Guidelines & Suggestions

MODERATORS

As a moderator, we ask you to provide questions that will drive the gist of your discussion to the panelists at least 14 days before the event. We would love for you to send 7-10 questions. Please consider setting up a call with your panelists before the conference to help assure everyone is on the same page (this is optional, not mandatory.) At the session we ask you to allow each panelist to introduce themselves and provide 1-2 key thoughts on the subject before the Q+A begins. In the Q+A it's important that all speakers get plenty of chances to talk and each speaker talks no more than 30-90 seconds at a time. We want to avoid any 1 person giving a speech during the Q+A. Generally it's always helpful to engage the audience for questions as well and we encourage speakers to interact with each other.

PANELISTS

Here, we want you to be very interactive with the panel and the audience. We ask that you generally don't provide a power point but you do prepare by thinking of 2-3 things you'd like the audience to take away from your talk. We encourage you to engage with other panelists, drive home two to three takeaways for the audience and to enjoy yourself. The moderator should provide you with the questions at least 7-14 days before the event. 

The biggest criticism we get on panels is sometimes the lack of take away points. So we ask that when you introduce yourself (1-2 minute introductions), you provide a couple key thoughts on the subject and be cognizant of providing a few takeaways during the panel.

SPEAKERS

We are really thankful for you agreeing to spend your time speaking and preparing a presentation. To that end, here are six quick thoughts to consider: 

1.  Prepare and don't wing it. Please put the time in to make sure you do a terrific job speaking. You are all experts in your fields and are speaking in your key areas, so it won't take a ton of time but it is important that you come prepared. 

2.  Think in terms of giving the attendees 2-3 key take home points of value — if nothing else, you want them to know "x or y" when they leave. Think about what you want your audience to take away from the presentation. 

3.  Consider looking for ways to add new anecdotes, and new ideas to your presentation. Everyone loves a good story! 

4.  We find that the best presentations are rehearsed, make sure to go over your presentation at least once before conference day. 

5.  Aim to teach and entertain. 

6.  Please limit anything that might be taken as a commercial, or an attempt to sell something.