Moderator, Panel discussion: Engineer of the Future - Synergizing towards MFT. Upstream SKG16 forum, 5th December 2022 @ KL convention Center
Alhamdulillah, am very grateful to have been granted the opportunity to be Moderator for the Panel Discussion of our Upstream SKG16 forum this year.
It was an exciting new first-time experience for me to facilitate such group discussion, doing this live in a corporate setting. It was a real thrill ride for me, personally: extremely nervous, but extremely satisfying at the same time.
To help out others out there who may be organizing similar events and forums, here is sharing some personal notes, thoughts and "design thinking" behind the scenes, as the Moderator:
1. Remember: Human beings, human beings - Don't feel intimidated or insecure by high ranking leaders.
At first glance lineup of panelists might seem intimidating with the: We have two senior GM's, a Leadership Team member of projects division, and two TP Custodian engineers.
And then, you have this guy 🙋🏽♂️🤣.
It's natural to feel a sense of an impostor syndrome, that you don't belong there, and that you might tend to feel intimidated by these distinguished panelists. But that intimidation might end up making us falter in our confidence, babble nonsense, shutdown in silence out of fear - all of which will harm the overall delivery.
What I always remind myself is a Hadith where a man met the Prophet ﷺ. Imagine how it would feel like, for the first time meeting a world leader, who happens to also the final messenger of God?
One man felt this intimidation. When he met the Prophet ﷺ for the first time, he trembled in awe - probably started shivering and stuttering - in his presence. Immediately, the Prophet ﷺ calmed him down and said,
هَوِّنْ عَلَيْكَ فَإِنِّي لَسْتُ بِمَلِكٍ إِنَّمَا أَنَا ابْنُ امْرَأَةٍ تَأْكُلُ الْقَدِيدَ
"Be calm, for I am not a king. Verily, I am only the son of a woman who ate dried meat.” (ibn Majah)
He emphasized that he ate dried meat, to indicate that he would survive eating low-cost food, just like any layman or commoner.
This Hadith reminds me, that people, matter how high-ranking they are, they are human beings, with roots and origins no different to us. It reminds us not to feel needlessly intimidated. Just as they love to be treated with respect, they also love to have a good conversation and enjoy an occasional good laugh.
Having said that, recognizing they are human beings, it is also important we understand their personality traits so we don't go overboard. Some people (and Shaykhs) want straightforward questions, are more sensitive, or can't be bothered for back-and-forth banter, whereas some are cool to just play along. Some want questions to be precise, whereas some are very happy to improvise on the fly.
Which leads us to the importance of #2..
2. Pre-discussion "Meet & Greet" engagement
What people don't see is that we engage each of the panelists individually, about 1 week before the event, brief them about the forum and "heads up" the questions we plan to ask them, a practice that we also do in our Barakah Effect podcast.
What I've learnt is that this is a must. Not a nice-to-have. I would go so far as to say that the pre-discussion meeting is arguably MORE important than the actual discussion.
Here's why:
✅ Informal chitchat to get to know us personally, and most importantly, feel comfortable talking to us
✅ Go through the planned question with them, so they can acknowledge the questions firsthand and so they have ample time to prepare for mindblowing answers, without having the anxiety of being caught off-guard with an off-the-cuff question.
✅ Out of courtesy and respect to their knowledge and experience, ask them if they would want to add or highlight anything else in the context of the topic, so that perhaps we can reverse-engineer the questions for them to bring it out.
✅ To keep the discussion engaging, I usually like to inject a bit of humor and sometimes like to play devil's advocate and spice up the questions or provide some provocative side-remarks. By giving them a heads up of these potentially controversial remarks, at least they know it's done in good faith and won't feel offended or defensive, as they acknowledge it as part of the act to keep the discussion engaging and exciting from the audience perspective.
3. Have a great team behind the scenes
Although I was Moderator, the truth is, just like any late night talk show host, there are a team of equally important people behind the scenes that make it happen.
In this forum, I was privileged to have a team of about 9 other people helping out - arranging the meet & Greet, producing the questions, printing out the handouts, conducting background research of the panelists' biographies, lining up the on-stage cues, preparing the montage, etc. Thanks to the panel team behind the scenes - Ola, Ada, Tim, Eda, Sukma, Hidayah, Sofi, Imran and others. You guys deserve the credit! I ni tukang cakap je.
4. Keep it lively, energetic and enthusiastic -
as much as possible, I always try to inject an extra dose of liveliness to the proceedings, while strategically toning down in the quieter moments that require.
And once in a while..
5. Throw in some Unexpected humor - as a guy with a big beard (well, at least the biggest in the ballroom at the time anyway), people who don't know me personally might feel intimidated by my appearance, and would expect somewhat of a serious discussion. Which is why, I like to catch people off guard by making unexpected quips, banter and/or silly self-commentary.
My favorite secret weapon is reading out Pantun (Malay poetry) in between key segments of the discussion, just to keep the energy up and avoid the discussion from sounding too dry. A Pantun so unexpected in a formal corporate event, especially in a relatively serious-themed topic like this, that it almost always gets people excited. In some events, people might forget everything, but they will remember the Pantun. Though, I think I can't use them too much I future events.. Takut basi.. 🤓. Might have to come up with a different gimmick next time.
Thanks to Nadia for helping compose all 4 Pantun - it was a hit!
6. Be present
This was the "extra edge" I wanted to sharpen myself in - which isnt easy to do! The idea is to try as much as possible to make callbacks and cross-references within the discussion, so as to not sound too scripted. I always try to look out for key words or interesting highlights that pop up which I can use to emphasize or even throw in a quick joke. It lends a sense of cohesiveness and synergy towards.
The only way this can be done is to be fully present in the moment, take notes, and not get distracted.
7. Customer focused: putting yourself in the listeners' shoes
Just as our podcast, we need to remind ourselves that the reason we are doing this forum isn't just for self-gratification or syok sendiri. The important takeaway is to place the emphasis on the people listening and attending, they get the best out of this 90-minute discourse.
What this means also is that as the Moderator, I always try to ask questions in a way that reflects the common concerns and remarks from the "water cooler talk" of the average person on the ground.
What do people want to know? What are their concerns? Why should they care?
And when we learn something new, respond with a sense of curiosity and wonder that the others may also feel.
8. Over-prepare: Rehearse, Rehearse, Rehearse
Sometimes I hear people tell me "you're a natural". But the truth is, I'm not. In fact, I'm actually extremely nervous from start to finish.
The trick is to come very prepared, so that it LOOKS natural.
Facts: I never have the self-confidence to rely on improvisation & being impromptu. For 90% of my content, I script everything down to a T, and rehearse it to death. The night before the event I stayed up till 2, in preparation. The idea is, when you are very familiar on your content, then you can work on your presentation confidence, tone of voice to make it seem "natural".
What I've learnt from MC-ing and forum moderating for the past few years, be prepared to "let go" of some content, too, in the interests of the event. Most of the time, you won't be able to touch 100% of the content that you've prepared due to time constraints. But in the occasional event that you have to "stall for time" or the organizers pull off a plot twist to extend the session, you've got stuff in your pockets, ready to fire at will. And so when unexpected happenings do happen, you can keep your composure
So there you have it! Hope you found these notes useful 😊
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