Moderating a panel well means above all: listening instead of working through a question list, interrupting in a friendly way and managing the clock visibly. This page gives six tips for the moment on stage, when the preparation is over and the conversation is live.
Tips 1 to 3: listen, interrupt, balance
First: the next question is not fixed before the current answer has ended. A moderator who checks the cue cards during an answer misses the one sentence the conversation hinges on. The best follow up quotes what was just said. Second: interrupting is allowed. It is in fact the core job. A dominant talker is not stopped rudely but with their own content: pick up a half sentence, summarise it, pass it to the next guest. A moderator who never interrupts hands the distribution of speaking time to the loudest voice. Third: quiet guests do not need a general question, they need a setup. A concrete question about their area of expertise brings them back without exposing them.
Tips 4 to 6: time, audience, ending
Fourth: the clock belongs in the moderator's field of view, not behind their back. Whoever notices the time only at the end cuts the closing, which is the most important part. Better to trim continuously: merge topic blocks, drop a planned question, keep the maths running. Fifth: audience questions are material, not an obligation. The moderator condenses lectures from the floor into one question and directs it at one named guest. Sixth: the ending needs commitment. A final round, one sentence per person, then a clear close at the agreed time. A panel that frays at the end is remembered as shorter than it was.
What stands behind these tips
These rules come from practice. Jasmin Wölke moderates panel discussions in English and German. At SAP's Tech Leadership Forum she led eight panels and fireside chats in two days, in front of more than 300 executives. Her experience: on stage, no technique saves a panel that was prepared badly, but good preparation dies under a moderator who only works through a list. The two belong together. The preparation process is described in preparing a panel discussion, ready made wording is collected in panel questions with examples, and if you would rather hand the job over, the service is described under panel discussion moderator.