Professional Panel Moderator Kristin Arnold asks Patricia Fripp, Executive Speaker coach and member of the Speaker Hall of Fame, to share her thoughts on how a panelist can adequately respond to a poor question from the moderator during a panel discussion at meetings, conferences, and conventions.
Video Transcript
Kristin: What is your strategy for answering or avoiding poor questions?
Patricia: Okay, well you can say, “Kristin, what I believe you might be saying is,” and you rephrase it with some clarity, or “Kristin, I expected you would have asked me a tougher question such as this. . .” And again, this is part of your preparation in your back pocket.
And very often, of course people don’t ask questions, they say “Well I think bah bah, bah, bah, what do you think?” and then I would say, “I can understand your point of view Kristin, however, there is a much bigger question that we don’t ask because it’s tough,” and then you lead it that way. So you acknowledge it but you really don’t respond to it.
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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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