Jasmin Wölke moderates Q&A sessions and audience question rounds: after a keynote, in a town hall, at congresses and client events. In English and German, in the room, in the stream or in both.
The question round shows what actually landed
A talk can be brilliant on paper. Whether it reached the audience shows in the questions afterwards. The Q&A session is the most honest part of any programme, because here the audience speaks instead of the slides. It is also the part that fails most often. Either the room stays silent. Or one person delivers their own lecture at the microphone. Or the first answer runs so long that three further questions never get their turn. That is exactly what a moderator is there for: to lead the round instead of just passing the microphone around.
Getting the round started
Nobody wants to ask the first question. That is normal and no cause for alarm, so Jasmin plans the opening in advance. From the briefing she brings two or three questions of her own that break the ice. She announces the Q&A early in the programme, giving the room time to collect questions. Depending on size and company culture, she works with floor microphones, question cards or a digital tool. Questions asked quietly or in a tangled way she restates, so the whole room understands them and can place the answer.
Leading also means keeping answers short
A good question round needs rhythm. Jasmin clusters similar questions, follows up when an answer dodges the point and asks warmly for brevity when an answer turns into a lecture. Critical questions she takes seriously instead of moderating them away. In town halls especially, this moment decides how credible leadership appears; more on that in the town hall meeting guide. From her leadership years at Bosch, SAP and Volkswagen she knows both perspectives: the stage, and the room that expects a real answer.
Q&A in the room, in the stream and in English
In hybrid formats, questions arrive from two rooms at once: the venue and the chat. Jasmin keeps both channels fairly in view, as described on the hybrid event moderation page. She leads international rounds in English or switching between languages. Often the Q&A follows a panel: what started on stage, she then opens up to the entire room, see panel discussion.