Role Description:

As a moderator, it is your role to help make the speakers shine, whilst ‘neutrally’ facilitating the conversation with your speaker(s) and ensuring the discussion remains on topic + engaging! You will also keep an eye on the time and facilitate the Q&A with the audience. Importantly, moderators are there to create a safe conversation space.

Expectations:

It will be up to you to find a time to connect with your panelists or speaker to discuss the content together, before TechBBQ. You will therefore have ownership over the nitty-gritty direction of the segment. We expect you to create a safe space for an engaging conversation and to lead your session with empathy.

Tips & Tricks:

• Listen to your panelists/speakers and respond with compassion and understanding.
• We encourage building three (3) main discussion points/directions that the audience can walk away with - this way, it keeps the conversation focused and isn’t an overwhelming amount of information.
• Try and create a space that allows for your panelists to talk to each other and not just respond individually to your question. This makes for a much more engaging session!
• Be prepared! Outside of connecting with panelists, you can dive into articles, interviews, and other platforms to get to know your speakers better.
• Bring queue cards! Using a phone is possible, but sometimes it can be distracting.
• After the initial call, it helps to create a shared working document with the discussion points that people can add to and co-create.
• Ensure that each voice is heard by keeping track of who has spoken a lot versus those who aren’t speaking as much; find an organic + relevant way to bring them back into the conversation.

Selah Rui Li (at the center) moderating a panel on BeautyTech at TechBBQ 2024.

Practical info:

• Duration: Panels (30-35 minutes) - Fireside Chats (20-25 minutes)
• Please connect with your speakers to align on the content together in advance of the summit. TechBBQ does not set-up the prep calls.