5 Tips for How to Be a Great Panel Moderator

Here’s how to be a good moderator for a panel at a conference or fireside chat:

1- Don't make it boring

2- Don't let anyone talk too long

3- Your role is referee not genius

4- Not everyone needs to answer

5- Do as much Q&A as possible

Yesterday I ran a panel for AppSumo at SXSW and I think I did a pretty good job.

But don't take my word for it, here is what two famous people said:?

"You are world class at what you do. You crushed it as our moderator." - Noah Kagan

"I don’t know if people tell you this often but you are an A+ moderator!"- Alex Cohen

I am always trying to get better and I could tell you about all the 10 things I did wrong.

But here are the things that I did right:

(1) BRIEF INTROS FOR ALL PANELISTS

We had 4 panelists and I asked each of them to introduce themselves in 90 seconds or less. I researched them all and knew a few of them personally, so that certainly helped.

(2) IMMEDIATE AUDIENCE QUESTIONS

Then we immediately went to the audience for questions. Nobody cares what I think. This is where most panel moderators make a mistake! We’re not there for you. Your role is the referee, not the expert. So don’t try to “stump” the panel with some amazing question.

Now, maybe you’ve moderated a panel and you did a good job asking questions. But I’m telling you that yesterday I did not ask any questions myself.

I had the audience ask every single question.

Perhaps this only worked because the organizer made everyone submit 1 question with their RSVP. I didn’t even read those questions. But the audience already had questions in mind.

And because of this I got more compliments saying I was the “Best Moderator Ever” than I ever have before.

(3) STACK QUESTIONS

Instead of doing 1 question at a time, I got 4 questions in a row. Then I had the panel answer them.

So there was no pausing between questions and taking 10 minutes between each question.

With four questions at a time, there's a sense of urgency and knowing we have a lot of possible questions in the audience.

I believe many panelists will unintentionally draw out their answers or ramble when they don't know if there are more questions.

So each panelist talks for 2 minutes and now you only get 1 new topic every 10 minutes.

I hate that. It’s so boring. Don’t be boring!!

I think if you just do a few of these things you will be a much better moderator.

I also asked the audience a few times to repeat what they heard the speakers say to test for comprehension.

This is a pro-level move that I have never seen another moderator do before and I think it worked very well.

Now here are the things I did wrong:

(1) One or two times I did not bring the mic to someone asking a follow-up question, causing people in the back unable to hear. This is an amateur mistake.

(2) I think I could have moved a few questions and answers along faster.

(3) I skipped over one question from the audience but thankfully someone asked to go deeper on it. The audience actually called me out. And then we had an awesome discussion.

CONCLUSION

Most panels are awful so don't mess it up! Bring more energy and more discussion and don't be afraid to challenge your panel guests.

We especially had a good panel because the panelists- Noah Kagan, Paul Millerd, Tucker Max, and Chandler Bolt- they were willing to be real and raw and brutally honest.

It is your job as the moderator to help bring out their authenticity. And get a lot of questions from the audience.

What did I leave out? Or other things to try next time?