A great panel or roundtable can be talked about long after the event, boosting reputation and generating reams of cracking content. A good podcast puts you in the ear of potential clients and collaborators and builds connection, authority and reputation.
But both require careful planning, a structure, and knowing your goals to deliver fully.
In a LinkedIn video event last month, Ayo Abbas and I discussed some common mistakes made with panels and podcasts, how to avoid them and how to plan for success.
We have years of experience as hosts, moderators, organisers – and attendees – and you can watch the full conversation, which includes anecdotes and our experiences here.
COMMON MISTAKES
Lack of promotionÂ
People don’t always promote events or podcasts enough. Sharing details once isn’t sufficient to raise awareness.
For our LinkedIn live video events, we do polls and posts, direct invites and promote in our newsletters. The event details are also shared across other social media channels.
Ayo has a two-week lead time for an episode of her podcast, posting 2/3 times a week to promote.
Not everyone is online when you post on social media, so each post has a limited audience.
Unstructured conversations
If the conversations/discussion hasn’t been planned, it shows.
Unstructured, rambling panels or podcasts aren’t a good experience for the audience or listeners. There needs to be logic and flow, which means having some sort of structure or framework.
Conversations can also be structured to the point of making them stilted, with the host simply asking each guest or panellist every question from a list.
Just as you would structure an article, discussions need to be curated to make them interesting and listenable.
Too many panellists/guests
With pay-to-play more common with panels at industry events it can be tempting to add value by adding guests.
But having five or six people on a panel isn’t the best way to have a conversation. There isn’t really enough time for anyone to speak meaningfully. It’s also difficult for the host to manage the conversation and make it engaging.
For podcasts, if you have too many people, listeners won’t know whose voice is whose.
Boring topics and echo chambers
We’ve all sat through a boring panel at least once. If a podcast is boring, it’s easy to switch off and listen to something else.
The topic up for discussion has to be interesting or deliver on its promise to be interesting. The speakers must bring something to the conversation, not just repeat what everyone already knows.
There is value in people having their views confirmed, but if everyone in the discussion is on the same page, it’s missing something. How are you moving the debate on?
Not maximising the content value
Panels and podcasts take time and resources to organise and deliver. There’s also your speakers/guests’ time.
How do you make sure that content is not limited to the few people who show up? How can you maximise the value of that content, repurpose it and extend its shelf life?
There is a lot you can do with a bit of planning, but not repurposing is leaving an awful lot on the table.
PLANNING FOR A SUCCESSFUL PANEL OR PODCAST
Set your panel or podcast goals
Knowing what you want to achieve with your panel or podcast is important for delivery, and measuring qualitative and quantitative success.
There will be business and marketing goals, but what do you want the audience to walk away thinking or feeling at the end? Is there something you want them to do?
What does success look like in the short, medium and longer term?
Plan to promote
Planning how you will promote your event or podcast is, as already outlined, crucial, and you need to allow enough time.
You need to talk about your panel or podcast repeatedly over a sustained period of time. Find different ways to talk about it and reference it.
Think about how you can use your email list, social media channels and website and promote using different formats.
If you’ve got collaborators or people in your network who may be interested in your panel or podcast, can you share assets with them to use on their channels?
Can you send a calendar invite so it pops up in people’s diaries?
With podcasts, it takes time to build an audience, so you need to promote each episode consistently. Go back and re-promote older episodes or episodes that cover related topics.
Focus on audience experience
People often don’t think enough about the audience experience. What will the sound quality be for people in the room or the listening experience if it’s a podcast, for example.
Will the discussion and guest or guests engage the audience?
What do you want the audience to get out of it, and why will it be worth their time? Do you want them to learn something or come away thinking differently? Do you want them to feel inspired? Excited? Upbeat? Glum? Overwhelmed?
Timing is important for panels. If you’ve told people that your discussion is going to be 45 minutes, keep to time. It’s better to leave attendees wanting more rather than going on and on and people getting fidgety.
Delivering a great audience experience will most likely lead to success with at least some of your business goals.
Choosing the right guests/panellists
Plan guests to suit the topic. Who has interesting things to say, and are they good speakers? Do some research, listen to people talking or watch them on YouTube videos. What is their energy level? Do they come across well?
Factor in enough time to find the best guests. Think about different voices and viewpoints and what each person will bring to the table.
It will help make it a more interesting conversation to have a range of opinions rather than everyone having the same point of view or experience.
Have a brief for panellists/guests, outline some questions or talking points and give people time to prepare.
If they are nervous or uncomfortable about public speaking, think about how you can reassure them and make it a positive experience.
People perform their best when they are relaxed and comfortable and understand the format.
A good host or moderator
The host or moderator’s job isn’t just to ask questions. They need to set the tone for the conversation or the panel. They need to manage the discussion, making sure that one person doesn’t dominate and everyone gets enough chance to speak.
They keep the discussion flowing, moving it on and ensuring key conversation points are covered while keeping to the designated time.
Who is hosting or moderating is important.
Build your audience by repurposing
An event doesn’t have to be a one-off if you plan ahead.
Record the panel and get a transcript (plenty of AI tools available for this). Use that as the base for short- and long-form written content – articles, posts, white papers etc.
You can do the same with podcasts to build and extend your audience. Not everyone likes audio, but they may read an article about the topic discussed.
From your podcast, you can also create audio and video clips for use across multiple channels.
Repurposing maximises the value of your content and saves you time creating lots of new content from scratch.
What’s the best/worst panel you’ve been to?
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Continue reading
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- How to leverage value from trade shows and conferences with B2B content
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- Make it an event: Delivering successful round tables
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