7 Steps For Moderating a Panel + an Agenda Template

7 Steps For Moderating a Panel + an Agenda Template (Thats me in the photo, moderating a fireside chat with my former boss Arianna Huffington)Ive sat on a lot of panels and now Ive started moderating them. Moderating is a lot ofwork, but I like it because I get to spend time going deep on who my panelists are. The hard part is before the panel starts, when youre trying to line up the right questions for the personalities you need to amplify to the audience. Thats the only way to have a good panel - know who your subjects are, what questions theyll run with and how to weave everyone together.A month ago I did a monster panel (not because of the people but because of its size). It welches called Meet The Resistance and it was to introduce movement leaders to members of the Democratic National Committee. It had nine people on it, yes nine, from the cofounder of Black Lives Matter and the co-chair of The Womens March to Hillary Clintons email director and now the leader of Run for Someth ing. I was honored to be asked to moderate, but it was terrifying. How would I keep the panel flowing, give everyone enough speaking time and be able to respond with counter points? This is what I did, and what I recommend any moderator does 1. Compile panelist bios - do your research first.2. Write questions for each panelist, yes each panelist (I did this for nine people, you can do it for the normal 3 person panel).3. Call each of your panelists and pre-interview, pre-interview, pre-interview. I cant tell you how many times Ive done a panel where the moderator never took the time to call me. I wasnt offended (hey, I liked not having to take another meeting), but the flow of the panel felt off because they only knew me from my bio. And group calls dont work. People rarely speak up enough and you cant target questions appropriately. 4. During the pre-interview you should ask panelists the questions you have for them. Youd be surprised by how much youll want to change your questions as the pre-interview moves along. Some people might ask if giving the questions before hand is cheating or whether it kills the spontaneity. Um no. A panel is a presentation where participants should never feel blindsided. If you have tough questions to ask that they might not like then thats fine. Just give them the heads up that youll be going there. The goal isnt to make sure youre giving anybody softballs, but rather its to ensure the conversation flows and the audience gets what they came for. Structure sets people free and allows for more spontaneity in the end because thats what happens when people are comfortable and prepared.5. Once youve interviewed everyone over the phone for about 20 minutes you should compile one doc with all notes and questions that only you will use. 6. Make a separate docto share with the paneliststhat shows everyones questions as well as the agenda and any critical details. Below is a sample agenda template. If youre like me, youll need to either p rint your notes in huge font or write out questions on post-its. I actually like rewriting questions by hand so it sticks in my memory. 7. Enjoy yourself. If youve done the prep then all will run smoothly (we hope). Oh, and join one of our future PowerToFly panels. You can find our schedule here.