The moderator is the person “on stage” taking full control and responsibility. He or she translates the plans on paper to a real-life, effective event.

The perfect moderator may be a professional, it may be an expert on the subject or even a celebrity sometimes. But why shouldn’t it be you?

In your every day business, you probably already do moderating, without realising it. And you may well be more talented then you think.

So, what skills does a good moderator need, to be able to perform well? She or he can:

• Generate interaction, by creating an atmosphere where everybody can participate;
• Introduce speakers and make them feel free to shine;
• make sure everything runs on time;
• Interview people, individually or in a panel;
• Act as discussion leader: do Q&A’s and make debates meaningful;
• Facilitate group processes, in all kinds of working formats;
• Help networking;
• Get people to really listen and talk to each other;
• Feel, hear, see and smell what the guests think. A moderator is sensitive in every way;
• Help the meeting owner design a program that is effective and that will meet the goals;
• Understand what the goal of the meeting is and is capable of making small changes during the meeting, when necessary.

How to choose the perfect moderator for a meeting? The criteria to make a choice are:

• What skills does the moderator need for this meeting? Do you need an interviewer, who can also do a bit of debating? Or is the occasion better suited for an entertainer who can connect people; or maybe even a facilitator, having attendees do exercises?
• What personality would fit the target-group best? Who has the most suitable tone, pace and style to really connect to the audience?
• How does the moderator relate to the subject and the attendees? Do you want an experts in the field or someone with a “laymans” view? Is someone from within the organisation the best option, or is a neutral outsider the better choice?

In the end, the investment (in time and money) in effective moderation will help you make meetings more successful.

Masters in Moderation is the only agency world-wide, completely focussing on (conference) moderation. Their goal is to raise effectiveness of meetings. To do so, they not only provide help in finding the best possible moderator for each event, they also do training and coaching, to drive the level of moderation up.

Two of their most experienced moderators, Kim Coppes and Jan-Jaap In der Maur, are also doing specialized two-day workshop “MASTERING MODERATION”, for those who wants to become a professional moderator and to teach the skills of good moderation.

First of this kind of workshop in SEE region, is going to be organized by company kongresniturizam.com in October 2014 in Belgrade.

M.M.