Imagine you’re sitting in a team meeting when your boss casually announces that you’ll be moderating the upcoming panel event during the department’s training. You nod along, but inside, you’re wondering how to moderate a panel discussion when you’ve never led a panel for the first time. You know the responsibility rests on you to keep the conversation flowing, ensure every panelist has their say, and keep the attendees engaged. It feels like a lot, especially if you’ve never been a panel moderator before.
Moderating a panel is more than just asking questions. The moderator’s job is to understand the panel’s purpose, guide the discussion confidently, and ensure the audience walks away with valuable insights. Whether you’re on stage at a conference, hosting a webinar, or facilitating an online meeting, you’ll need to leverage your public speaking skills and improvise when needed. It might seem overwhelming initially, but with the right approach, you can lead a smooth, impactful, and engaging panel session even as a beginner.
This guide will walk you through the essential steps to prepare for and successfully moderate a panel discussion. From understanding the panel’s purpose to wrapping up with key takeaways, you’ll find practical advice to help you take on the role with confidence.
Before You Start Moderating a Panel Discussion
The work you do before the panel sets the stage for a successful discussion, especially when stepping into the role of a panel moderator. Whether you have a background in public speaking skills or are new to facilitating group conversations, thoughtful preparation is key. Here’s how to set yourself and the panelists up for success.
1. Understand the Panel’s Objectives
Speak with the organizers to clarify the session’s goals and the audience’s expectations. Is the goal to educate, provoke a lively debate, or provide actionable insights? Understanding the purpose helps you review the agenda and tailor your questions accordingly.
It’s equally important to understand your audience. Are they industry experts, familiar with jargon, or newcomers looking to learn? This insight allows you to tailor your questions and guide the discussion to ensure it’s engaging and relevant for every attendee.
2. Create a Clear Panel Structure
A well-structured panel event keeps things focused and ensures the discussion flows smoothly. Without a clear framework, the conversation can easily go off track, and you won’t achieve the original goal.
Here’s a simple structure you can use for your panel session:
- Start with the introduction: Welcome the audience, introduce panelists, and set the stage by outlining the session’s goals.
- Move into the main discussion: This should be about 30 to 40 minutes of your session. Guide the conversation using your prepared list of questions, but leave space for spontaneity and for panelists to interact with each other naturally.
- Audience Q&A: Set aside 10 to 15 minutes for audience questions. This will not only encourage participation but also bring fresh perspectives into the discussion.
- Wrap it up: End with a brief summary of key takeaways and thank everyone for their time.
Share this structure with the panelists ahead of time to help everyone align expectations.
3. Craft Thoughtful, Open-Ended Questions
Your questions shape the entire panel discussion, so it’s worth putting in the effort to get them right.
The best questions invite panelists to answer with real insights, offer different perspectives, and keep the conversation moving. Open-ended questions work best. If your panelists can respond with a simple “yes” or “no,” you’re not giving them much to work with.
Aim to prepare five to seven core questions that strike a balance between big-picture themes and specific questions. Think about how each question ties back to the panel’s main goal and how your panelists’ expertise can bring those ideas to life.
It’s also smart to have a few follow-up questions ready. When a panelist says something interesting, you’ll be able to dig deeper instead of moving on too quickly. With thoughtful, well-planned questions, you’ll create a natural and conversational yet succinct discussion.
Beekast Tip: Use Beekast’s “I know! I wonder…” template to identify your knowledge gaps and questions about the topic. This exercise can help you prepare more comprehensive and engaging questions for the panel. Also, Beekast’s live polling or Q&A features can be used to collect questions from the audience in advance. This can help you prioritize what to cover and ensure the discussion is relevant.
4. Get to Know Your Panelists
Schedule a pre-panel meeting or call to introduce panelists and discuss the session’s flow. This interaction provides an opportunity to establish rapport, clarify expectations, and address concerns, leading to a more natural and balanced conversation.
During your meeting with the panelists, outline the session’s structure and confirm any logistical details. Additionally, prepare a brief yet comprehensive biography for each panelist to use during introductions. This will help the audience understand each panelist’s background and establish credibility from the outset.
Beekast Tip: Create a shared Board in Beekast where panelists can post their main talking points or questions in advance. This visual collaboration tool can help you and the speakers stay on the same page.
During the Panel Session
Once the panel begins, your job is to keep the conversation moving while ensuring a balanced, engaging discussion. This is where your preparation pays off by staying present and adaptable; you can guide the session smoothly and keep both the panelists and audience involved.
5. Start with a Powerful Opener
A strong intro is crucial for engaging your audience, establishing your authority, and setting the tone for a successful panel event. It grabs attention, builds credibility, and ensures the session stays on track.
As a new host, you want to build trust with your audience. A well-crafted intro positions you as a confident and knowledgeable host, even if you’re still gaining experience. It outlines the purpose of the panel and what key takeaways the audience can expect, keeping the discussion focused and ensuring that everyone knows what they’ll gain from the session.
Here’s how to kick things off with a powerful intro:
- Start with a hook: Open with a surprising or compelling statement that grabs attention. For example, “What’s the number one challenge businesses face today? You’re about to hear from the experts who know the answer.” This will immediately spark curiosity and interest in your audience.
- Introduce yourself: Briefly state who you are and why you’re hosting the panel. This doesn’t need to be a long bio — just a sentence or two to establish your role and your connection to the topic.
- Set the stage: Give a quick preview of the session’s goals or key themes. You might say, “Today, we’re diving into actionable strategies for boosting engagement as a distributed team.” This lets your audience know what they can expect and keeps them focused.
- Introduce panelists: Give each panelist a brief, energetic introduction that highlights their expertise. Keep it short but relevant, focusing on their role in the discussion. This not only helps build credibility but also makes every panelist feel valued.
Beekast Tip: Use Beekast’s interactive features to create an engaging icebreaker poll. For example, ask the audience to share their level of familiarity with the topic or what they hope to learn from the panel. Display the results in real-time and invite panelists to comment, creating an immediate connection with the audience.
6. Manage Time Effectively
Good time management is essential for a well-paced panel discussion. Proper timing ensures that all topics are covered, each panelist gets fair speaking time, and the audience remains engaged.
- Create a detailed agenda: Allocate time for your opening, introductions, prepared questions, and audience Q&A.
- Start and finish on time: Respect your audience’s time by beginning promptly and wrapping up as scheduled.
- Use timers: Track how long each segment takes to ensure balanced participation.
Beekast Tip: Our built-in timer feature keeps your panel on schedule. Display it prominently so you and the panelists know the time remaining for each segment.
7. Engage the Audience
Audience engagement is a critical element of a successful panel session. Encouraging participation not only enriches the conversation but also helps maintain energy and attentiveness. As a moderator, you should create opportunities for the audience to contribute their questions and perspectives.
If possible, collect questions in advance to identify key areas of interest. During the session, you can also utilize live polling tools or invite questions in real-time. When facilitating audience questions, repeat them clearly for the benefit of everyone present and direct the question to the appropriate panelist. That way, the audience feels heard, and panelists can respond thoughtfully.
Beekast Tip: Use Beekast’s Discussion Space for real-time Q&A. Enable the upvoting feature so the most popular questions rise to the top, helping you prioritize which questions to address.
8. Keep the Conversation Balanced
Maintaining balance is essential to ensuring that all panelists have the opportunity to share their insights. It is your responsibility to prevent any single panelist from dominating the discussion while encouraging quieter panelists to participate.
If a panelist begins to speak at length or veers off-topic, gently but tactfully redirect the conversation. Phrases such as “Thank you for that insight. I would like to hear from [another panelist] on this point” can help you manage speaking time diplomatically.
Additionally, if a panelist has not spoken recently, you can invite their perspective by asking directly, “[Name], do you have any thoughts to add?” This approach ensures that the conversation remains inclusive and that a range of viewpoints is represented.
9. Stay Flexible and Listen Actively
While preparation is essential, successful moderators also remain adaptable to the natural flow of conversation. Active listening allows you to identify compelling themes, ask insightful follow-up questions, and pivot when necessary.
Pay close attention to the panelists’ responses and listen for opportunities to explore new angles. If an unexpected but valuable topic emerges, be willing to adjust your planned questions to delve deeper. At the same time, be mindful of the session’s time constraints and overarching objectives, ensuring that the discussion remains focused and relevant.
10. Remain Neutral
As a moderator, your role is to facilitate, not to participate in the debate. When you stay neutral, you create a safe space for open discussion while allowing the panelists’ expertise to shine!
- Avoid expressing personal opinions: stay impartial to allow the audience to form their own views.
- Use neutral language: when addressing speakers, use phrases like “Thank you for that point” instead of “That’s a great point.”
Beekast Tip: Use Beekast’s moderation feature to filter audience questions, ensuring that only neutral, relevant questions are displayed to maintain an unbiased discussion.
After the Panel Session
Your work isn’t over when the panel ends. Effectively wrapping up leaves an impactful impression on the panelists and the audience. Taking a few extra steps ensures that the insights shared during the session have a meaningful and lasting impact.
11. Wrap Up with Key Takeaways
A strong conclusion reinforces the main points of the discussion and leaves the audience with actionable insights. As the session draws to a close, summarize two or three key takeaways that emerged during the conversation. This recap helps crystallize the most important ideas and provides the audience with clear messages to reflect on.
After summarizing the discussion, thank the panelists for their contributions and the audience for their engagement. Share any follow-up resources or next steps related to the panel topic if appropriate. This professional and organized conclusion leaves a lasting positive impression.
12. Don’t Forget the Post-Event Follow-Up
The conversation doesn’t have to end when the panel does!
- Export discussions: download all the panel questions, comments, and polling data for post-event analysis.
- Gather feedback: create a quick post-event survey to collect audience insights and improve future panels.
By following these steps and leveraging Beekast’s interactive features, you’ll be well-equipped to moderate an engaging, insightful panel like a pro. Remember, practice makes perfect, so don’t be too hard on yourself if everything doesn’t go as planned. Rehearse your opening, and don’t be afraid to improvise when needed. Sometimes spontaneity leads to the best moments!
Host & moderate practical virtual panel discussions with Beekast
With Beekast, you can keep your audience engaged, manage panelist interactions, and ensure everything flows smoothly.
Beekast makes it super easy to host interactive panel discussions with features designed to foster dynamic, interactive discussions.
- The Live Questions feature allows you to collect and display audience questions in real-time, keeping the conversation relevant and audience-focused.
- With Word Clouds, you can instantly visualize audience opinions, making it easy to highlight key themes.
- And the Polls feature lets you gather quick feedback, spark new discussions, and keep the session lively.
Whether you’re moderating your panel for the first time or your fiftieth, Beekast gives you the tools to elevate your audience engagement and run a seamless, professional discussion.
Ready to take your panel sessions to the next level? Sign up for Beekast today and make your virtual meetings and remote training sessions unforgettable.
Moderating a Panel Discussion FAQs
Got more questions about hosting interactive panel sessions? We’ve answered them here.
1. What Do You Say When Moderating a Panel?
When moderating a panel, your job is to guide the conversation while keeping it engaging and on track. Start by welcoming the audience and briefly introducing yourself. Then, introduce the panelists with a short, interesting bio for each.
Throughout the discussion, ask open-ended questions, encourage different viewpoints, and keep the conversation balanced. Wrap up by summarizing key takeaways and thanking the panelists and audience for their time.
2. How Does a Moderator Start a Panel Discussion?
A good moderator starts a panel session with a strong opening. Begin by greeting the audience and explaining the panel’s topic and objectives. Introduce panelists, highlighting their expertise and why they’re part of the discussion.
After introductions, kick things off with a thoughtful, open-ended question to start the conversation. This will help the panelists answer thoughtfully while giving the audience a clear direction for the session.
3. How Do I Effectively Moderate a Panel?
Effective moderation is all about preparation and flexibility. Before the panel, understand the event’s goals, research the panelists, and prepare a list of questions. During the session, listen actively, ensure every panelist has a voice, and guide the conversation back on track if it drifts. Keep the energy up by engaging the audience with live questions or polls, and be ready to improvise if an unexpected but valuable point emerges.
4. What Tools Can Make My Panel Session More Interactive?
Beekast is an interactive online meeting and remote training tool that can make your panel sessions more engaging. It offers:
- Live Questions: Collect and display audience questions in real-time, making it easy to keep the conversation relevant and audience-focused.
- Word Clouds: Turn audience input into dynamic word clouds, helping you highlight key themes and spark new discussions.
- Live Polling: Use live polls to gather instant feedback, encourage participation, and keep the energy up throughout the session.
With Beekast, you can create a more interactive and engaging panel experience for both panelists and your audience.
5. What are Some Tips for Moderating a Panel?
When moderating a panel, consider these key tips:
- Understand the Objectives: Clarify the session’s goals with organizers to guide your moderation.
- Know Your Audience: Tailor your questions based on the audience’s expertise level.
- Craft Open-Ended Questions: Develop questions that encourage detailed responses from panelists.