Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Scientific conference shares our advice on moderating panels

Starting early on improving your panel moderation is a great way for conferences to achieve a better level of consistency and excellence in your panels. How early? One scientific conference is starting out a year in advance.

For its 2017 annual conference, slated for Boston next February, the American Association for the Advancement of Science has sent panel moderators guidance for moderating scientific sessions at the meeting. The guidance document includes tips from The Eloquent Woman's Guide to Moderating Panels, as well as veteran moderators Guy Kawasaki and Jeremiah Owyang.

The guidance is a one-page guide with tips on:
  • the moderator's role, 
  • managing time, 
  • encouraging dynamic discussions, and 
  • managing questions. 
Want to get a head start with your panel moderators? Buy my ebook--many conferences take one for every moderator--and take a look at the AAAS guidance, available here in PDF form.

(Creative Commons licensed photo by NASA HQ)

Need more coaching on how to be a better panel moderator? Order the new ebook The Eloquent Woman's Guide to Moderating Panels. At just $3.99 and available in many formats, it's a great back-pocket coach to take on stage with you in your smartphone or tablet. Find more tips on public speaking on The Eloquent Woman blog.

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

What should seasoned panel moderators do to refresh and adjust?

If you're a seasoned moderator--one who knows the ropes so well she could moderate a panel in her sleep--it may be time for an adjustment to your moderating approach, both for your sake and the sake of the audience. Sleepwalking your way through a panel is a sure signal of disengagement, and the audience is going to follow your cue. So what do you need to do to refresh? Here are a few ideas:
  1. Shake up the order: Sometimes, shaking up the flow of a panel can help shake up your routine, too. Why not try a new order of event for your panel? Take 3 to 5 minutes of audience questions first (a great tactic if the topic is controversial), then have focused panelist presentations, then more questions. Or, make sure you ask a question of each panelist after her presentation, or that you lead or finish the Q&A with your own questions. There are lots of moving parts to panels. Take them apart and reorganize to try something new--just make sure your panelists know what to expect.
  2. Put yourself in a new position: If you've always moderated from behind the lectern and on the stage, try moving yourself to make your moderating experience fresh. Work from the audience, stand if you usually sit or vice versa, or move from one spot to another. Plan your moves, however, to be sure you are not distracting either the audience or the panel.
  3. Try tactics you haven't tried before: If you've never moderated to a theme, or tried a more creative line of questioning, try out one--or several, over the course of several panels. Giving yourself creative goals within your panel moderation task not only keeps it fresh, but expands the range of what you can do and offer next time.
  4. Set tighter limits...on yourself: If you don't try to work within time limits, set some for yourself for your next moderation gig--either for your open and close, or for the panel overall. Watching the clock adds an element of discomfort, but also helps you practice precision for the next time you really need it.
You'll find lots of options for refreshing your moderation skills in The Eloquent Woman's Guide to Moderating Panels. Check out our suggestions for panel themes, creative lines of questioning, how to get speakers to stop talking, and more.

(Creative Commons licensed photo by UNU WIDER)

Need more coaching on how to be a better panel moderator? Order the new ebook The Eloquent Woman's Guide to Moderating Panels. At just $3.99 and available in many formats, it's a great back-pocket coach to take on stage with you in your smartphone or tablet, suitable for new or seasoned moderators. Find more tips on public speaking on The Eloquent Woman blog.

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

3 things moderators wish conference organizers knew about better panels

Conference organizers may take moderators for granted. But moderators wish organizers understood the impact that organization has on whether panels are a success or a failure. Here are three items on the moderators' wish list for savvy organizers:
  1. Panels go overtime with more than 3 speakers: Organizers should stop handing out panelist slots as rewards. You can help moderators by not packing panels. Limit your speakers per panel to just 3 to help the moderator have a chance of on-time delivery of a great panel, or back your moderator up if they set this limit.
  2. Getting all moderators on the same page will boost conference quality. Having a consistent standard for moderation means your paying attendees will have a more consistent experience--and you'll get better ratings and reviews. We've made it easy for you with a guide for moderators that's so affordable, you can get one for each moderator. It's an investment that will pay off handsomely. Join the many organizers who order multiple copies!
  3. If you're having trouble finding moderators, you may be the reason: Last-minute changes, too many speakers per panel, lousy gender balance, and more issues--many of which rest with the organizer--are reasons moderators say "no" when invited to this key speaking gig.
(Creative Commons licensed photo by Columbia GSAPP)

Need more coaching on how to be a better panel moderator? Order the new ebook The Eloquent Woman's Guide to Moderating Panels. At just $3.99 and available in many formats, it's a great back-pocket coach to take on stage with you in your smartphone or tablet. Find more tips on public speaking on The Eloquent Woman blog.

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

Presidential debate moderators talk about their prep: 5 lessons for your panel

In this New York Times article about last week's Republican presidential candidate debate, the trio of moderators from Fox News, which hosted, shared insights about how they prepare and strategize for the proceedings. And even though the next panel you moderate likely won't have that kind of pointed focus and national stage, there are still a few tips panel moderators can glean and use:
  1. Know how your questions rank from 1 to 10 in impact, and when you will deploy them. Megyn Kelly describes her question about Trump's treatment of women as a "10," and says, “One of the reasons the first debate was so dynamic was because we opened up with a 10 for each candidate." The tactic--which she describes as going after each candidates Achilles' heel--was an up-front way to get them to answer a tough question, personalized for each speaker.
  2. Consider the point in time in which the panel takes place. Now that the debaters are better known and have said more on the record, the first question's unlikely to be a "10," Kelly says--but that doesn't mean they're off the table. Do consider what's going on in the week your panel is presented, and what's been happening to the audience, before you decide which questions go where.
  3. It's not your job to stop a debate between panelists.  Fellow moderator Chris Wallace makes the case for letting panelists mix it up and argue amongst themselves: "I’m a fight fan, and when you watch a referee in a match, even if the fighters are tangled up, if they’ve each got a free arm and are still punching, the ref will let them keep fighting...It’s only when they get completely tangled up that he makes them break the clinch and start again. That’s my feeling about it.”
  4. Think ahead about how panelists may evade your questions and how you'll come back.  Bret Baier, last week's third moderator, notes that prep includes plans for follow-up. From the article: "Before the debate, they aggressively pick apart each proposed question, pointing out potential 'dismounts,' as Mr. Baier calls them, or ways a candidate could evade the question, and highlighting weaknesses by thinking with the same blunt, pointed and assertive nature as a candidate."
  5. Practice and prep. There's no question these reporter-moderators prepare, not just with the questions they plan to ask, but also learning in-depth facts about the topics to be covered, and strategizing about which ways the discussion might go. Do you do the same for your panels?
Want to read more about U.S. political debates, what it takes to moderate them, and everything from the moderator's viewpoint? Take a look at Jim Lehrer's book Tension City: Inside the Presidential Debates. He's a veteran moderator of no less than 11 presidential debates, with plenty of insight to share.

(Creative Commons licensed photo by Paul Dietzl II)

Need more coaching on how to be a better panel moderator? Order the new ebook The Eloquent Woman's Guide to Moderating Panels. At just $3.99 and available in many formats, it's a great back-pocket coach to take on stage with you in your smartphone or tablet. Find more tips on public speaking on The Eloquent Woman blog.

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

When moderating panels, embrace your inner housekeeper

When it comes to minding the clock, too many panel moderators punt. In the same vein as the popular book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing, they want to keep in the moderator's duties only the things that bring them joy--like showing off their own expert knowledge or asking provocative questions. But when it comes to the so-called "housekeeping" duties, you need to do more than tidying up with joy, moderators. You need to dig in and hold your panel to its time, content, and other limits, embracing your inner housekeeper.

I know that doesn't sound glamorous. But it will bring you plenty of joy--from your audience, often the participants most ignored in panel discussions. This slideshow on the 5 most disastrous Comic-Con panels in recent memory sums up this feeling in a way that should convince you that your audience is paying attention to those housekeeping details:
Most reports on comic conventions have a “having a wonderful time, wish you were here” feeling to them. They focus on the good. But we’ve seen plenty of the bad: self-indulgent bloviating by movie stars or comics writers or artists who just aren’t as important as they think. Some discussion panels have taken twenty minutes just to introduce all their participants and another ten minutes to clear out between talks, leaving only thirty minutes out of the hour to do what they allegedly came there to do.
Moderators exist to keep the panelists on time and on topic. In addition to paying attention to how much time is left, this may mean managing panelists' expectations ahead of time, or interrupting them in progress.

I once arrived early to a moderating session to learn that one panelist had insisted on bringing and showing video. This was not an option offered to the other panelists, and the venue's limitations meant that a projection screen could be used only if it were lowered in front of the panel, blocking any view of them. Really, I'm not making that up. Invoking my moderator status, I said the screen and projector should be whisked away. "But what if he objects?" the organizer said. "Tell him to talk to me," I said. With three panelists and a tight schedule, I knew a video would take away time for audience questions. Getting the equipment out of the way before his arrival helped--seeing none, he never asked about it.

There are all sorts of moments when managing time and topic will arise as you moderate. I'm a firm believer in starting and ending on time, and not getting in the way of breaks and meals, as well as reconvening promptly after a break. After all, your audience typically has had the schedule in front of them for weeks, if not months, and has planned around it. Failing to enforce that schedule on the day seems unfair.

I recommend that you consider early on whether you are willing to handle those "housekeeping" duties, particularly the ones that will start and end the panel on time, enforce a generous amount of time for audience questions, and keep the panel in line with those goals. You can do much to make that happen during a panel, but it's smart to consider whether and how willing you are to enforce those targets before you accept a moderation gig. If you're not willing to play this important role, don't accept the invitation.

(Creative Commons licensed photo by Chris Campbell)

Need more coaching on how to be a better panel moderator? Order the new ebook The Eloquent Woman's Guide to Moderating Panels. At just $3.99 and available in many formats, it's a great back-pocket coach to take on stage with you in your smartphone or tablet. Find more tips on public speaking on The Eloquent Woman blog.