Our top 10 tips for panel moderators in 2016

One thing I'll say about the readers of the Moderating Panels blog: You go for the tough problems and the difficult conversations around panel moderation. How do I know? This year's most-read posts all tackle tough issues and suggest that moderators really want to get to the heart of the matter, eliminating problems so a better panel may emerge. I wish that for your moderation in 2016! Here are the posts you read the most this year:

1. 3 things moderators wish conference organizers knew about better panels, from why you can't find moderators to why the panels run overtime. Share with a conference organizer you love.
2. The moderator and the long-winded, off-topic question offers tips for managing the over-speaker in the audience--and the best cartoon we've seen on this topic.
3. The one muscle you need to exercise to be a better panel moderator requires some nerve (hence the exercise), but results in far better panel discussions. Will you try it?
4. Are you using women moderators to cover all-male panels? We see you. It's among the reasons we advise moderators to decline gigs. Everyone can see the window-dressing, so just stop doing it.
5. Moderator as juggler: Keynote, panel, audience--all at once shared a new and highly complex challenge for moderators. Look for more of this in 2017.
6. The case for a moderator-led panel (aka, no presentations) can radically take you from long-winded overtime panels to sessions with sparkling discussion.
7. What panel moderators can do to advance codes of conduct shared a reader's simple, but oft-overlooked, tactic to ensure a safe environment for all participants.
8. Presidential debate moderators talk about their prep: 5 lessons for your panel offered pro tips from moderators who took their lumps in this year's U.S. presidential debates.
9. Does the moderator need a script? Yes, in certain types of sessions. Check out what you need to consider before you decide.
10. Panel formats: Are you using an innovative format for your next panel? Organizers are eagerly seeking new formats. Here are some to help moderators come up to speed.

(Creative Commons licensed photo by Grant Hutchinson)

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.

When the moderator has to disagree with a speaker

Many moderators consider moderating a panel to be easy...right up until that moment when they have to consider disagreeing with a panelist in front of the audience. And I'm here to tell you: You won't get a lot of notice, and you'll need to think fast.

I'm not talking about those "maybe he didn't say that" moments, but the ones where it's clear to everyone, audience and moderator alike, that a particular speaker has just said something that needs to be publicly addressed. What do you do?

For inspiration, take a look at this post on The Eloquent Woman about a big moment during an interview with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella at a women's tech conference. Nadella had just suggested that women wanting a pay increase should trust in karma rather than ask for more. His interviewer or moderator, Maria Klawe, didn't lack for credibility in coming back at that answer. A Microsoft board member, she also is the dean of Harvey Mudd College, an engineering school. And the audience didn't fail to absorb what he said, and was reacting poorly to it.

Klawe started by disagreeing with Nadella, and then telling a personal story about her own missed opportunities in salary negotiation, ending by urging the audience not to trust in karma but to do research and negotiate. Post author Cate Huston shared three lessons, all of which work for panel moderators:

• Disagree with your interviewee! Klawe stepped in at the moment they were losing the audience and her answer was a highlight of the talk.
• Get personal. Nadella talked about theory and the long term view of HR, but Klawe made the loss that women get from not negotiating personal with her own story of being paid $50,000 less than she should have been at Princeton. Further revealing that she had made the same mistake with her current role made it impossible to ignore as a one-off.
• Relate to the audience. Klawe’s response is full of things that the many women in the audience relate to, being good at asking for things for others, for example (notice how many times in the whole interview she advocates donating to Harvey Mudd). And where better to make the suggestion of role-playing than at an event with a huge careers fair where women gather to learn and support each other. I bet women were role-playing salary negotiation in the breaks that day.

Just remember this: A moderator's quick thinking and willingness to address a negative situation out loud can make the difference between a panel that's notorious for what happened, and one that's remembered fondly and positively. Which option will you choose?

(Creative Commons licensed photo by a2gemma)

Need more coaching on how to be a better panel moderator? Order The Eloquent Woman's Guide to Moderating Panels. At just $3.99 and available in many ebook 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.

For 2017, 5 ways to refresh and rev up your panel moderation

You've seen the suggestion that we just kill off the role of the moderator, and you've certainly sat through more than your share of bad panels. What's an honest moderator to do? Try these five ways to rev up and refresh your moderation of panels, and be part of the solution, rather than the problem in 2017:

1. Learn from moderators in the 2016 election debates: No, they aren't panel moderators, but these high-profile moderators nonetheless help set expectations for your next panel. We've filtered the lessons for panels here, with 15 tips in all.
2. Make codes of conduct a part of your moderation: From asking whether there is such a code, to announcing and enforcing it, moderators are a key factor in making sure these important codes are applied.
3. Get your speakers focused on the audience early on, with this great tip from one of our readers. There's no better way to boost engagement for your panel.
4. Promote your moderator gigs on your speaker page (you do have one, don't you?). Do be selective if you have dozens of moderation gigs, but don't hesitate to feature this complex public speaking skill.
5. Get ready for new formats: From the mix of juggling a keynote speaker, panel, and audience all at once, to learning how to use new moderation tools like this one from Google Docs, the new year is a good time to learn about new panel formats so you're ready for what's next.

(Creative Commons licensed photo by tylerhoff)

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.

Does fixing panels mean getting rid of moderators?

When faced with the prospect of boring panels, one after the other, at conferences, what should the organizers do? How to fix panels at SXSW (and everywhere else), which first appeared in 2014, minced no words when it came to the answer:

I can walk out on the shortest of limbs to declare that: chances are, [the panels] will be boring. And the reason they will be boring is because they will be rote. And the reason they will be rote, is because of the moderator. 

In panel discussions, the moderator too often provides a structured crutch on which the entire group can lean its boringness. To save us from boring panel discussions, first banish all the moderators.

Naturally, I disagree. The boring and rote parts of panels can be avoided with smart choices of panelists, a creative line of questioning, banishing slides in favor of discussion, and lots of time for audience questions...if you, as the moderator, will only choose that more difficult yet rewarding path. Read the article, however, and if you can see your last panel in it, take the time to change your approaches...now.

(Photo by US Mission Geneva)

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.