How to Organise an Engaging and Successful Panel Discussion. 

Moderating, or participating on, panels at conferences and events is a great way to build your professional profile, brand, and network, and to share your opinions and perspectives.

However, if you have never been part of a panel or event, you might suffer from various degrees of panel-participation anxiety. You may have concerns around what to say, what to do, how to prepare, what happens on the day, what to do if you forget what to say, or freeze, to mention just a few.

The good news is that you can develop skills to manage and overcome all of this, making the experience memorable, engaging, and informative for the audience.

But how do you go about setting yourself up for success?

On 23rd November, Quantum Women will host a Zoom session with two fascinating and successful senior professionals; Wietske Blees, a highly recognised analyst, researcher, and journalist, and a deep expert in this topic, and Dr Alistair Rew, a director of Quantum Women, and a global leader in the financial services and investment management industry. In this session, they will discuss what you need to know to be an effective moderator and what you need to do to be a great panellist.

Wietske will share her extensive experience running events targeted at senior professionals, frequently in highly technical disciplines. She will cover critical areas including preparing to be on a panel, what makes a good panellist/moderator, questioning techniques, and share with you the tricks of the trade to help you succeed at your next panel event.

Alistair will share insights from his journey and experiences around being a panellist and moderator, and how he works with panel and event organisers to make sure he and his fellow panellists are set up for a great session.

This session is part of Quantum Women's Elevate pillar, where they provide tools and opportunities for women to elevate their voice in both private and public settings.

This is an event you don't want to miss!

About the Speakers

Wietske Blees is a highly accomplished and recognised analyst, researcher, and journalist with almost 20 years global experience in financial regulation, risk management, derivatives, and technology. She is an expert in arranging, running, and hosting industry events, panels and committees, targeting senior executives. Being a highly successful journalist, Wietske is an expert interviewer and moderator, bringing unique insights and experiences into how to be an effective communicator, moderator and panellist.

Wietske was recently one of the professional trainers on the inaugural Elevating Women’s Voices program, a joint initiative by the Alternative Investment Management Association and 100 Women in Finance, that successfully worked with 30 women across the Australian investment management industry, over an 8-week period, to develop skills and confidence to be a successful communicator, panellist, moderator, committee, working group, and/or board member.

Dr Alistair Rew is very passionate about diversity and inclusion in the workplace, and building diverse, inclusive and successful teams. Alistair has worked in the alternative investment management industry for 25 years, holding global leadership and investment positions in London, New York, and Sydney.

Alistair is chair of the Alternative Investment Management Association (Australia), a director of Australian Students Asset Management, a co-founder of Elevating Women’s Voices, and Women in Alternatives, a director of Quantum Women, and an independent director and advisor in the alternative investment management industry. Alistair also works closely with senior executives, boards, and the broader investment management industry, in representing and shaping the future of the industry.