The election and its debates are well over, but moderation was a star--sometimes notorious, but still a star--in the 2016 presidential campaign. And while debates differ from panel discussions in many ways, they still offer panel moderators plenty of lessons. These posts share 15 key lessons you can use to improve your next moderation gig:
- 3 key lessons from Chris Wallace's debate moderation can be summed up this way: offer context, guide the conversation, and don't let the speakers evade direct questions.
- Panel moderators (and debate moderators) can fact-check on the fly--by asking the speakers to explain, confirm, or support their dubious statements for the audience.
- You'll need to interrupt speakers from time to time, but it pays to assess how often you do that to female versus male speakers, a practice that brought criticism to Matt Lauer's moderation of dueling interviews with the candidates.
- Voters had opinions on how much time debate moderators spent on topics, and so does your audience for panels--so this post includes 4 things you can do in advance to figure out what your audience wants.
- Preparation's important for any panel moderator. Here are 5 tips from the presidential debate moderators on how they get ready.
- Whether moderators should ask or avoid tough questions became an issue in the presidential debates, and this post considers how panel moderators handle that conundrum.
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.
