5 Tips On How To Moderate A Panel Discussion at a Conference
Jeffrey Slater
Expert Branding & Marketing Strategist. Consultant Providing Fractional CMO Services and The Trusted Advisor Board. I help brands grow revenue and profit through seasoned, sage advice.
Every conference and symposium include a panel discussion to get experts to weigh in on issues that are top of mind. Last Wednesday, my daughter Fanny was asked to moderate a panel at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business on The Future of Protein at FoodCon. It is a joint program from Duke, UNC and NC State and involves graduate students from a range of disciplines and who share an interest in food sustainability topics. They assembled a great panel of experts with complementary backgrounds.
Curt Albright – Managing Member, Clear Current Capital
Mike Fotinatos – Strategic Implementation Specialist, The Good Food Institute
Cheryl Newman – Director of Strategy for No Evil Foods
David Swintosky – CFO, Improved Nature
The discussion focused on the future of non-animal protein sources. Different brands like No Evil Foods, Impossible Foods, and Improved Nature are participating in a changing landscape where animal welfare issues, health concerns and shifting resources are all intersecting into a new food marketplace dynamic.
Since Fanny hadn’t been a moderator before, she asked me for some tips on how to prepare and what it takes to excel. Here are the five pieces of advice I gave her.
It isn’t about you
Although Fanny is building her career as a food expert, she is more of a generalist and not a specialist in plant-based foods. She is knowledgeable about the topic, but far from an expert from the business, distribution and technical side. I told her that she just needed to be curious in developing questions for each expert since the audience came to hear them, not her. What are you interested in knowing from these experts? Why did they choose to get involved in this segment of the food industry? I suggested she write about ten “WHY” questions to begin thinking about the topic.
Meet the panelists
Whether you talk before the conference via phone or Skype or an hour before you begin, you need to connect in advance with those who are on the panel. It allows you to give them some context to your background and expertise and you can share some of the questions you want to ask. When a moderator and panelists have talked before the event, it makes for a much valuable session.
Engage the Audience
When I moderate panels, I like to start by engaging the audience is a few questions. Since this panel was about alternative protein sources, why not see how many people in the audience are vegetarians, flexitarians or carnivores. It helps to get the audience to pay attention and break the wall between the panelist and the audience. Another advantage of engaging the audience is in establishes your authority for the coming hour as the moderator.
Ask challenging questions
Don’t be afraid to ask tough questions that may push the experts. The purpose of the panel is to spark conversations, and sometimes you need a little lighter fuel. You can be civil but ask aggressive questions on issues that you think they can defend. The goal isn’t to try and trick anyone – it is to get valuable conversations flowing. Since you are a meat eater but also love well-prepared vegetarian meals, don’t bashful to probe on an uncomfortable topic.
Expect Audience Challenges
Often the first person to ask a question in the audience will have a contrarian perspective. Encourage it and don’t be afraid that someone may push back on everything discussed. Your role as moderator is to take the question and direct it to one of the panelists who you think can best respond. As long as things are civil, audiences enjoy a spirited discussion. A little confrontation is okay and often makes for an enhanced experience.
Congratulations to MBA students who put on an outstanding conference and all the experts who shared their wisdom.
Fanny did a terrific job. And that is an entirely unbiased analysis based on my objective Dad perspective.
Do you often moderate conferences? Any ideas to add to this list?
Photo courtesy of The Marketing Sage
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Very good article! I'd add one more suggestion for moderators: Be ready to pivot. Any good moderator will prepare a list of relevant questions ahead of time and discuss them with the panelists in prep calls, as you mentioned. However, a good moderator also needs to listen carefully to the panelists during the event and ask great follow-up questions...or even chase a tangent or two if it's interesting and relevant to the discussion. I was once at a panel in which the moderator slavishly stuck to his prepared list of questions, never asking follow-ups and never really engaging with the panelists. He'd ask a question, have each panelist answer each question in turn, and then do the same thing over and over with each new question. It was very bad and it was the last time we had him moderate anything.