Professional Panel Moderator Kristin Arnold asks Brian Walter, Founder of Extreme Meetings and member of the US Speaker Hall of Fame to share his ideas about using technology during panel discussions at meetings, conferences, and conventions.
Video Transcript
Kristin: Brian, do you ever use technology when interacting with the audience?
Brian: I was advising and producing a panel for a manufacturing company and so they had outside experts come in and what we did is we came up with questions, so there was like 7 or 8 questions, and we put them up on a screen, and then we had the audience with their A.R.S devices, Audience Response Devices, so they can vote in the moment.
And we said, and this is after they’ve done a couple questions, so it’s like round one was done. So now for round two, where would you, the audience, like this to go? And they’re like [make noise] and there it was on the screen. So, it was kind of like the audience is in charge. “Okay, panel, the audience wants to go here.”
And then we did like the top two, and then we reset and created a new slide that had a few options. And now for our third question here, where do you want to go? [makes noise] Voting [makes noise] here it is. So the audience got the sense of “We’re in charge.” That makes it more interesting for the audience.
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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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