How to be a rockstar moderator
Three tips to make your guests shine at center stage
The number one job of a moderator, interviewer or any host is to help their presenters shine in the spotlight. Sometimes you need to ease a nervous presenter or excite the crowd for an energetic welcome. Other times you need to gently direct the story arc of a presentation or effectively manage audience questions. Regardless of your task at hand, your goal remains the same: help your presenter shine in front of their audience.
Before we begin, a quick note: I use “presenter” below to refer to both interviewees in a one-on-one setting, or members of a panel. In most cases, these tips apply equally to both groups.
#1 Style and Tone
Your first step is to envision the style and tone the interview or panel should take. While there’s certainly a time for a serious and perhaps confrontational interview, I leave those to journalists and opt for a more casual and empathetic style
The master of this style is Terry Gross, one of the greatest interviewers of our time. Her NPR biography explains her talents better than I ever could:
Gross, who has been host of Fresh Air since 1975, when it was broadcast only in greater Philadelphia, isn’t afraid to ask tough questions. But Gross sets an atmosphere in which her guests volunteer the answers rather than surrendering them. What often puts those guests at ease is Gross’ understanding of their work. “Anyone who agrees to be interviewed must decide where to draw the line between what is public and what is private,” Gross says. “But the line can shift, depending on who is asking the questions. What puts someone on guard isn’t necessarily the fear of being ‘found out.’ It sometimes is just the fear of being misunderstood.”
Most recently, when I prepared to interview Target CMO Jeff Jones, I envisioned Chris Anderson interviewing Elon Musk at SXSW this year. Watch a few minutes if you have a chance. You’ll quickly understand Elon Musk has an impressive story, however he’s not a great storyteller. Despite that, Chris is able to set Elon at ease because he’s extremely well prepared, ready to ask the right questions to help Elon tell his story.
#2 Preparation
In fact, you might notice that Chris knows the important points of Elon’s story and knows exactly what to ask. Advance preparation for an interview is the most important tip I can offer. The most natural interviews, are the ones where the interviewer is most prepared and therefore the most natural in their delivery. A common mistake a moderator makes is that they don’t have to know the content. In fact, the opposite is true. They should know the content as well as, if not better than, the panelists. Rarely will the panelists prepare at all, expecting to wing it. And if everyone is winging it, nobody is in control.
For instance, when interviewing Jeff Jones I spent most of the previous day reading about Target’s marketing, planning topics for the interview and preparing questions. I was planning to take audience questions from Twitter, and while I expected good questions from the audience, I was prepared with more content than I could’ve covered in three hours. This gave me flexibility to avoid covering topics he had already covered and to move on quickly if he wasn’t doing so well on a specific topic. I also knew roughly how I would transition from topic to topic.
As you prepare, my advice is to do thorough research on the presenters, their companies and their backgrounds. Get a sense of what questions they’ll be able to answer and what questions would be better suited for another presenter. Read news articles about their companies. See what trends are happening in their industry. Take a look at competitors. Search for their brand on social media. All of these things will help you develop context, which is necessary for a good conversational interview.
#3 Delivery
As moderator, setting the pace and tone is your job as the presenters will take their cues from you on how to respond. When taking an improv class or workshop, you’ll probably hear that you shouldn’t “block” or “say no” to another actor. This means always ending your question in such a way that they can pick it up naturally. I use language like “what are your thoughts about that” and avoid language like “you probably agree with that, right.”
I also try to give presenters an “out” if they don’t want to answer a question, so if it’s a sensitive topic, I’ll either avoid it or ask “can you share any details about…” which gives them the option to say no. If you have time beforehand, you may ask about any off limits topics before taking the stage.
If moderating a panel, You also want to make sure you manage effectively, moving to another topic when one is exhausted and keeping track of time. I also try to make note of who has spoken, and if a panelist hasn’t spoken much, I look for ways to pull them into the conversation. If somebody is dominating the panel, kindly redirect the discussion. Your audience will thank you.
Bonus: Chemistry
Especially true in panels, you want to build good chemistry with and amongst the presenters. When preparing panels for SXSW Interactive, I always held several meetings with the panel beforehand. I usually hold a conference call several weeks in advance to ensure everyone is preparing. Once arriving at the conference, I hold a dinner meeting to review final details and build chemistry between the presenters. Finally, a conversation in the green room helps to warm up the presenters for a lively discussion.
If you can’t pull your panel together ahead of time, consider preparing on your own and hosting a quick conversation in an adjacent room or hallway. By fostering good rapport between the presenters, they develop witty banter, know how to pass questions off to another and are generally more comfortable on stage.
Of course, this is only a few tips among many. Hopefully they’ll help you, and your presenters, shine at your next event. If you have any other tips, or find these helpful, let me know @evancarroll.
