Not Your Traditional Audience Q&A
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You’re conflicted. As a panel moderator, you WANT to involve the audience. You know that it is important and you want to keep people interested, but you really don’t want to do a traditional audience Q&A. So why not give the audience an option as to which question you want the panelists to answer?
Here’s how to amplify the typical audience Q&A format:
- Think of two or three juicy questions for either all of the panelists or for each of the panelists. This may take a bit of preparation, but all panel moderators should be preparing for their panel discussion.
- At the appropriate time in the panel (perhaps about two-thirds of the way in, when the audience is expecting audience Q&A OR you need to vary the tempo of the panel), project a slide with the two/three questions bulleted as “A”, “B” or “C.”
- Ask the audience to shout out which question they would like you to ask the panelist(s). Go with the loudest voices – and ask the question to the panelist(s)!
This audience engagement format is easy to use and injects energy into the panel discussion. However, you MUST think of the questions ahead of time. You can’t do this on the fly.
Related Articles:
Panel Discussion Technique: Question Behind the Question
How to Create GREAT Questions for Your Panelists to Answer during Your Panel Discussion
Panel Discussion Tip #143 with Terry Brock: Visual Do’s & Don’ts for Virtual Panels
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.
Kristin Arnold
KRISTIN ARNOLD, MBA, CSP, CPF|Master has been facilitating meaningful conversations between executives and managers to make better decisions and achieve extraordinary results for 25+ years. She's a leading authority on moderating panel discussions and passionate about finding the perfect olive to complement a vodka martini.
