hello and welcome to the latest episode

1:04

of not the same as last year now if

1:06

you're anything like me you are a fan of

1:08

the actress Merill stre and you'll

1:10

probably remember her famous role in the

1:13

devil wees Prada when she played Miranda

1:15

Priestley the very famous and very

1:18

snooty fashion editor who had fabulously

1:21

mean on liners and the one that I always

1:24

think of on this subject that we're

1:26

going to be talking about today is when

1:27

she was discussing the upcoming coming

1:30

spring edition of the fashion Bible that

1:34

she edited and her team were being asked

1:36

to give ideas and somebody suggested um

1:38

floral patterns and she answers

1:41

something along the lines of florals for

1:44

spring groundbreaking in a sort of

1:46

terribly sarcastic way and imagine if it

1:49

was a movie about a legendary event

1:51

planner instead of a fashion editor you

1:53

could easily imagine them giving that

1:55

same response to a suggestion that they

1:57

add panels to the agenda of their event

2:00

because let's face it the event panel is

2:03

a firm fixture on pretty much every B2B

2:07

event agenda out there I don't think

2:10

I've ever hosted an event that didn't

2:12

have a panel on it um my God are they

2:15

most of the time very syy and very tired

2:18

and being done so badly so today I'm

2:22

asking is it time to retire the event

2:25

panel and send it on its way to the

2:28

maximum security Twilight event

2:31

retirement home in the

2:33

sky so to answer that let's have a look

2:36

at the event panel as most of us know it

2:39

it's around 40 to 60 minutes there's a

2:41

moderator anywhere from 3 to8 panelists

2:46

um everybody comes on and it could take

2:48

five minutes just to do the intros maybe

2:50

10 sometimes then the moderator goes

2:52

down the line asks some more the same

2:54

questions and then they all bang on till

2:56

about 5 minutes before the end of the

2:57

session when the moderator says oh hello

3:00

any questions from the audience um and

3:02

then maybe they get one or two and then

3:03

there's an infusive thank you with how

3:05

fabulous and fascinating and oh thank

3:07

you for so much different perspectives

3:09

and whatever and then they go off and

3:11

then the next lot of panelists clamber

3:13

onto the stage so far so blah right and

3:17

I know that this conversation is

3:18

probably freaking out a few event

3:19

organizers because you know you don't

3:21

want to hear the words the panel is dead

3:23

I mean we get it you guys love a panel

3:27

why because a panel gives you a lot it

3:31

gives sponsors something to pay for

3:33

sitting on a panel right a panel breaks

3:36

up um lots of sessions of speeches and

3:39

it makes the agenda look quite busy and

3:42

Lively it can be a really easy way to

3:44

add some diverse views and faces into

3:47

your agenda it is a really tried and

3:50

tested way to ensure that a new issue

3:53

that maybe you don't know much about but

3:54

attendees need to have in the agenda is

3:57

included and you don't have to do any of

3:59

the work on the content because if you

4:00

get all the experts together they'll

4:02

come up with a Content done and dusted

4:05

and of course most people are willing to

4:07

be on event panels for free so you don't

4:10

have to pay because everybody loves to

4:11

be thought of as important enough to be

4:13

able to say oh yes I've been asked to be

4:15

a panelist at this event you know it

4:16

gives them some gravitas it gives them a

4:18

sort of um a sense that their platform

4:20

is really valuable so all good right you

4:22

know for the event planner what about

4:26

the attendee what is good about a panel

4:29

for the attendee

4:30

because obviously that's what I'm all

4:31

about making events more attendee

4:34

Centric and that inherently is what is

4:37

wrong with panels for

4:39

me yes they're old and tired but it's

4:42

more that they're not being done with

4:43

the right

4:45

intention and that's what I want today

4:46

to be about how to make panels something

4:49

that attendees will love how to make

4:50

your panel attendee first attendee

4:53

Centric so actually I'm not saying the

4:55

panel is dead panic over but I'm saying

4:58

it really needs a reinvention and it

5:00

should only be a panel session on your

5:02

agenda if it is in the best interests of

5:04

your

5:05

attendee once you do that once you make

5:08

sure that that's the case then your

5:09

panel can be sexy again and you can keep

5:11

it in your agenda I promise so how do we

5:14

do that how do we make panels sexy again

5:17

well my top points when it comes to this

5:20

are one make sure that if you're having

5:23

a panel it is because it is the session

5:25

that will give your attendee the most

5:26

value and that it has earned its right

5:29

to be in your agenda for that

5:32

reason it's also that you've picked the

5:35

right moderator and if you can't get the

5:38

perfect moderator that you have trained

5:40

them to be the right moderator you are

5:42

also doing some Education and Training

5:44

of your panelists about what is expected

5:46

on this

5:47

panel and that you are including the

5:50

attendee Viewpoint from the very

5:51

beginning of the panel all the way

5:53

through so if that was all I was going

5:55

to say that's pretty short podcast and

5:57

misses out all the subtleties

6:00

no no no lots more for you so let's

6:03

start with that first point I made about

6:05

the session

6:08

itself I cannot tell you how often when

6:11

I see an agenda and then I ask the

6:12

planner why is this in the agenda what's

6:15

the point of it what do we want to get

6:16

from it what are the goals Etc I get a

6:18

blank look and they get sort of say um

6:20

oh well it's because you know like we

6:21

needed a session on that and we thought

6:23

it' be nice way of giving our sponsor a

6:25

role and also panelist a there wasn't

6:26

room to put them in a keynote on their

6:29

own or or it's an issue that people

6:30

already care about now blah blah blah

6:32

basically translated we don't actually

6:34

have a clue why but um it's in there and

6:37

actually if the title of the panel

6:38

session is still to be confirmed when I

6:40

first see the agenda draft that's often

6:42

very telling or if the title of it is

6:44

something like the future of whatever

6:46

the subject is or latest trendsin

6:48

subject Etc or something like that then

6:51

you can kind of pretty much guess that

6:53

that this the relevance to the attendee

6:55

has not been considered that much so

6:57

that's Point number one why it in your

6:59

agenda and why is it a panel and does

7:02

both the subject and the style of the

7:03

session focus on what the attendee wants

7:05

that needs to be done next point you've

7:07

done all that you've decided yes it

7:09

should be a panel session it's going to

7:11

be relevant this is the best way to do

7:13

this topic and it we've got a

7:14

justifiable reason for it fine now it

7:17

comes to picking the

7:19

moderator now when you are picking your

7:21

moderators for sessions at your events

7:22

what are your normal motivations is it

7:25

because the person you've chosen to be

7:27

moderator is the best of the panelists

7:29

that that you have lined up or they're

7:30

the one who answers the emails quickest

7:32

and is more organized so bam tick you're

7:34

giving them the the panelist the panel

7:36

moderator job is it because they're a

7:38

subject matter expert is it because they

7:40

are a sponsor who is paid to be the

7:42

panel host now if it is any of the above

7:46

then you are potentially not choosing

7:48

them for the right reasons because the

7:49

moderator's job is to manage the process

7:53

of the session the conversation the

7:55

connection between the panelists and the

7:57

audience Okay so agenda literally should

8:01

be the audience interest encouraging the

8:03

audience participation and

8:05

enjoyment the subject matter

8:08

expert or the sponsor will have their

8:11

own

8:12

agenda their profile their issue their

8:15

business whatever it is now you may have

8:18

gone for theem the subject matter expert

8:21

or the sponsor to moderate your panel

8:23

because you're assuming well they are

8:25

the experts they know the right

8:26

questions to ask it's easy we just give

8:28

it to them and they'll sort it but as

8:29

we've just established they've got their

8:31

own agenda and their questions and their

8:33

summarizing and everything else are

8:34

going to be naturally influenced by that

8:37

and actually you know

8:40

groundbreaking as merold Street would

8:42

say the moderator doesn't have to be an

8:44

expert on the subject because a great

8:46

moderator can research any topic and

8:49

most moderation isn't about the content

8:51

that's what the other panelists are

8:52

there for they're going to give the

8:54

content but you can't always afford

8:56

independent moderators and you may have

8:58

had to put a sponsor on or a specific

9:00

subject matter expert but what you can

9:02

do is you can train this person you can

9:06

help them learn that it's about

9:08

prioritizing the audience and you can

9:10

convince them that it's actually in

9:11

their best interest to do so because it

9:12

will make the panel so much better so

9:15

much more enjoyable and that's what

9:16

people will remember and go away and

9:17

love everyone who was on the panel

9:19

because it would have been so valuable

9:20

to them of course you don't have to call

9:22

it training because if they're a very

9:24

eminent person or an important sponsor

9:26

they're not going to think they

9:27

necessarily need training but I think

9:29

was episode 8 when we discussed about

9:30

getting your event contributors to

9:32

become attendee first it's there's ways

9:34

of getting them on board you know you

9:36

invite them to meeting say listen we

9:38

want to make this something really

9:39

different this event we want to make it

9:41

where attendees get super involved in

9:42

everything and we really want you to be

9:44

part of it please help us do that set

9:47

that boundary moderators have to come to

9:48

a pre-event meeting have to come to some

9:50

meetings with us beforeand so you can

9:52

then get that kind of information across

9:54

anyway so part of the training is

9:57

introductions now it might seem a small

9:59

thing it's actually really important now

10:01

some people think we should sack

10:03

introductions on panels alt together the

10:04

guru of panels actually Kristen Arnold

10:07

she's actually written a book on it's

10:08

great she says we shouldn't bother with

10:11

them because all the information about

10:12

who's going to be talking should be on

10:13

the event app or in the brochure or

10:15

somewhere in all the event bump and

10:17

people can find out who it is and know

10:19

who it is they proba already made the

10:20

decision to come to the session based on

10:22

who's in the panel but I would say I

10:26

think you still do need introductions

10:27

because lots of people my myself

10:29

included don't always read all the bump

10:32

um there's a lot going on your lives are

10:34

busy you may be going from lots of

10:35

different events lots of different

10:36

things so it's quite handy to quickly

10:37

see who's on the panel and understand

10:39

why they're there and their relevant and

10:41

that's actually it it's quick so the

10:43

moderator comes on and does quick

10:44

introductions because if you allow

10:45

people to do their own introductions

10:47

that way Madness lies people waffle and

10:50

then you are eating into your important

10:52

session time and you are limiting the

10:54

opportunities that you have to engage

10:56

your Audience by doing so so that needs

10:58

to be part of moderator's job um getting

11:00

that nice and tight and that will be

11:02

part of their preparation moderators

11:04

need to prepare questions that are going

11:06

to be valid for different members of the

11:08

panel so that you are not just asking

11:10

everybody the same question and going

11:12

down the line saying and what do you

11:13

think and what do you think and what do

11:14

you think that's so boring and very

11:17

repetitive and it is not a discussion

11:19

and and it's not encouraging engagement

11:21

either you really want the panelists to

11:22

be engaging with each other you you want

11:24

to be controlling the conversation you

11:25

don't want to be running it if that

11:27

makes sense so so you want it to be

11:30

a back and forth between people on the

11:32

panel and of course also the audience

11:34

again talk about that in a minute and

11:36

you want to be asking people for things

11:37

like for instances and examples rather

11:40

than you know letting them give sales

11:41

pitches if they start to do that you

11:43

want to be as moderator strong enough to

11:44

cut that off you want to just get that

11:47

side of things knocked on the head

11:49

quickly no sales okay so there's an idea

11:52

for some of the training for the

11:53

moderator and and assuming you've got

11:55

them sorted and understanding what their

11:57

roles are get the panelists right please

12:00

now this is actually a really big job

12:02

curating a panel needs some art and some

12:05

intention it's not just oh yeah these

12:08

five people talk about that subject

12:09

whoop them on the panel you really want

12:12

diverse views and perspectives not a

12:14

bunch of yes I Echo that view types

12:17

disagreement is a great way to learn and

12:21

you shouldn't be afraid of controversy

12:23

or the unexpected surprise is good it it

12:28

it stirs things in us it's emotional and

12:31

actually want people to feel emotion

12:34

because it makes the session exciting

12:36

thought provoking and memorable for all

12:38

the right reasons and of course it is

12:40

very possible to argue calmly and

12:42

without ranker um at business events

12:45

we're not all crazy politicians who are

12:47

all being unpleasant and trying to um

12:49

and trying to win votes we are grown-ups

12:52

discussing and potentially disagreeing

12:54

and that's fine and also many members of

12:56

your audience May disagree with you and

12:58

that doesn't mean that you're session is

12:59

wrong you don't want 100% agreement

13:02

disagreement is how we learn different

13:04

perspectives and

13:05

viewpoints so how many panelists do you

13:08

want well you need to think a little bit

13:11

here about your timings for example if

13:13

you've got four people on a panel and

13:15

the moderator and you've got a 30 minute

13:17

session that is going to mean if you're

13:19

totally fair with the amount of time

13:21

everybody has and you're including the

13:23

audience I seeing the audience as

13:25

another voice then that's five voices to

13:28

hear hear from in 30 minutes and that

13:31

means that really there's only 6 minutes

13:33

for each person to

13:35

talk so that's not a lot if you want

13:39

four questions or four points discussed

13:41

so I think for me the perfect number is

13:44

three plus the moderator and the

13:46

audience so three panelists a moderator

13:49

and the audience so essentially five

13:51

entities they all get you know over 10

13:54

minutes um in 45 minutes because

13:57

obviously the moderator can be a lot

13:59

tighter they should be able to get their

14:00

questions and their responses and their

14:02

intros and stuff down to about 5 minutes

14:05

if they've done the preparation so

14:07

therefore 45 minutes for three

14:10

panelists a moderator and the

14:15

audience so now just as we talked about

14:18

training your moderator you need to do

14:20

preparation with the panelists you need

14:22

to get them all in a call beforehand

14:24

because winging it is for the birds not

14:27

for your amazing panel that you're

14:28

attending are going to

14:30

love so this actually helps everybody as

14:33

well it helps the panelist too because

14:34

it helps build some chemistry beforehand

14:36

it sets

14:37

expectations and it also makes people

14:39

who are a little bit nervous about being

14:40

on the panel a little bit more confident

14:42

they understand it it's so important as

14:44

a human being when you're going to do

14:45

something new or meet a whole lot of new

14:47

people and you're going to be on a stage

14:48

that you understand what it's all going

14:50

to be like and what's expected of you it

14:52

just feels a little bit safer and and

14:54

also you're making friends that way

14:55

beforehand which is always lovely to go

14:57

on stage knowing everybody it's also

14:59

good because then the moderator can

15:00

think okay I know who the big talkers

15:02

are going to be and the ones that I'm

15:03

going to need to draw out more I now

15:05

know all the different perspectives of

15:06

where they're coming from I can see the

15:08

point that they're really going to want

15:09

to be making I can be saying to them

15:11

okay how relevant is that to the

15:12

audience is this what audiences care

15:14

about can you make sure that when you

15:15

give us your answer you give examples

15:17

that the audience is going to understand

15:19

all those kind of things you get ideas

15:20

as well about how you're going to

15:21

introduce them soly remember that's

15:23

going to be part of what you do a very

15:25

tight little introduction now it's

15:28

really good as well there you are

15:30

setting boundaries for the panelist you

15:32

are saying listen I want you to have

15:34

tight good answers that you thought

15:36

about I don't want you to rehearse them

15:38

I don't want you to have any notes be

15:40

conversational I want you to also ask

15:41

questions of each other you can also get

15:43

ideas from them about questions that you

15:45

could ask the audience to encourage

15:47

audience engagement and set boundaries

15:49

you can also say things like please

15:51

don't waste time with lines that people

15:54

tend to put out there they sometimes

15:56

everyone sometimes people on a panel

15:58

seem to think they're on the breakfast

15:59

so far and they have to say thanks CLA

16:01

for that great question and then go into

16:03

none of that that's not what you do in a

16:04

normal conversation this is a

16:06

conversation on a stage in front of

16:07

other people that are also going to come

16:09

in and say stuff you wouldn't say great

16:12

question Claire

16:13

to would you you just wouldn't so don't

16:16

do it on the panel and make sure that

16:18

you kind of politely say that to people

16:21

I I I see it more and more and it makes

16:23

me cringe anyway my cringing apart it's

16:26

now time to talk about what I think is

16:29

arguably the most important part of the

16:30

panel and that is getting the audience

16:33

to become part of this panel session

16:35

because that's what I'm all about

16:36

bringing in the attendee as much as

16:39

possible putting them at the heart of it

16:42

now recently heard that the first 60

16:45

seconds of a panel are what it's all

16:47

about so you can annoy the audience

16:50

straight away straight away by doing the

16:54

same thing walking on and waffling if

16:56

you come on and the moderator says hi

16:59

I'm clar I'm the moderator very quick in

17:01

this is who I am super quick super quick

17:03

as I said even about yourself now I want

17:05

to ask you guys a question before I

17:06

bring on the rest of the panel you've

17:08

already sort of fed encoded to the

17:11

audience that they're part of the panel

17:12

and it's super easy to do and they're

17:14

suddenly like oh okay this isn't one

17:16

where I'm just going to sit back and ask

17:17

questions at the end I can be

17:19

involved and it's then brilliant you've

17:22

already got them on your side and you've

17:25

also kind of set boundaries that it's

17:27

not going to be just about the the panel

17:29

boring at you we want to hear from you

17:30

you are the fourth

17:32

panelist now one of the reasons that

17:34

panels fail is because there's no

17:36

preparation sometimes though it's quite

17:38

hard if you've got a subject that is

17:40

very broad like AI or diversity equity

17:44

and inclusion you don't always know the

17:46

knowledge of your entire audience on

17:48

this and so one of the great ways to get

17:51

them involved and make them feel that

17:52

you care about them is by right at the

17:55

beginning kind of sort of getting some

17:56

polling going about what people's level

17:58

of knowledge is and I think in many

18:01

subject that can be the case because you

18:03

can have a very broad group of people in

18:05

the room for example events for events

18:07

people we're all coming from totally

18:09

different perspectives and I might not

18:10

know about the detail of um event

18:14

production I have an interest in it

18:16

because obviously it's something I deal

18:17

with but when I go to an event I'm not

18:19

an absolute Pro on it so I need it to be

18:23

delivered at a level I understand and if

18:24

somebody tries to find at the beginning

18:26

where are where we all sit with and

18:28

polling which is super easy to do now

18:30

you can ask a few questions and get a

18:32

really quick answer that's a great way

18:34

to start and also if you have a very big

18:36

audience you might be stuck essentially

18:39

with polling as the only interaction for

18:42

them Beyond getting hands up and stuff

18:44

like that because it might be too

18:46

difficult in a huge room but I would try

18:48

and avoid that if you can if you can try

18:49

and do any form of getting an audience

18:51

involved even on a very small level for

18:54

example when you poll people and it

18:56

comes back with um 15% of the people

18:58

there don't agree with something that

19:00

everybody else has agreed with you might

19:01

be able to say hey is there anyone in

19:03

the front who we can get a microphone to

19:05

who is part of that

19:06

15% um we really want to hear why

19:09

because you might only get that one

19:11

person's answer but they are kind of

19:13

Representative of that 15% and then that

19:15

15% will feel a bit validated you've

19:17

given them some representation so I hope

19:20

you've got from what I've just been

19:22

saying that there are lots of ways you

19:23

can get the audience involved and engage

19:26

them and that you need to be asking the

19:28

audience questions not just saying to

19:30

the audience have you got any questions

19:32

now so I think this has potentially been

19:34

quite a long podcast so far or it's

19:36

certainly in danger of becoming one of

19:38

my longest and I never want to bang on

19:40

too much I just want to leave you with

19:42

one final point which is if you have an

19:45

event coming up and you are now thinking

19:47

oh my god I've got too many panels and I

19:50

can't really justify the existence of

19:51

them and I'm doing it or wrong help I

19:53

can't change it you can change a few

19:55

things I want you to think there are

19:57

different ways to make your panels a

19:59

little bit more diverse and a little bit

20:00

more interesting if you know you've got

20:02

one where there's very diverse opinions

20:04

on it you can say let's set this up more

20:06

as a debate you could have two lect

20:08

turns you could have the moderator

20:10

sitting there as if it's a kind of

20:11

presidential debate and and that's not

20:14

too difficult to set up then the next

20:16

panel we're going to have three people

20:18

on we're going to get the each of them

20:21

to speak for say eight minutes each and

20:24

then to quiz each other on their points

20:26

and obviously still take questions from

20:28

the audience so that's likly breaking it

20:29

up a little bit you can also it's a

20:32

smaller group thing we've got our three

20:34

guests who are going to have three

20:35

different points of view or three

20:37

different subjects they talk about it

20:38

quickly and then everybody in the

20:40

audience picks which one they're going

20:41

to go to talk to afterwards and then you

20:43

have little smaller breakout sessions in

20:44

that panel depending how large it is and

20:47

of course there are so many different

20:48

ways to do this I hopefully have given

20:50

you some idea do get in touch if you

20:52

want to discuss more options for what

20:54

you could do in panels if you've got

20:56

your own ideas share them on social Med

20:58

media tag me in I'd love to hear about

21:00

it and I look forward to seeing you on

21:03

the next not the same as last year

21:11

podcast