Category Archives: moderating

Frank Sesno’s New Book

Posted on January 14, 2017 | Leave a comment

ask-more

One of the very best, most thoughtful questioners I’ve ever had the honor to work with has a new book out that couldn’t be more timely: Ask More. I highly recommend it.

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Posted in books, journalism, moderating, television

The Commandments of Moderating, Part 8-10: Listen, Listen, Listen.

Posted on January 13, 2017 | Leave a comment

A good moderator is well prepared, has a set of questions in mind for each panelist, and has a good idea of how each panelist will respond to each question. And then the discussion starts and things get interesting. Someone says something that wasn’t expected. They allude to an opinion that doesn’t fit what is usually expected of them, or to a decision that was a mistake. That’s why a moderator’s most important job is to be in the moment and listen — even while thinking about time limitations, who hasn’t gotten to speak yet, and topics that have to be addressed.

Listen for that surprising moment, and follow up on it.

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Posted in moderating, producing discussions

Immigration and the Peter Jennings Project

Posted on March 18, 2011 | Leave a comment

Can a dialogue on one of the most controversial issues in American policy — illegal immigration — be passionate, and smart, and civil?  The brilliant Jeff Greenfield of CBS News moderated a dialogue at the National Constitution Center that proved it can be done.  You can watch it in full here.

I produced this discussion for the Peter Jennings Project, an organization dedicated to helping current and future journalists understand constitutional issues more deeply.  It was especially meaningful to me because I produced a dialogue moderated by Peter Jennings in 1999.   Continue reading →

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The Commandments of Moderating, Part 6: Prepare, But Don’t Overprepare, Panelists and Part 7: Directing Traffic

Posted on January 2, 2011 | Leave a comment

With the new year I bring you the long-overdue second half of the Ten Commandments of Moderating.  Next up: How to prepare your panelists; and how to direct traffic. Continue reading →

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That’s About Right

Posted on October 12, 2010 | Leave a comment

From The New Yorker:

Want to do something about it?  Try this.

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The Commandments of Moderating, Part 5: Paint Pictures

Posted on October 8, 2010 | 2 comments

The first two commandments of moderating are here, the third here, and the fourth here.   I started out without much concern on the order of these pieces of advice, but the list seems to be developing a structure: The first two commandments are the most basic.  They’ve been followed by three on formulating questions. After that, we’ll have a couple on preparation and directing traffic, followed by the most important commandment of all.  Now for the last piece of advice on questions: Continue reading →

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The Commandments of Moderating, Part 4: Conversations

Posted on September 30, 2010 | 1 comment

The first two commandments of moderating are here, and the third here.  Next up:

4. Create Conversations — As I have ranted about before, far too often the label “panel discussion” is a misnomer: The event instead is a set of presentations followed by a series of questions from the moderator to each panelist.   The good news is, this creates a great opportunity for you:  If you can actually get panelists talking to each other — to actually have a discussion at your “panel discussion” — both panelists and audience will be very pleasantly surprised.  You’ll see smiles and greater engagement all around.  Here are several ways to make it happen: Continue reading →

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The Commandments of Moderating, Part 3: Hard Questions

Posted on September 21, 2010 | 2 comments

Following up on the first two commandments of moderating, here is the third:

3. Ask Hard Questions that Get Answered — You have probably seen certain investigative news shows, or dramas about courtroom lawyers, in which the crusading attorney or journalist hurls accusatory questions, and is rewarded with the object of the questioning either running from the cameras or confessing to guilt on the witness stand.  Those kinds of questions are great for creating tension and making the questioner look strong.  What they’re terrible for is getting answers.

I love hard questions; a panel  discussion isn’t worth having without them.  But I like having them answered, and that’s a lot more likely to happen if you don’t make answering the question equivalent to losing a battle of wills with the moderator.  Here are some techniques for asking hard questions that get answered: Continue reading →

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The Commandments of Moderating a Panel, Parts 1 – 2: The Basic Basics

Posted on September 21, 2010 | 3 comments

Not long ago I posted my top five  Don’ts when creating a panel discussion.  It was intended for anyone putting together a panel event.  Now let’s focus in on moderating.  Here, the first two of the Ten Commandments of Moderating.  These are the most basic of basics (but even so, you’ve probably suffered through more than one panel that broke these rules): Continue reading →

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