Panels attract attention primarily because of their speaker lineup—the audience attends because they want to hear the individuals in question weigh in on a certain topic. So, it’s easy to forget the importance of the glue that holds it all together: the moderator.

photo credit: Gage Skidmore / Wikimedia

Moderator may be a more understated role than panelist, but it’s quite literally the make-or-break factor on whether a panel is successful in achieving its goals and engaging the audience.

When you’re moderating a panel, your biggest responsibility is to stimulate great questions—these are the gateways to insightful answers. Keeping things flowing with quality questions gets panelists engaged, which in turn gives audience members a reason to care and retain what they’re learning.…