Having multiple podcast guests at once can feel like herding cats – everyone wants a chance to say their bit, everyone has an opinion and people can potentially start speaking over each other! But there are a lot of great benefits to this podcast style, if you can pull it off.
Panel-style podcasts are usually:
Lively and dynamic in style – like listening to a conversation with friends!
Good at bringing different perspectives together.
A great way to share expertise and insight.
So, how do you make sure that everyone can be heard and understood, and that everyone contributes their best? In short: you need a great host to act as chairperson, guiding the debate.
In this article, we break down our advice for using panel chairing experience for hosting a great podcast, including some top tips from serial panel chair and Executive Chair of Message Heard, Louise Beaumont (so many chairs!).
Serial panel chair and Executive Chair of Message Heard, Louise Beaumont.
Choosing your guests
As is the case for any great podcast or panel, guest selection is really vital to making sure it all comes together. The best guests are those who have a depth of knowledge, are comfortable speaking on the topic and who bounce well off others.
Being opinionated or passionate is usually a pro, and it can be helpful to select guests based on their ability to add different points of view to the same topic.
Trust-building and coaching
It’s often helpful to spend time with your panellists ahead of the day, and this also applies to a panel podcast. This will enable you to both build trust in the relationship with that individual guest and test out any avenues that might be ripe for further discussion. In the production process, we call this step the pre-interview which you can learn more about here.
According to Louise, it’s also a chance to suss out how well your individual guest responds to some of your intended topics, so that you can ‘Coach them on how to make the answer more vibrant.’ This doesn’t mean showing them all your questions, but rather introducing in broad strokes the things you’re likely to cover.
It’s also a way to help improve their answering skills by encouraging them to ‘Add a killer fact or stat, tell the memorable anecdote. Keep it short and colourful, rather than lengthy and pedantic.’ All important for getting the most value out of your conversation.
A lot of this links to our more general tips about becoming a better podcast host, which you can read more about here.
Formulating the arc of the discussion
Another opportunity that comes from panel prep is developing the discussion arc. This translates neatly into the arc of the episode in any panel-style podcast. Louise says:
During the prep call, people can see that I’m building the story arc, and giving everyone a role in building it. They can see when and where I’ll bring out oppositional or supporting views. And they can see I’ll be fair with airtime. Once you have a good story arc you can place each point of view in an order that will make sense to the audience – again, this makes it memorable – which is better for the panellists.
Planning your discussion arc is always a great way to ensure that you get everything you need out of the group and come away with a conversation that is dynamic but also has a flow from start to finish.
Encouraging surprising answers
The best moments in panel discussions often come out of surprising takes on the topic – ones that reveal a more passionate, opinionated or just unique sense of the subject. Prompting these surprises can be tricky, but Louise says it has a lot to do with the courage to ask more daring questions:
I’m on the audience’s side – I know I have to make the conversation sharp, vibrant and relevant for them, and also really to the point so they say ‘God, I wish I had thought of that question’ or ‘I wish I was brave enough to ask that question’ and then I have to get them really sharp, interesting answers – so the tough question pays off with an interesting answer.
It's worth also remembering that the courage to ask has to be accompanied by the right questions, asked at the right moment, and prefaced with the trust of the panellists themselves. Louise adds:
Getting surprising answers is a combination of knowing which questions to ask, and how to ask them (tone, style), but also having the trust of the panelist such that they feel they can tell that anecdote or furnish that fact
This is where the preparation really pays off, building on the trust you’ve already established ahead of time alongside the arc you’ve fleshed out, and keeping your audience in focus throughout the discussion.
Managing multiple speakers
One of the potential pitfalls of a panel discussion is losing the insights each panellist might deliver if they start to speak over each other or interrupt too often – or if one person takes up so much time, nobody else has a chance to weigh in!
It’s important to remember that, unlike a panel, you have editing on your side in a podcast. The main thing is to ensure there is minimal talking over each other by participants in the conversation. In a panel, using a device to help signal to the guests that it is time to come to a natural close could be helpful, as Louise suggests:
‘My control mechanism is called ‘Waggy Pen’. In the prep call I hold up my bright pink pen and explain to people that when they see Waggy Pen, it’s my way of telling them to end at the next full stop. I do it so that I don’t have to talk over anyone – which is just aurally annoying for the listener, and also so the audience doesn’t realise how the conversation is being managed. Good for them, good for their fellow panellists, good for the audience.’
In a podcast, however, you can have the producer help you out here - they are able to help jump in and restart questions, as well as ensuring the flow of the entire conversation is intact. Editing afterwards can also sharpen the outcome. If you do feel the the need to interrupt, be sure to demonstrate that you are looking for clarification, or are genuinely just interested in digging into something related to that point – for instance, you might say, ‘Sorry to interrupt you, but that has reminded me…’ or ‘Building on what you were saying…’
Use the combination of good preparation, a switched-on producer and gentle conversational techniques to help maintain the overall flow of the discussion, and make the most of your chance to edit the recording after the fact.
Remote moderation techniques
Adding in the remote recording factor that we are all dealing with these days, can be another layer of hosting complexity. Louise’s advice is to get, ‘Everyone in the [virtual] green room at the same time, so we can re-establish rapport, run through the story arc, remind everyone of the rules (short, sharp, vibrant).’ This may mean a quick reminder of everything ahead of the recording time and being ready with the technology – keeping the setup and recording process as simple as possible will help ensure everyone feels calm and ready for discussion.
If you’re considering a panel-style podcast, we can help make sure it all goes off without a hitch. Our Convenor package is all about bringing together thinkers in your space and cultivating excellent conversations. Get in touch today if you are looking for the support to ensure your podcast is executed with success!
Want to learn more about making a panel podcast with Message Heard? Check out our Convener package here.