How to Moderate a Meaningful Panel Discussion
Panel discussions are a staple at many events, but are they good? Well, that depends. There are some captivating and meaningful discussions, and then there are those that are not so great. Perhaps the best question is, what can we do to design a captivating and meaningful panel discussion?
The 2024 Panels Report offered some direction. Out of “Ten characteristics of a great, relevant panel discussion.” One of the top was “Audience participation/engagement/interactivity.”
Music to my ears! Also, we don’t usually see much "Audience participation/engagement/interactivity” in panel discussions because a few audience questions are typically allowed at the end. What can we do to engage panel audiences more effectively?
#1 Start Early
My colleague Mark Collard, founder of Playmeo and master facilitator, recommends an unofficial start for most events. Unofficial starts can be formal, as in planned activities for large groups, or informal, such as the personable chit-chat that can occur before the meeting. It’s about using the 3-5 minutes before the official start of the event to start engaging the audience. In the context of panels, we could put a question on the screen for people to react to. Or the panelists and moderator could roam the audience and connect with people.
#2 Start Fast
Audience members can tune out during long and tedious introductions, and they can read the panelists’ and moderator’s bios in the program. Skip the long intros and go with a sentence or two for each person to make the introductions less than a minute. The objective is to establish credibility and interest from the outset. Something like, “Anne Halliday, CEO of the American Universities Association, experimented with engagement and got some surprising results.”
#3 Go Where the Audience Wants You to Go
Let’s say you’re hosting a panel on member engagement (this is my favorite topic, and this is also my hypothetical scenario, so engagement it is😉). Engagement is the overarching umbrella over many subtopics. Subtopics could include onboarding or priming participants, as well as engaging volunteers. Find out which subtopic this specific audience wants to dive into by asking them. Mentimeter is a great way to run a live poll where the audience can see the votes change as they come in. A tech-free option is to assign subtopic numbers and have people hold up the number of fingers to vote (it‘s less precise, but it works).
#4 Listen to the Murmers
When the audience murmurs, they are bursting to discuss or find out more about what was just said. The moderator can pick up on that cue and ask the audience, “Do you want to hear more about [what we just talked about?] Someone may call out a specific question or through Mentimeter or another like platform, you can let them ask questions, even upvote and sort all the questions so you can ask the question on the top of everyone’s minds.
#5 Open to Questions All the Time
Don’t hold the questions until the end. Prioritize great audience questions over your own pre-prepared questions. The moderator’s job is to position the panelists in the very best way and give a voice to the audience so they get the most out of the experience.
