Speaking at conference
Your guide to how to speak at Liberal Democrat Conference.
Eligibility to speak and vote
All party members attending in person are entitled to speak and vote in conference debates, providing they are attending conference as a party member (and not for example an exhibitor or observer). People registered for the online-only option are entitled to vote at conference. Party members fulfilling these criteria are known as ‘voting members’.
Length of speeches
The length of speeches is shown against each motion in the Agenda.
There are three lights on the speaker’s rostrum and visible either side of the stage. The green light comes on at the beginning of the speech. The amber light comes on 60 seconds before the end of the allowed time (20 seconds before the end of an intervention). The red light comes on when all the time is used up, and the speaker must stop immediately.
Applying to speak
To make a speech in a debate you must:
- complete a speaker’s card, collected from and returned to the Speakers’ Table at the front of the auditorium, an auditorium steward or the Information Desk; or
- submit an electronic speaker’s card, from 18 September up to one hour before the start of the debate, online at: libdems.org.uk/speakers-card
Completing a speaker’s card
When completing a speaker’s card, remember:
- Submit your card well in advance.
The chair and aide team for the debate will meet well in advance to plan the debate – sometimes the previous day.
- Fill in your card completely.
Complete the back of the card as well as the front. These sections are needed for the chair and aide to balance the debate, so they can call people with relevant experience and avoid a string of people making the same point.
- Make sure it’s readable!
Don’t fill every square centimetre of the card and write legibly – the easier you make it for the chair and aide to read the card the more likely you will be called.
Interventions
To speak during interventions, voting members should complete an intervention form, collected from and returned to a steward in the auditorium. Speakers will be chosen by the chair of the session by random.