Powerful Panels

I had the good fortune to interview Kate Delaney about her role as moderator of NSA's Influence '16 amazing panel discussion “Creating and Curating Relevant and Valuable Content” with panelists Patti Dennis, Amy Cosper, Rachel Weintraub, and Heath Row. 

This podcast is a 55 minute interview with Kate Delaney on how she prepared and facilitated such a great panel!

Your audience can get really annoyed when the moderator doesn’t manage time well during a panel discussion. All it takes is for the moderator to take a smidge more time with opening remarks, the panelists introductions and/or presentations to go on a little longer, or the panelists to take forever to answer a question, before the panel runs out of time to get to the audience’s questions. Try these ten tips to manage the time effectively during a panel discussion: 1. Start on time and end on time. Seems simple to do, but not so easy. Make every effort to start on time and always end on time, especially if there are subsequent sessions on the program. Try keeping a clock visible so everyone can see the time! 2. Create a detailed working agenda that includes timeframes around the opening remarks, introductions, presentations, moderator-curated questions, audience Q&A and closing remarks. Be realistic in your expectations – and write them down. 3. Alert the panelists to the panel format, agenda and ground rules during the preparation phase. Encourage them to be concise in their comments and to limit their comments to no more than one to two minutes. They probably won’t remember what you have said, so follow up with an email to confirm the details. 4. Remind the panelists of the timeframes and ground rules right before the session. As you “meet up” with the panelists, a few quick reminders are great prevention strategies. I also like to hand out a card with the agenda and timeframes. 5. Review the agenda/process and ground rules at the beginning of the session. When everybody knows the game plan, people tend to stay focused and on track. 6. Follow the detailed agenda. 7. Review the time limits to speak before the panelist answers the question – especially with those who can tend to babble on. 8. Congratulate and affirm a panelist who keeps to the time limit when answering a question. 9. Intervene firmly and gracefully when a panelist or audience member exceeds the time limit. 10. Acknowledge to the panelists and audience when you are running behind. When everyone knows that you are cognizant and watching the clock, they will breathe easier and let you take responsibility for catching up…and ending on time.

My dear meeting professional. One of the main reasons your panels are boring is that YOU have not set your panel up for success. Sure, you identified a slot of time, selected a topic and wrestled up a moderator and some panelists. You consider your job to be done. At this point, your job is HALF done. You still have some fundamental groundwork to cover with your panel moderator who will bring your vision to reality. Meet with your panel moderator (either face-to-face or virtually) and have a chit-chat about what the panel could be.

Popular television shows are great venues to look for ways to spice up your next panel program. It can be something as simple as riffing an idea from a game show (see my post on The Newlywed Game), mimicking a well known talk show or doing a takeoff on a news commentary. So how do you take a lesson from TV and add a little pizzazz into your panel program? Step One. Identify a program that you think your audience will identify with AND has the right blend of interaction. Step 2. Brainstorm all the different elements of the program: the format, the staging, the guests, the conversational style, the interactions with the guests and audience. Step 3. Brainstorm all the potential ways you could infuse that same kind of look and feel into the program. Step 4. Now go through your list from Step 3 and see if any might have some real-world potential. Step 5. Think of a clever title that includes part of the show’s name, but also the title of the organization, the topic, the meeting theme or other significant words. Step 6. Have fun putting this together! Not only will you have fun, but the audience will too!

Professional Panel Moderator Kristin Arnold shares her ideas on how to move beyond "the usual suspects" and attract high quality panelists for your next panel discussion.

In this podcast, Professional Panel Moderator Kristin Arnold shares the three ways you can elicit questions from the audience as well as three distinct strategies to use: Live, Screened or Crowdsourced questions.

Welcome to the fifth video in the 7-part video e-course on Powerful Panels: How to Moderate a Lively and Informative Panel Discussion with professional panel moderator Kristin Arnold. This fifth video focuses on the third step of the five-step process: Prepare to Moderate the Panel. The difference between a mediocre panel and an amazing panel discussion is in the preparation. The adage, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" is distinctly true when it comes to panel discussions. You will need to: Research your topic, panelists & audience Create the panel format, agenda and ground rules Write the welcome and introductions Curate the questions Decide the Q&A format Determine the logistics Confirm details with the panelists Assemble the slideshow Spread the word For more information on how to moderate a lively and informative panel discussion, go to www.PowerfulPanels.com