In yesterday’s post, I discussed some tips for moderating a panel at a conference or business event. Today’s post provides some advice for participating in a panel. Of course, your aim when participating in a panel is the same as when giving a presentation – to provide your audience with valuable information, which they can use to their advantage. Below are three ideas which might help you to make your answers and comments as helpful as possible
Be prepared
You’ll have been informed of the subject of the panel and why you’ve been asked to participate. You should also have at least a vague understanding of who your audience are. From this information, you should be able to identify some possible questions your audience will have.
I don’t advise scripting yourself, as this removes the personal feel from a panel – but thinking through the answers you will give is likely to make your responses more thoughtful and well structured.
Be brief
Brevity is especially important when there are other pannelists who might want to answer a question, and more audience members waiting to contribute. Answer only the exact question given, and even if you have 100 interesting points to make, try to limit your answer to a maximum of three sentences.
If the audience is really interested, they will ask you to expand.
Refer them on
In the interest of keeping your answers brief, think of useful books, resources and websites you could refer people to, if they want more detailed information.
If the discussion gets off-topic, or you’re running out of time, it’s often nice to offer to stick around and speak to people personally after the panel. This will get you in the moderator’s good books, and give you a chance to sample some free wine, at least.
