Stevea Robbins here. Welcome to the Get It Done guys, quick and dirty tips to work less and do more.

I just love modesty. No, no I don't. I hate modesty. I also hate arrogance, but modesty is terrible

because it means we can never learn how awesome people are. Europa, a consummate businesswoman, complains about this a lot.

She says, if I don't know how awesome people are, how can I properly exploit them?

Europa, you go, girl.

Last week I attended a panel discussion on attention deficit disorder.

The moderator, we'll call her Gladys,

was a therapist who threw modesty to the wind. She proclaimed her skill at helping ADD folk.

We leaned forward, eagerly anticipating a transcendental experience. Well, her skill seems to be changing

topics faster than her ADD clients. She changes topics every

sentence. Her clients probably cure themselves out of sheer frustration. I'm polite. I didn't

scream, finish your thought. Fortunately, some people weren't polite. As they left, they yelled

out, we have ADD and we can't even keep up with you. See? Cured.

My dear sweet, talented, ambitious, well-meaning Gladys, this podcast is for you. A while back,

I taught you how to run an awards dinner. There's a link to that episode in this episode's

transcript.

Fortunately, having no modesty myself, I must confess that I'm a darned good moderator.

Today, let's learn how to moderate a panel discussion.

A good moderator works much less and does much more. The best moderators seem invisible to the audience. yet they are in absolute control like any good evil overlord. Stop laughing, Europa. Here are my rules for being

a great moderator. 11 tips for moderating a panel. One, know your job. Your job as a moderator is to help the audience get their needs met via the panel's discussion.

Before you begin, make sure you know what the audience expects.

If your panel is, pros and cons of world domination, featuring six mad scientists, who

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