10
Rules for Being a Great Moderator
Being
a moderator is nowhere near as easy as many people think. This article is meant
to support you
in
becoming a great moderator.
Everyone
has at some point in their working lives come out of a meeting feeling that it
was a big
waste
of time. People get frustrated, bored, lazy or just plain cynical when meetings
don’t
accomplish
much and there’s little to inspire or motivate. So, we need to do something to
break the
pattern
of boring or unproductive meetings!
Seminars
and workshops should be dynamic, entertaining, funny and brave. If you treat
your seminar
like
a lecture, your audience will act like bored students. But treat your seminar
like a performance
and
your audience will be grateful. They will notice the difference!
Believe
it or not, the success of a meeting comes down to the moderator.
Whenever
groups of people get together, two things are usually true:
1.
Everyone sees the world differently, no matter how similar their points of view
may be
2.
Everyone thinks their view is the right one
When
there is a spirit of cooperation and a willingness to arrive at a mutually
agreed outcome,
disparate
points of view can work together, and people go away satisfied that their point
of view has
been
taken into consideration and utilised in some way. That is the role of the
moderator.
So
being a moderator is about being a calming and pragmatic influence that can
make a significant
difference
to the outcome of any kind of meeting, workshop, event, forum, etc. A good
moderation
means
to make things easier, to smooth the progress of and to assist in making things
happen.
Moderation
takes practice, so here are 10 things to remember which will help you become a
seriously
good moderator:
1.
Be neutral and objective: as a moderator you are not supposed to
participate in the
discussion
or share your own views, but to be an objective, impartial voice. If you have a
lot
of
things to say, then you should be part of the panel, and not the moderator. You
have every
right
to have an opinion. If you put it on the table, however, you would be taking
sides. In the
role
of the moderator, your personal opinions and feelings should remain unspoken.
Imagine
yourself being slightly distanced (physically) from what’s going on; sitting
just
outside
the group so you can observe the dynamic of what’s going on. You may still be
sitting
right
in the middle, but part of you is outside looking in.
Often
when people come together with widely differing points of view, it’s very hard
to hear
the
other side’s arguments. What you are demonstrating by being objective and
keeping an
open
mind is that you hear both sides. By keeping an open mind yourself, you
actually model
effective
behaviour from your audience. In my experience, when this happens, it does calm
people
down and helps them see that there is more than one way to do things.
Being
objective and neutral also entails having the ability to craft how a meeting
goes, rather
than
imposing your will and your point of view. As the moderator, it is not your job
to answer
questions
but to raise questions for your audience to reflect upon.
2.
Create a nice environment: since the idea is to ease the way for people,
it’s important not to
put
anyone on the spot, embarrass or humiliate them. If anyone at the meeting puts
a
colleague
on the spot, you can take the spotlight yourself or manoeuvre it onto someone
else
who won’t mind being centre-stage for a while. It's about creating a
non-judgemental,
objective
environment where people feel they can air their opinions without getting shot
down
or humiliated.
3.
Be clear: Your job is to visibly and audibly keep the panelists (people
who will hold a
presentation)
on track, thus helping the audience feel safe and secure. So be clear about
telling
people why they're there, what's going to happen, and when it's going to end.
Let
there
be no uncertainty that you're in charge and going to make this worthwhile. Ask
short
questions
and make clear statements.
4.
Keep it simple: Clarify! Simplify! Sometimes a facilitator acts as a
translator, not only
reflecting
back what they’ve heard, but also interpreting it in a way that other people
can
understand.
A good facilitator is practiced in understanding the differing nuances, jargon
and
meanings
in what various people are saying and being able to explain that difference to
others.
A useful phrase is “So what you’re saying is….”. This is because what people
mean
and
say will often be very different from how they are heard. Try to use analogies
to help
people
understand each other.
5.
Be prepared: You will need to have a general understanding of the
subject in order to be able
to
steer the discussion. Have ready a set of topic-organised possible questions,
provocative
statements,
quotes from documents, or whatever conversation starters you think will work.
Be
prepared, of course, to abandon all of them if the discussion takes an
unexpected and
interesting
turn.
6.
Encourage conversation: This should be obvious, but so often it’s not.
Too many seminars
divide
the time up into a few little presentations. Instead of a dynamic conversation,
the
audience
gets a series of slideshows. Instead, you should encourage the panellists to
respond
to
each other. When one panellist makes a point, ask the other what they think. If
you know
that
one of them disagrees, point that out. Don’t be afraid of disagreement! Smart
people
disagree
all the time. Get the presentations going as quickly as possible, so that you
leave
enough
room for discussion. People will often mention something that is confusing or
controversial,
but will just continue as if it’s common knowledge. Don’t let this happen, as
it
leaves
a huge gap in the discussion. If the question popped in your head, it has
probably
popped
in the head of everyone else in the room. Ask the question that’s on
everybody’s
mind
but nobody dares asking!
7.
Be able to think about more than two things at once: You will need to be
listening to the
current
discussion, while thinking about the overall planned discussion, the time, how
long
the
current discussion has gone on, and about where you want to go next on your way
to
closing
the workshop.
8.
Be focused: As a rule you'll never get through more than three broad
issues in a single
workshop
or panel, so be careful not to over-stuff the thing trying to cover too many
issues
at
once. Sum up, when it looks as though there may be too many ideas floating
around that
need
clarification from people with differing points of view.
9.
Be timely: This is very important. Get the workshop started on time,
keep it moving, and
finish
on time. Let people see you confidently check your watch. Let people know when
there
is
"only five minutes left". So if a panellist is going on too long,
interrupt them. If someone is
boring
you, they’re probably boring the audience too, so summarise and turn the
attention
to
someone else. If an audience member asks an uniformed question, rephrase it
into
something
more relevant for your panel. Interventions can take the shape of interrupting
someone,
even when they’re in mid-flow, A good, gentle way to do that is to say, “I’m
going
to
interrupt you for a moment.”
10.
Be fun: There are enough funereal, unsmiling, self-important, and
over-serious workshop
moderators.
If you don't have fun, your panel won't have fun, and your audience won't have
fun.
If you created a relaxed and fun atmosphere people will be willing to share and
learn
and
your workshop will more likely be a success.
Drafted
by Sonia Herrero, inProgress Director
inProgress is a
dynamic social enterprise offering training and
consultancy services
to non-governmental, non-profit organisations
and their donors in support of their work. It is our belief that
in order
to make the most of the limited resources that most NGOs have,
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