Why Panel Discussions can be Dangerous (Teaching Tips Series)
What makes for a great panel discussion?
One of the more common “creative” methods I see used is that of the panel discussion. Panel discussions have the potential to be very good, but they also possess the greatest danger (well, next to mime perhaps) of being a big flop if done poorly. They make me nervous because I know the preparation necessary to make them work.
There are a lot of benefits to using panel discussion! It gives your audience an opportunity to learn from knowledgeable people regarding a specific topic, to “think along” with experienced experts, and to think about a topic from a range of perspectives. The key to an effective panel discussion is the interaction among participants as they present information and discuss their personal views.
There are five crucial elements that you will need to address to make your next panel discussion “work.”
Be mindful of the content you want to teach. This is a teaching method, so you’ll still need to write an objective statement for your panel discussion. Some people even suggest you and panel members ought to rehearse a panel discussion for it to go well! This is not always possible. Make sure your content is set up in a logical fashion and think through how the discussion will end. More on that later too.
You may be asking how can one set up content if the information is panel members. Generate your best list of questions and provide them to participants ahead of time to give you some early responses so you’ll know what people want to discuss. Look over these responses for any potential problems or for fresh ideas of where the panel discussion can go. This will help address the concerns of those who think you need to rehearse.
Who is on the panel matters. This is the “expertise” factor. I once saw a panel discussion on parenting with panel members who had no children over the age of seven. You could hear the parents of adolescents in the audience snickering to themselves, thinking “you all have no idea what’s coming.”
Two problem areas are panel participants who talk too much too long or who have personalities that don’t work well in a group (they’re dominant, speak poorly in public, or have other unique behaviors).
Be sure all of your panel members don’t share the same perspective. Keep it within reason, of course. You don’t want an animal rights activist and an NRA member on the same panel.
The interaction is what makes the panel discussion effective. It’s not the content of each member alone, but how the panel responds to each other and builds off the others’ comments. It’s up to the moderator to make sure the interaction is vibrant. The change of speakers helps to hold audience attention. If one person dominates or the moderator doesn’t fuel the interaction, the method loses its strength.
Think about some modern-day examples. The View has used a panel of hosts to keep it interesting beyond what one person could do. The Youth Ministry Garage video podcast has life to it because we watch the interactions between Doug, Josh, Matt, and Katie and that interaction is part of the content.
Answer the audience’s eventual “so what?” question. Most panel discussions are simply content dumps in disguise. The panel presents a lot of information (versus having a discussion with each other, let alone having one with the audience) and when it’s over it just stops with a few phrases muttered by the moderator. The audience needs to know what they are to do with what they’ve heard, observed, and discussed.
Make sure you’re using the panel discussion to develop people. If you put exemplary people on your panel, make sure your process/format helps people develop their ability to respect others’ viewpoints and feelings. Since there’s the “think along with experts” element to panel discussions, be aware that your audience will be doing that and work to feature the good thinking from who will sit on your panel.
So… repeat after me…….. panel discussion works because of the preparation and the interaction of good panel members.
What have you observed about panel discussions? What has made panel discussions you’ve seen go well and what have you seen that didn’t go so well?
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