I've been moderating and participating in conference panels since my days in pro-sports management back in the 70s. Since the early days, I learned and never forgot the key reason to be up on stage that my mentors drilled into my head at a tender age (I was a just a teenager when I first got in front of a crowd of 1000 people to give my first solo speech).
The advice of a few centered around this:
Talk to the audience about what they would want to hear, not what you would want to say.
The second thing I learned from the same mentors was
Be on topic be sure you can talk about it if you're on a panel or being interviewed, otherwise either learn it quick or get someone more qualified on the topic.
I'm looking forward to my two panels at this coming week's IT Expo and 4G Wireless Evolution conference in Miami Beach as the timing couldn't be better.
Winds of change are in the air, and it's time to hear what's next, not worry so much about the past.
Hi Andy,
I completely agree. I've always considered panelists "fodder" for the audience!
Unfortunately, too many moderators are suck-ups because they either are cut from the same corporate-cowardice cloth as the panelists or don't want to offend them by asking questions the audience really wants to hear.
I've been accused, with some truth, of being too nasty as a moderator. So several years ago I switched to being nicer, but no less aggressive in questioning panelists.
The worst format for a panel is typically where everyone presents PowerPoint slides, with little or no time for questions. The best format is typically no PowerPoints, with panelists answering questions directly from the moderator -- to get things started -- and then taking questions from the audience.
Posted by: Alan Reiter | February 01, 2009 at 11:27 AM