Moderator, Speaker and Presentation Recommendations

How-To Recommendations

• Ditch the Pitch
  As an invited speaker we consider you an expert in your field. We appreciate the perspective you have to offer and the purpose of this panel is to share your knowledge. Be careful not to make it a blatant commercial for your company.

• Organize, Organize, Organize
  Discuss who is speaking and what the topic is before getting on stage.
  
  Take initiative to meet via email or phone as a group to discuss who will be talking about what and how that will be presented, i.e. one powerpoint or several or no powerpoint(s).

• Be Prepared
  Check over your Power Point Presentations and handouts for spelling, type font, color pattern, correct version.

• Turn in materials for the on site manual--It isn’t good PR to look unprepared.
  Attendees are adamant about the importance of being able to follow along while a speaker is presenting the material. Please turn in your materials by the due date.

• Meet everyone before the panel
  Be ready to go on stage at your panel time slot. Identify a location in the hotel or an area you can be found in the audience to get to the stage quickly.

• Stick to the topic or explain why you are going off topic
  Attendees choosing a particular session will be dismayed if they are presented with something different then what was advertised on the agenda. An easy solution is to explain why the topic needed to be modified from the printed agenda.

• Watch the clock
  Each panel is allotted 50 minutes, leaving ten minutes to change speakers and give everyone a quick break between panels. Each topic is important and everyone is running under the same time constraints.

• Details, specifics, practical, outcomes, charts, etc.
  Many of the topics are complex in nature and everyone can benefit from being clear on the details of what is being presented. Different presentation forms work for different people, topics and situations; visual additions are often helpful.

• Moderators: Communicate, Coordinate, Collect and Send
  Communicate via email or conference call with your group as soon as possible. The Moderator is expected to steer and coordinate the efforts of those on the panel. Decide if a collective PowerPoint or individual PowerPoint is appropriate. Collect the presentations and send them to Jennifer Payne for inclusion in the manual by the due date established.