You want to put together speakers together for a conference panel?

Thanks to Mel Kettle for forwarding us this great article by Scott Stratten: '7 Tips on How to Make Your Conference Rock' on making your conference panel a success:

1. Be an actual panel

10 minutes for each person to “present” isn’t enough time to get into anything of substance anyways, but take those away and open the entire up for discussion, now we’re onto something!

2. Have an actual moderator who moderates

People like to hear themselves talk, *cough* me *cough* but they take over the panel and a good moderator not only knows how to cut off a blabbering mouth, but also knows each persons strengths and can direct questions and rebuttals to the appropriate person.

3. Moderator intros each person

I realize a lot of people speak on panels to get exposure for their company, but the best way to do this is to get into the meat of the panel topic and share great info.

4. Stay on topic within reason

This is also an issue with solo talks, the content doesn’t match the description. It’s even harder with multiple people on a panel. The biggest problem with not being related to the description is people pick which concurrent session to go to based on that write up, which means they aren’t going to another.  If you don’t deliver on your promise, not only is there a let down, but a missed opportunity to see another session that may have been more suitable.

5. No slides

I’m all in favor for banning them altogether, but especially for a panel. It’s a think-tank, and a place to create a dialog that happens nowhere else. A slide deck prevents this, especially if they’re the same ones the panelists use in their individual presentations.

6. Different opinions

A real let down for an audience is when each panelist says the same thing. This doesn’t mean there has to be violent arguments, but have different perspective on points at least.

7. Moderator knows each panelist

This is one of the reasons why I don’t like it when conferences take it upon themselves to pair up moderators and panelists, but the onus is more so on the moderator doing his/her homework on the topic, participants and audience.

View the full article here.

Posted by Jodie Parker, December 09, 2010 in ARTICLES | TIPS