Tourism Panel Moderator: 2022 will consolidate the execution of world-class hybrid events in the tourism and travel industry.
After moderating many tourism panel discussions over the past 24 months with the likes of dignitaries, experts, journalists, and hoteliers, these are the 3 KEY ACTIONS I take every time for successful panel moderation.
These 3 KEY ACTIONS also ensure that the panel speakers feel at ease and deliver their best performance. After implementing religiously these 3 steps, my last panel discussion reached a quarter of a million views on Twitter Live!
Here is a short video where I share my 3 KEY ACTIONS to deliver the perfect Tourism Panel Moderation for those of you planning, hosting or executing a hybrid tourism event these days.
Many of us in the tourism, travel and hospitality industry has moderated a tourism panel discussion over the past two years, whether in person, more likely, virtually.
I've interviewed the likes of dignitaries, aviation industry leaders, tourism, journalists, travel experts, and hoteliers.
Each one of them had a very different way of putting out their insights and contributing to the discussion. During the discussions, I've noticed some RECURRING PATTERNS and some of the challenges that moderators, particularly in the tourism industry should be aware of.
So I decided to dedicate this video to some of the tricks and tips and insights that I can share with you so that you can host the perfect moderation panel.
Number one: DUE DILIGENCE
I make sure that I research every single bit of information or digital assets that my guest panelists have online. Have they joined any other conversations before? Have they been interviewed? Is there a video on YouTube that I can look at?
It is important to know your guest panelists as much as you can in advance so to anticipate situations where your speakers could feel uncomfortable and could perhaps "freeze" during the panel discussion and understand when for example, a guest panelist is going off-subject, to help that person come back on subject and contribute to the discussion further.
Number two: PREPARE A SCRIPT
I like to keep my moderation style very natural and inflow. But at the same time, it's important to prepare questions in advance and just circulate them. So to make sure that the guest panelists receive the script of the panel discussion, and can prepare the answer so that they sound their best and they come across well prepared. Also in the script, I like to include WHAT IS THE INTENTION OF THE QUESTION? What kind of answer is expected or desired? Of course, I do keep an element of surprise. And that also helps the conversation maintain a natural tone of voice, but I make sure that if the questions are not on script, they are coming from a background that I am fully prepared for.
Number three: LISTEN FIRST
As a tourism panel moderator your job might appear to be to go through the questions, making sure you ask them all. And your guest panelists are there to answer. But if you exercise listening first, you will realize that in these answers could lie perhaps a 'hidden question' that you could be asking to make the conversation even more relevant and to make your guest panelist more engaged and involved in the conversation.
BONUS TIP!
As a tourism panel moderator, you are more likely to be at ease in front of a camera and a microphone and speaking to an audience. But you might be moderating a panel where your guest speakers are coming from the travel tourism or hospitality industry and are not accustomed to public speaking.
So what can happen in this case? Your speaker could freeze, or could forget the answer. It is important as a moderator to listen carefully to the answer and the way the answer is going for the speakers. So to help them express themselves to do best.
More on my website www.doloressemeraro.com for hosting, moderating and delivering tourism and hospitality keynotes.
