Tips for Moderating a Panel

At various events and conferences, a panel of experts is often invited to share their thoughts with a group. This can be a great opportunity for people from a variety of backgrounds to share their stories and answer questions. Since the panel often includes people with different sets of expertise from varying companies, it’s important to have a moderator that can facilitate the discussion. As a moderator, it can be helpful to think through the following before your next panel event:

1. Prepare before the event

Many hurdles and awkward moments can be avoided when proper planning is put in place ahead of time. That’s why it might be useful to:

• Give an outline to the speakers ahead of time so they know their speaking order, what questions to prepare for, and how the event will run.
• Let the speakers know what advice or tips the audience would be interested in. Or, feel free to let the audience write in questions ahead of time to help guide the discussion.

• If you know there are a few speakers who might ramble or talk too much, don’t have them start the discussion. Instead, let the most concise person begin so they set the pattern of how long the answers should be.
  
  
  

2. Plan the opening

The opening of an event is critical since it sets the tone for the entire discussion. In order for it to run smoothly it’s good to think about:

• The opening moment. Figure out what you want to say about the importance of the event and why the panel is here.
• Decide if you want to introduce the panel or if you think they should introduce themselves. If they introduce themselves, be sure to give them guidance on what information to share in that opening moment.
• Make sure everyone has a chance to speak early, so the event doesn’t go too long with one person dominating the narrative.

3. Facilitate the Discussion

Facilitating engaging discussions is an art and there are a few things to consider for each individual event.

• What opening question/s would be good to get the discussion going? I recommend having the facilitator ask each person the same question, or tailor one question to each speaker so that everyone can speak at the start.
• Decide if and when to open up questions to the room. If no one has a question right away, in order to give people time to think you could say, “While everyone is thinking…” and then ask another question.
• Always have back up questions in case the audience is too shy to ask anything. You want to keep the discussion going.
• If you notice one speaker is dominating the narrative, direct a question to a speaker that hasn’t spoken up in a bit.

4. End on a Positive Note

It’s important to make sure the event ends in a good way. That’s why it can be helpful to be aware of a few key pitfalls including:

• Don’t try to squeeze in one last question if there are only a couple of minutes left. If the last question was answered well and it would be a good note to end on — end it. You never know if the next question asked might be a negative one and it’s better to end on a positive note if possible.
• If you’re running over time, have a phrase to use to wrap everything up. Sometimes saying, “It's great to have so much interest in this topic. Since there’s a lot more we could cover, I encourage everyone to continue chatting and brainstorming during the breaks and lunch. I want to also take a moment to thank our speakers. Let’s give them a round of applause!”.
• If the last question was a bit complex or negative, instead of ending right away, I recommend adding in a positive recap of things shared. For example, “I really appreciate everyone coming in today. I know I’ll be thinking about X and ways to apply it after this. Thank you all!”
  
  

Moderating a panel is an honor. In order to make the most out of the opportunity, try keeping these ideas in mind before your next event.

Author: Bri McWhorter, MFA
© Activate to Captivate, LLC