Make a Panel Discussion Memorable with a Mental Avatar

I am always trolling for great ideas to add more pizzazz to your panel discussion and just stumbled on Erin L. Albert’s blog where she gave 7 Steps to a Unicorian, Utterly Unforgettable Panel Discussion.  My favorite is number 5:

“The organizer of the panel gave the panelists something interesting to wear to mark the occasion — This may seem trite or silly, but trust me, it’s not. It’s probably one of the BEST items for panelists and the audience to have a mental avatar of your panel discussion. They’ll remember it. One example is our purple #Manbassador sashes at our panel discussion on gender parity with HBA Indiana this year. Another panel: at BlogHer where all the women serving on the panel had bright orange boas on. Now, having a wearable avatar does 3 things:

• It identifies the panelists in a crowd for discussion AFTER the event.
• It provides the speakers/panelists with a visible symbol of the talk which they can take home and put in their offices, and provide a mental hallmark of the day.
• It’s GREAT for social media and photos. (Think pink socks.)
• It endures, long after the event. (Again, think pink socks.)”

Thanks, Erin for sharing your wisdom!

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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.