Professional panel moderator, Kristin Arnold asked this question of Jeffrey Hayzlett, a global business celebrity, speaker, best-selling author, and Chairman of C-Suite Network, home of the world’s most trusted network of C-Suite leaders what he does to get a panelist to contribute more to the panel discussion at a meeting, conference, or convention.
Video Transcript
Kristin: Jeffrey, what do you do to get a panelist to contribute more to the discussion?
Jeffrey: Oh, sometimes I’ll give them a hint. “Hey June, I haven’t heard enough from you and I know you’ve got a lot to say on this subject.” That’s my cue of you need to speak up more. Um, and, but yeah, I just, I go back and ask that question. I just direct or I redirect it.
And so after you might answer that, and let’s say you’ve been participating a lot, I’ll go back to June again and say “June, I want to hear from you again.” So you do that. You just have to do that and try to balance it now. Now it doesn’t mean you have to hear equally from each person because some of them aren’t equal, some of them aren’t equal.
Again, get back to what it is you’re supposed to be doing and how you’re supposed to be delivering it. And each of us have our own roles. If they can each equally participate, then let each equally participate. If that’s part of the, you know, you had three sponsors and you’re trying to give them each equal time. Well then that’s a that’s part of my job is to make sure that each have equal time. Um, but again, that’s, that’s what you have to do is circle back and bring it back.
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Kristin Arnold, professional panel moderator, and high stakes meeting facilitator is on a crusade to make all panel discussions informative, interactive, and interesting. Specifically, she wants to help YOU become a better panel moderator. Why? Because 95% of annual meetings have panel discussions – and according to the 2014 Panel Report, it’s a fifty-fifty proposition they are any good at all! Expectations decrease dramatically when your attendees walk in and see the traditional draped head-table with microphones on short stands. There are sooooo many other ways to have a stimulating conversation! So let’s increase the probability of success for your next panel discussion with these resources.
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