Professional Panel Moderator Kristin Arnold asks Joe Calloway, Business Keynote Speaker, panel moderator, and member of the US Speaker Hall of Fame to share his favorite technique to get the panelists talking during a panel discussion at meetings, conferences, and conventions.
Video Transcript
Kristin: Joe, what’s your favorite technique to get the panelists to start talking to each other?
I think my favorite technique is to really encourage them beforehand, as I mentioned earlier, to say “I really want you guys if you have the least sense of ‘Ooh, I’d like to say something about what she just said,’ please do it. Please, or, if a panelist says something I might say, “What do you two think about what she just said? I’d like to hear your thoughts on what she just said.”
I will also, occasionally- and I’ll tell them beforehand if I’m going to do this- I’m going to say, okay for example, “The three of you run very different operations within the company. Kristin, what’s a question that you’d like to ask one of these guys?” And I’ll let them ask a question of the other panelists, but if I’m going to do that I tell them beforehand so they can be thinking about it, because if you do that cold…That would be a surprise.
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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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