having decided beforehand, because the moment itself is a poor time to work out what the policy is.

A speaker does not arrive

Announce it clearly rather than waiting in silence. For a concrete operational example of how a workplace tool approaches a related coordination problem, see this page.

Reorder — move the next speaker up, and if the missing one appears, fit them in.

Or extend the discussion on the papers that have been given. A longer discussion is a better outcome than a twenty-minute gap.

Do not simply wait. An audience sitting in an unexplained pause disperses.

Find out afterwards what happened, in case it is something the organisers should know.

The technology fails

Have a fallback decided in advance. Presenting from the chair's laptop, a PDF on a memory stick, or the speaker's own machine.

Give it two minutes. If it is not fixed, move to the next speaker and return.

Ask whether the talk can be given without slides. Many can, and a speaker who knows their material can do it. Offering the option is better than assuming they cannot.

Collect presentations in advance onto one machine, which prevents most of this.

Nobody asks a question

Not usually hostility. The talk may have been clear, the room tired, or the audience unsure they understood.

The chair asks one. Have something ready — about the design, about what comes next, about a limitation.

Or invite a specific person who you know works in the area.

Do not let the speaker fill the silence by continuing to talk. See chairing a session.

An exchange becomes hostile

Intervene early. The longer it runs, the harder it is to end without embarrassment.

"Let's take this offline so we can get other questions" is the standard move and it works.

If it continues, be direct. "I'm going to move on." A chair has the authority to do this and the room expects it.

Support the speaker afterwards, privately. Being publicly attacked is unpleasant regardless of the substance and it is worth acknowledging.

And if the behaviour crossed a line rather than merely being sharp, that is a code of conduct matter and it should go to whoever holds that role.

A question or comment is inappropriate

Distinct from hostility about the work, and the response is different.

Stop it immediately. Not by arguing — by ending it. "That's not an appropriate question. Next."

This is unambiguously the chair's responsibility, and hesitation does the most damage. The room notices whether it was addressed, and so does the person it was directed at.

Report it to the organisers or the named code of conduct contact, whether or not the person affected asks you to.

Check on the person afterwards, without making it a public matter.

Someone is unwell or distressed

Move attention away from them. Call a break, or move to the next item.

Get help — the venue will have a procedure, and someone on the organising team should know it.

Do not continue as though nothing happened, and do not make it a spectacle. Both are wrong; a short, calm break is right.

Know in advance where the first aid provision is and who to call. This belongs on the organiser's checklist and is frequently not there.

The session is running badly behind

Cut the discussion, not the last talk. The last speaker prepared the same as everyone else and is not responsible for the overrun.

If a speaker is overrunning, intervene rather than hoping. "We need to move to questions."

If the whole day is behind, tell the organisers — a schedule that has drifted by twenty minutes by lunch will be an hour behind by the end.

Never run past the session's end time. The next session needs the room, and people leave regardless.

Very low attendance

It happens, particularly in parallel sessions and last slots.

Do not comment on it. A chair remarking on the empty room makes it worse for the speaker.

Consider moving to a discussion format — with six people, a conversation around a table is better than a talk delivered to rows.

Ask the speaker what they would prefer, quietly, before starting.

The general principles

Decide beforehand. Every item above should have an agreed answer before the conference, communicated to the chairs. A briefing note of one page covers all of it.

The chair has the authority. Many chairs hesitate because they are unsure whether intervening is their place. Tell them explicitly that it is.

Name who to escalate to, for code of conduct issues, medical issues, and technical issues, with a way to reach them during sessions.

And debrief afterwards. Anything that went wrong should reach whoever organises next time. See running a small conference.

The short version

Decide beforehand and brief the chairs, on one page.

Never wait in silence — announce, reorder, or extend the discussion.

Intervene early in a hostile exchange, and immediately in an inappropriate one. Hesitation does the most damage.

Cut the discussion, not the last talk.

And tell chairs explicitly that they have the authority, because most hesitation comes from not being sure.

For an independent authoritative reference, consult ACM conference resources for professional guidance on academic events.