Professional panel moderator Kristin Arnold asks Becky Pike Pluth, Train-the-Trainer expert and President/CEO of the Bob Pike Group to share how she uses online surveys to help structure the questions for panel discussions at meetings, conferences, and conventions.
Video Transcript
Kristin: Becky, do you use online surveys to help structure the questions for your panel discussions?
Becky: I don’t ever send them to a survey, because most people won’t do it. I find that it has to be immediate and easy for them to just reply back, otherwise I’m not… So, I might actually have to start at the beginning of their three-day conference and do one question.
Then, if I get the responses that I was looking for, then I’ll just do a second or a third. And if you start to get this following, where the same eight people are responding, I might then ask, “Hey, the eight you have been so helpful. Thank you so much. Would you be willing to go over here? Click on this link and answer two more questions for me? And then I promise, I’m out of here. This is gonna help your industry so much. Thank you, thank you, thank you.” As long as you’re profuse the praise, they want to help you. They want to make it better for their peers.
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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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