Powerful Panels Blog
October 7, 2015
One of the most important tasks for a meeting organizer and panel moderator to do is to create an appropriate structure and panel discussion formats. What's the difference? Consider the structure to be the essential framework of the panel discussion, (the tasks, the flow, and the timing) whereas the format gives it the shape, color, life, and energy.
Formats come in all kinds of shapes and sizes - the creativity is boundless! However, there are generally five types of formats that I have seen in the in-person and virtual world.
September 30, 2015
I was having a great conversation with Mark Milroy, CAE, Vice President of Learning at ASAE: The Center for Association Leadership.  He has seen ALOT of panel proposals […]
September 24, 2015
Harry A. Overstreet, an American Educator who was the first to write about the panel process said, “No one, under any circumstances, is to rise and […]
September 10, 2015
I’m a HUGE fan of Catchbox, a throwable microphone that I use (almost) all the time for audience Q&A during interviews and panel discussions.
September 3, 2015
A conference organizer recently emailed, “Unfortunately the fact that most people (certainly in our market) don’t have a high regard for panel discussions is one of […]
August 27, 2015
I was talking with Tim Mathy at SpeakInc about a panel he was on that “flowed amazingly well.”
August 19, 2015
Popular television shows are great venues to look for ways to spice up your next panel program.  It can be something as simple as riffing an […]
August 13, 2015
It rankles me when something is advertised as one thing, and then it turns out to be something else. When a bank says, “free checking” only […]
August 9, 2015
Moderating a nationally televised debate is never easy.  Just ask Fox News anchors Bret Baier, Megyn Kelly and Chris Wallace, the moderators of Thursday’s first Republican Presidential […]
August 4, 2015
Here’s another way to kick off the panel, finish it up, or interject some energy into the room – especially when you have a “boatload” of […]
July 29, 2015
I’m always on the look-out for unique ways to spice up a panel discussion – and most of them seemed to be based on TV games […]
July 16, 2015
San Diego Comic-Con, the world’s largest conference celebrating the historic and ongoing contribution of comics to art and culture, just ended. Although I can’t prove it, I believe […]
July 9, 2015
I was talking with a meeting organizer the other day who was grousing about the usual suspects.  You know… the folks who are ALWAYS called upon […]
June 24, 2015
Questions from the audience can enrich a panel discussion or derail it, so decide ahead of time how and when you will manage audience Q&A (questions […]
June 17, 2015
Audiences have a love/hate relationship with panels.
