The Art of the Panel: How to Not Be the "Coffee Break"

We have all been there. The lights dim, four experts take their seats behind a linen-draped table, and the moderator begins with the dreaded words: "Let’s start by having everyone introduce themselves and tell us a bit about their background."

Suddenly, forty-five minutes feels like four hours. The audience has already checked their watches, synchronized their phones, and mentally checked out.

Panels are often treated as the "easy" slot in a conference schedule, but they are actually the hardest to get right. A great panel isn’t a series of mini-speeches; it is a high-stakes conversation that happens to have an audience. If you want to keep those phones down, you have to kill the politeness, find the friction, and build a contiguous story.

1. Build a Contiguous Narrative

The biggest flaw in most panels is that they feel like a series of loosely related pieces. To the audience, it’s disjointed and exhausting to follow. A great panel needs a "Through-Line."

As a moderator or a lead panelist, your job is to identify the overarching story you are telling together. Are we telling a story of industry disruption? A story of recovery? Or a story of a looming threat? When everyone on stage understands the "Big Story," their individual answers start to feel like chapters in the same book rather than random pages from different magazines.

2. Connect the Dots (The Call-Back)

Great panelists are active listeners. They don’t just wait for their turn to speak; they listen for "hooks" from their colleagues. One of the most powerful moves you can make on a stage is the "Call-Back."

Instead of just launching into your point, start by referencing what was just said: "I want to build on what Sarah mentioned about the labor shortage, because we saw that exact same friction in our Midwest facility." This simple bridge does two things: it proves you are present, and it signals to the audience that the conversation is a unified whole. It creates a "contiguous" experience that keeps the narrative moving forward.

3. Kill the Resume Recital

Nothing kills the energy of a room faster than five minutes of "I’ve been in the industry for twenty years and my company does X, Y, and Z." The audience has the app. They can read your bio.

Instead of an introduction, start with a provocation. Ask each panelist to lead with their most controversial opinion on the topic at hand. "What is the one thing everyone in this industry is wrong about?" Instantly, the audience is leaning in. You’ve moved from a history lesson to a live debate.

4. Direct the Audience's Focus

Your body language on a panel acts as a spotlight for the audience. If you are looking at your notes, checking your own watch, or staring off into space while someone else is talking, the audience will follow your lead and disengage.

Keep your attention locked on the person speaking or on the audience itself. When you show that the person currently talking is the most important person in the room, the audience believes it too. This collective focus creates an intensity that makes it almost impossible for a spectator to pull out a phone and check email.

5. Find the Friction

Agreement is boring. If everyone on the stage is nodding in unison for forty-five minutes, the audience is sleeping in unison. When I coach leaders for panels, I tell them to look for the "Difference of Opinion."

If a fellow panelist says something you disagree with, say so. You don’t have to be rude, but you should be direct. "I see it differently, and here is why." Conflict is the engine of story. Without it, you are just a group of people reciting a white paper.

The Finish: A Shared Destination

At the end of the day, a panel is not a survival exercise. It is a shared journey toward a destination the audience couldn't reach on their own. When panelists listen more than they talk and connect their insights into a single, contiguous narrative, the result isn't just a discussion. It is a unified force of expertise.

When you get this right, you don’t just fill a slot on the agenda. You become the highlight of the event. You leave the audience not just with a handful of business cards, but with a clear, resonant story that they will still be discussing long after they have finally turned their phones back on.

-BZ