3 Fatal Flaws of a Panel Discussion

It’s downright depressing.  You walk out of a potentially fabulous panel discussion and wonder, “What happened?”  As you scratch your head, you’ll be asking those around you, “What was that all about” or just mutter under your breath, “That was weird….”

Ah yes.  These phrases are the symptoms of a fundamentally flawed panel discussion.  There is no rescue, no antidote to this poorly conceived panel.  It has simply missed the mark due to these factors:

1. Topic.  Either the topic was not relevant to the audience OR the topic that was promised in the marketing materials was never addressed.
2. Panelists.  The panelists never addressed the challenges surrounding the stated topic.  They decided they wanted to talk about something else, which leaves the audience more than a bit confused.
3. Presentations.  The time was spent with a bunch of presentations (which typically go way over time) – leaving no time for the panelists to discuss the topic among themselves or with the audience.

These three fatal flaws will be the absolute death of your panel discussion – unless you (the panel moderator or even the panelists) intervene quickly at the first signs of missing the mark.

For more resources on how to make meetings, panels, and room sets better, make sure to check out this knowledge vault which is chock-full of customizable checklists, worksheets, templates, agendas, sample emails, video interviews and webinars with industry icons and professional moderators.

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3 Popular Panel Discussion Formats

Kristin Arnold, professional panel moderator and high-stakes meeting facilitator, shares her best practices for interactive, interesting, and engaging panel presentations. For more resources like this, or to have Kristin moderate your next panel visit the Powerful Panels official website.