Professionally Speaking...

10 Tips for Moderating a Panel

Most of you would likely say that speaking on a panel is more difficult and requires more preparation than moderating one. And I'd say you're incorrect.

The role of the moderator is critical to the success of the panel, success being defined as how much value both the audience and the panelists derive from the experience. Contrary to what some may think, the moderator doesn't just keep time or make sure that everyone gets an equal say.

Here are 10 tips that will help moderators ensure that their audience stays engaged with the dialogue and their panelists stay on track.

1. Act as the Audience's Advocate   As moderator, you need to be consistently monitoring the audience to read their reactions and determine if you need to make any modifications to the order of questions, length of remarks or anything about the physical space. Too often, the moderator is focused on the panelists, what they're saying and who's hogging the mic. But according to Jeremiah Owyang, in his blog post, How To Successfully Moderate a Conference Panel, a moderator should serve the audience, not the panelists.

2. Hold a Pre-Event Briefing   When I say pre-event, I don't mean an hour before the panel is to start. A couple of weeks before the panel presentation, the moderator should meet with the panelists (conference call is fine, although face-to-face is better, if feasible), review the objectives of the presentation, the general framework and share an overview of the questions and tips for being a successful panelist.

Depending on the moderator's subject matter expertise and the panel organizer's style, the moderator may develop the questions or be given them. The goal of the briefing is to get everyone comfortable enough with the topic area and each others' contributions that the presentation appears smooth and seamless. Specific guidelines for example, strict adherence to time frames, no self promotion) should be covered.

3. Make Short, Interesting Introductions   The audience really doesn't want to sit through long, boring introductions filled with presenter accomplishments, degrees and awards. Instead, make the intros short (about 30 seconds each), briefly establish why each panelist is qualified to be there and include some details about what contribution she's going to make to the audience or why he's passionate about the topic.

4. Set the Stage Up Front   At the outset, let the audience know what is (and perhaps isn't) going to be covered, how the panelists will make the topic relevant for the audience, any general guidelines about timing (e.g., each panelist will make a 10 minute presentation and then we will take questions) or format (e.g., this presentation is being taped so you will be able to access a recording on the website tomorrow). Be sure to let the audience know any other relevant information or restrictions such as ~ when and where to direct questions; handout availability; any scheduled breaks.

5. Manage the Timing and Balance   One of the biggest complaints about panels is that speakers sometimes ramble on unstopped. The moderator orchestrates the energy of the dialogue by knowing when to politely interrupt a verbose panelist or when to ask a follow up question on a hot topic. The moderator should also facilitate reasonably even "air time" for each panelist. Know when to ask a different panelist to answer a question or address another aspect of the topic.  

6. Be Prepared and Be Flexible   Know generally what the panelists are going to say and prepare some follow up questions or comments that you can interject to keep the discussion moving and engaging. Be cautious not to play panel ping pong, where you ask a follow up question after each panelist's answer, making it look all too scripted and structured.

Be well enough prepared that, if the audience ventures into an unplanned aspect of the topic, you can be comfortable pursuing it as long as you believe it will further the overall objective

7. Don't Answer Questions Directed at Panelists   Check your ego at the door. As the moderator, your job is to facilitate dialogue between the audience and the panelists, synthesize ideas or comments for the audience and keep the flow going smoothly. This is a far greater contribution than showing off your subject matter expertise.

8. Be Aware of Your Body Language   Even though you may not be speaking as much as the panelists, you're just as much on show. As in any presentation, be aware of any distracting habits you may have. Don't check your iPhone, shuffle papers, chat with the person next to you or gaze off into space. Be involved and actively listening.

9. Develop a Strategy for Questions   Questions can enrich a presentation or derail it. Decide ahead of time, with the panelists, how you will manage questions. Are you going to take them from the floor throughout the presentation or are you going to have a dedicated Q&A session? 

Here are some options you can use to manage questions: have participants write out their questions and have a coordinator collect them; ask questioner to direct his question to a specific panelist so that every panelist doesn't have to weigh in if they don't have anything relevant to add; don't keep calling on the same person(s) in the audience; have some contingency questions prepared for the panel in case no one in the audience asks any. However you get the questions, be sure to repeat them so everyone in the audience can hear.

10.Look at Audience, Not Panelists   Refer back to #1. You should spend most of your time observing the audience and directing your comments to them. When asking a panelist a question, look at that person while you are speaking and then look back at the audience.

Being a good moderator is a tougher and more important job than you may think. No matter how brilliant the individual panelists, it is the moderator who blends their content with the audience's needs to produce the perfect outcome.

What other tips or best practices do you have to share...either from the perspective of being in the audience or being a moderator?

Other resources on the topic of panels:

10 Tips for Speaking on a Panel
How to be a Great Moderator
10 Rules for Being a Great Panel Moderator
Ten Rules for Being a Good Conference Panelist

10 Tips for Speaking on a Panel

I recently attended my local ASTD chapter meeting (www.dcastd.org) where a panel of CLOs talked about the role of global learning in tough economic times. I'm not usually a fan of panels, because they frequently appear disorganized with speakers rambling, cutting each other off and running out of time. But this panel was refreshingly different and very effective. 

What made it so good? The moderator played a huge role and I'll cover tips for moderating a panel in the next post. But the speakers did some things very right. Here are the tips I uncovered:

1.  Stand in Your Audience's Shoes   Figure out what they need or want to know. Figure out what they may be able to use. Then give it to them. Run all your comments through the filter of what's useful to the audience rather than what may make you look good or what YOU want to talk about.

2. Be Prepared   Just because you are sharing the limelight with other people, don't think this means you don't have to be rigorous in your preparation. Determine the 3 or 4 key messages that will be relevant to your audience and organize succinct, clear content around them. This is the key to being brief and pithy vs. rambling.

3. Use Stories   Examples and stories are the absolute best way to help your audience remember what you say and see the applicability for their circumstances. Be sure to practice your stories so they are crisp and support the point(s) you are making.

4. Anticipate Questions   Part of your prep must be to think about what questions your audience may have about your topic. Plan to cover off the most likely questions in your remarks --  and -- have answers and resources ready for other probable topics your audience will bring up.

5. Don't Use Slides   A panel is more like a dialogue or conversation among the panelists and the audience than it is a series of stand-alone presentations. Unless PowerPoint is critical to demonstrate a concept -- in which case you would probably be using a graph, chart or image -- ditch the slides in favor of connection and eye contact with the audience.

6. Interact with the Other Panelists   If this is a dialogue, then each panelist should be interacting with the other panelists as well as with the audience. When you are speaking, reference or link to something one of the other panelists said to emphasize or contrast your point. This helps synthesize the information for the audience and makes the panel discussion seem like an integrated whole.

7. Be Respectful   Don't cut off other panelists or the moderator. Don't interrupt in the middle of another panelist's remarks. Don't hog the spotlight. The best possible experience for the audience is for all the panelists to make a contribution to the discussion without any one of them standing out at the expense of another.

8. Don't Answer Every Question   You may indeed have an answer for every question that gets asked. That doesn't mean you have to offer them all. Be conscious of the balance on the panel. Don't feel compelled to constantly add your two cents after another panelist has given a perfectly fine answer. Re-read #7.

9. Be Conscious of How You Look When You're Not Speaking   If you're fidgeting, shuffling papers, checking your BlackBerry or gazing off into space, you're not being respectful to the other panelists and the audience will absolutely notice and interpret.

10.Provide Your Bio   If you provide your bio or an intro for the moderator, you will be assured of being introduced properly. Brevity is key. Think of the last time you sat in the audience and suffered through long-winded introductions, peppered with degrees and awards. Construct your intro so that it offers something interesting and relevant to the audience.

What other tips or best practices do you have to share...either from the perspective of being in the audience or being a panelist?

Tips From the Acting Stage, Episode #3

If you've ever attended live theatre, you know how riveting the experience can be, to the point where you feel you are right in the middle of the action on stage, aligned with the characters, experiencing their emotions. Have you ever wondered how the actors create such an engaging experience?

And if you could figure it out, wouldn't you want to duplicate that engagement the next time you're on the business stage?

Pshaw, you say, that's entertainment [well, perhaps you wouldn't say pshaw]. What does that have to do with a business person standing in front of a business audience, armed with bushels of PowerPoint slides?

Plenty, I say. There are three key lessons we can adapt from the acting stage.

LESSON #1

By the time stage actors get in front of their audience, they are well rehearsed and well prepared. They know their lines. They know where to pause for a laugh, for a tear or to let a point sink in. They don't stumble over their words. They don't forget what they wanted to say. They don't speak too fast or too slowly, because they have practiced their lines until they get just the right tone and pace.

I am certainly not advocating that, as business presenters, you memorize a script, word for word. But I am saying that if you practice your presentation enough times to become very familiar with your content and how you want to say it, you can come across as polished and intentional as an actor delivering lines. Once you know your content backward and forward, it frees you up to focus on fine tuning: for example, where is it best to pause to let the audience absorb what you've just said or where should you speak very distinctly to give added emphasis to a significant point.

LESSON #2

In a play there is a story line. There is a beginning where the overall premise is set forth, characters are introduced and some conflict is presented. There is a middle where action takes place, the story is advanced and potential solutions to the conflict are considered. And there is an end where the characters resolve (or don't) the conflict they've been grappling with.

A business presentation benefits from a story line as well. You should structure a beginning, a middle and an end, each section distinct yet integrated with the rest. Add a dollop of conflict to engage the listeners. 

Now I'm not suggesting that you insult someone or pick an argument to create conflict. In theatre, conflict is a technique where problems and obstacles are introduced into the action for characters to confront. Makes for a good story, because without conflict, nothing would happen. So in the business presentation, introduce conflict by describing the existing problems that the new system (or process or product) will overcome. Or talk about the skepticism and apprehension that everyone is feeling about the reorganization.

LESSON #3

Stage actors clearly know what emotion they want to evoke in the audience with each section of the play. Word choice, vocal tone, body language and physical movement are the tools they use.

As business presenters, we often don't think about what emotion we want our presentation to elicit from our audience. But having a vision of where you want the audience to empathize, where you want them to be outraged, where you want them to be enthusiastic, where you want them to be proud helps you choose the most effective combination of tools to accomplish that.

Emotions play a key role in comprehension, so proactively engage your audience's hearts as well as their minds to make your message even more powerful.

What other techniques can we learn and apply from the acting stage?

Tips From the Acting Stage, Episode #2 

Tips From the Acting Stage, Episode #1

What Can Your Audience Absorb?

When we prepare a presentation, in our enthusiasm for and expertise in our topic, we often disregard our audience's capacity to absorb information. We operate from a "more is better" mentality, reluctant to leave out any detail that somehow, possibly, maybe could be relevant.

The result, however, is far different than what we intend. Instead of dazzling our audiences with our knowledge and depth of understanding, and motivating them to buy into our message, too frequently we create audience confusion and overload.

WHAT AFFECTS AUDIENCE ABSORPTION?

Certainly the sheer volume of information included in a presentation has a big impact. As you prepare your presentation, ask yourself, "What is my critical message?" "What is the one thing I want people to remember once they leave the presentation?" If you filter all your data and information through those questions, you will become clearer on what content is critical and what is just nice to know and could be provided in handouts or as a follow up after the presentation.

Other variables that affect audience absorption are:

• Rate of Speech. If you speak too slowly, listeners may get bored and take mind vacations. If you speak too quickly, particularly if your material is involved, listeners may not be able to follow. Audio record your presentation when you rehearse and see what the pace sounds like when you play it back. Since it is sometimes difficult for us to be objective about our own voice, ask a colleague to listen.

• Complexity of Information. The more complex your data, the more challenging it will be for your audience to absorb it. In your preparation, research what your audience already knows about your topic to help you determine the appropriate level of complexity to present. Be sensitive to non-verbal clues from the audience (frowns, confused looks) and be ready to re-explain a point or give an example to enhance understanding.

• Language Choice. Choose words that make it easy for the audience to grasp your information and remember it. Stay away from jargon unless it is well understood by the audience. Use descriptive, colorful words. Speak at a vocabulary level that is appropriate for your audience. If the audience has to invest a lot of energy in deciphering what you're trying to say, they will have less to invest in comprehending your meaning.

• Organization of Material. Even the most complex information is easier to absorb when it is presented in a logical, organized fashion. Create an outline of your presentation when you are initially designing it because an outline more clearly shows flow and progression. Chunk your material so that it falls into logical modules. Use transition statements between modules to help the audience move into a new section. Summarize frequently.

3 KEY TECHNIQUES TO HELP AUDIENCES ABSORB

These techniques can make the difference between an audience internalizing your information and being able to recall it or not being able to remember what you said five minutes after they leave the presentation.

• Pictures and Graphs on Slides. The more you can use relevant and engaging images or charts on your slides, the more you enhance the audience's ability to absorb your message. Slide after slide of wordy bullet points not only becomes boring, it makes it more difficult for the audience to pay attention, as they are splitting their focus between listening to what you're saying and reading what's up on the slide. Images can aid understanding and memory yet not distract, like printed words do, from the speaker's verbal delivery.

• Stories. Stories are an exceptionally powerful tool to help an audience retain key points because they are filled with human interest...characters, scenarios, tension and resolution. Craft stories that strongly support your key message and then practice them numerous times until you have the timing and intonation perfect.

• Examples. Closely related to stories in terms of impact, examples can help the audience understand relevance and application. When you are preparing your presentation, develop numerous examples that will resonate with this particular audience, perhaps using people or work situations that are familiar to them.

What other techniques have you used to help your audiences absorb your message?