Q&A sessions are the ultimate learning experiences during online webcasts or events. When executed well, these can be the way for the audience and the speaker to engage easily. So, to help you enhance your live events, let’s get started with some simple and fun Q&A tips.

These Q&As are helpful for the audience and the speaker. The audience asks, whereas the speaker answers. This can make clear what the speaker wants to deliver.

Usually, Q&As are filled with “Does anyone want to ask something?” questions. A moderated chat can help you collect those questions answer them one by one. See here: Q&A tips for moderated chat.

Groundwork

In an event, it’s all about planning. You have to know the flow of the event. Therefore, the speakers should too.

Before the event, discuss with your speakers the schedule. Sometimes they forget the time and you have a hard time to cut them off. A 4-hour event is not equal to 4 hours of speaking.

Give clear instructions. Also, a counter is a good indicator of time. Always be sure to set the time accordingly in any event.

For events, there’s only a little time given for Q&As. For yours, why don’t you try to dedicate more time to it? Let’s say, an event runs for 4 hours. You can use an hour for the Q&A session.

This is a great tip for beginners. Always remember that a quarter of your event should focus on Q&A.

A great Q&A tip is to let all speakers talk first and then dedicate a whole Q&A session at the end. Usually, some speakers’ topics overlap and are identical. To save time and allow more for Q&A, you can suggest the Q&A happen at the end.

By doing this, there’s room for more interaction between the audience and the speakers. Besides, the speakers can answer more questions this way.

Moderating

The moderator is the one to ensure that all the audience’s questions are answered. Usually, the audience sends a lot of questions. The moderator’s job is to monitor and screen all of those.

In big events, it’s good to have more than one moderator. If you’re the speaker and the moderator, it will be hard for you to keep up with the barrage of questions. So make sure that you have help with huge events.

Change the way you ask questions. Questions on events can sometimes get repetitive. As the moderator, instead of asking “Do you have any more questions?”, try asking it by “What other questions would you like to be answered?” This little change makes a big difference.

However, this kind of question can invite debate or open discussions. So, if you don’t want to prolong the discussion, you can ask “Do you have any more questions about (topic)?”

In this way, you don’t steer off the topic. You also keep the question concise and clear.

Q&A chat platform

Using a Q&A platform is good for events. You let your audience have their own voice. Therefore, before starting, you need to introduce the platform first.

As this might be their first time to use the platform, you can teach the basics. In time, they’ll adapt. If more people are joining in, take time to teach them in between messages.

When the event is ongoing, some participants may be shy to submit their questions. As the moderator, you can submit questions so they’ll get the confidence to ask. Sometimes all it takes is a little nudge.

In events, it’s best that you answer all the questions. The moderator should take note of the most asked questions and answer those. If a lot of those questions are ignored, your audience might lose interest.

If the event is coming to a close and you don’t have any time to answer more questions, it’s good to acknowledge them. Therefore, say ‘thank you’ and they’ll be answered them next time.

Here’s a Q&A platform that you can use for your event. Follow these steps to get your own account.

• Firstly, go to the RumbleTalk website.
• Secondly, sign up to create an account.
• Then, choose moderated chat as your chat type.
• Lastly, adjust your chat settings (e.g., design, users, etc) on your admin panel.

With this, you can share your chat link in the event or embed it on your website.

Useful Q&A tips for your next event

According to these Q&A tips, the important things to note for your next event are groundwork, moderation, and the use of a Q&A chat platform. Of course, don’t forget to interact with your audience.

As always, you can use these Q&A tips to make your next event a success. I hope you learned something you can use!

Improve your Q&A session with RumbleTalk.

When you have chatters in the chat room, sometimes it’s hard to keep up with all the messages. You just feel the need for a quick solution like mentions.

Not everyone will be able to see a specific message. Mentiones help you pinpoint who you direct the message too.

I’m excited to share with you a new feature called Mentions. The Mentions option offers a simple solution to avoid missing important messages.

Here’s what you should know.

What are Mentions?

Think of Mentions as tagging someone. When you type @ in the chat room, you will see a list of users.

Firstly, it can help you better manage messages in the chat room. Secondly, you can capture the attention of a specific user in a particular message.

Once you’ve tagged a user, he/she can immediately see the message. It will be highlighted in blue.

Another cool feature is that, when a user clicks on the tagged user, his user info will be displayed. The private chat will also open.

When to use Mentions?

You can use Mentions anytime you like. Whether you’re in a normal group chat or a hectic moderated chat, use the feature infinitely.

Additionally, here are some examples when it can help you the most.

Notify another user

Mentions are used to refer to another user in your chat room. This can help notify them that you are replying to them.

Join a conversation

Using the Mentions option is a great way to get others to join a conversation. Then, you can also use this to share interesting topics with other users in the chat.

Remember that any punctuation, special character, or space breaks the mention. So, skip those in your mentions. You can include them anywhere on your message.

How to use it?

The new feature is an extension of the current option to choose a user name from the user’s list.

As said previously, when you type @, a list of users will pop up.

When you hover on the list of users, different colors represent the authority level of each user. The colors are as follows.

• When admin users are mentioned, the background color is red.

• When non-admin users are mentioned, the background color is green.

NOTE: You can disable the option on your admin panel via CSS. Just paste the following CSS on the Design tab.

.mention-tooltip {
display: none !important;
}

Using Mentions

If you need help regarding the new feature, make sure to read about it on the knowledge base.

We’d love to hear what you think. If you have any comments or suggestions on Mentions or new features that you’d like to see, connect with us on Twitter and Facebook.

Alternatively, you can contact us via Support on your admin panel.

Get your group chat here.

Handling a panel discussion is a complicated task. It either ends up positive or negative, and it’s all up to the moderator to control the conversation.

However, stay in your seat. Even if it’s your first time moderating a panel discussion, I’ve got you covered.

You can share this guide with your appointed moderators as well. As long as you know the basics, you can have an effective panel discussion. These tips are already proven. You can try them for yourself and let me know if they helped!

Research about the panel discussion and meet your speakers

The first thing you need to do for every venture is research. Without it, you’d be lost. So, it’s good if you have knowledge about the topic. In that way, you won’t be surprised at the discussion itself.

Research as much as you can about your speakers. Search for their works and published articles. In addition, you can also visit their social media profiles so you can get an idea of who they are as a person, what tone they use, their stand, and more.

This goes hand in hand with meeting your speakers. You can discuss the flow of the panel and what topics might be touched upon. Having an idea of the flow gives some background, leading to a more natural flow of conversation.

If you lack time to meet a week before or two, you can arrange to meet on the day itself. It’s better to be late than never they say.

Time management and being neutral

Go through every question. You have your own questions, and you also have the audience’s questions. Have time for both. You have to ensure that the speakers have enough time to answer.

Some questions are simple and some are tough. As said earlier, you can ask the speakers how much time they will allot for answering questions. Additionally, you can discuss signals to alert them if they’re running behind or still have some time. You can also add time counters for every session so they’ll know when to stop.

Discussing questions makes you think about the perspectives of the audience, the speakers, and yourself. You’re bound to have different takes on the topics. Therefore, as a moderator, be neutral. Do not take sides or choose the question that you agree with.

Choose questions that will benefit the whole panel. Also, avoid approving messages that say ‘Thank you,’ ‘Wow,’ etc. You’re the moderator. Therefore, you should choose questions and facilitate the conversation. If you choose messages like that, it may seem that you’re picking sides.

Mixing it up

Combine your questions and the audience’s to create a conversation dynamic. Don’t just stick to your accustomed flow. It’s good to crowdsource questions from the audience in real-time. To do this, you’ll need a Q&A chat platform.

Create a Q&A chat with RumbleTalk. Just follow the steps below.

• Firstly, sign up for an account.
• Next, choose moderated chat as your preferred chat type.
• Set the chat moderators, which includes you and maybe other moderators. This depends on the size of the panel discussion.
• Be sure to share your chat’s link and direct the audience to ask their questions here.
• NOTE: You can also use these for other live events with Q&A sessions. Additionally, you can change chat types anytime so you can use it as a normal group chat as well.

There are two options that you can do for your Q&A session.

1. The first one is by allotting time for Q&A at the end of each session. This takes a lot of willpower and multitasking. You have to screen messages when the Q&A is happening. Therefore, this works best when you have a lot of moderators with you.
2. The second option is to allow specific time for Q&A. This means that all questions will only be answered at this time. You can do this if you’re short on manpower. For example, if you’re the only moderator on the panel discussion, you can collect all messages and approve the ones on the dedicated Q&A slot. However, you have to take a great risk since you can lose the audience’s attention. Some are not patient enough to wait for a whole hour just for an answer.

Concluding with a question

End the discussion with questions that can lead to a quick statement. Try: “Since we have time for one more question, what will be your final recommendation for the audience?”

This will wrap up the panel. Don’t forget to thank the speakers and the audience for their participation.

Moderating a panel discussion can be hard. However, when you’re prepared, you can give the audience and speakers a good time and an engaging discussion.

Got questions? Message us on Facebook and Twitter. Or, immediately create your chat and get started here.

I hope you can use this on your next panel. Good luck and always be ready!