When You’re a Panelist, Be the Rising Tide that Lifts All Boats

Congratulations. You’ve been asked to speak on a panel. You’re thinking either, “Yeah!” or “Yikes!” If it’s at an external event such as an industry conference, it’s a chance to highlight your expertise, broaden your personal brand, and further your business development opportunities. If it’s an internal event, such as speaking to new hires about “What I wish I knew when I was in your shoes,” it’s an acknowledgement of your achievements and your stature within your organization. In both cases, it’s a chance to soar or to crash and burn. How do you leverage this opportunity to your best advantage? Easy. Make it less about you, and more about how to add the greatest value to the panel as a whole and to your audience. Here are some guiding principles you may find helpful.

1. Recognize that most panel moderators aren’t quite sure of their role and are timid about asserting themselves. They concentrate on the questions they will ask the group rather than their responsibility to guide the discussion. If you have a strong moderator, they will arrange a pre-meeting to make sure all of the panelists have met and understand what each intends to share. They will also lay out how they plan to structure the event. That’s great. Follow their lead. If they don’t initiate that pre-meeting, it’s in your best interest and the interest of the event overall for you to suggest such a meeting. Don’t hesitate out of deference to the moderator. You’re the one who will be on stage looking like the expert or the captive, depending on the moderator’s skill set.

2. You will be asked to provide a bio to the moderator. Keep it short. If the moderator doesn’t know you personally, they will likely just read verbatim whatever you submit to them, making it sound like they have never met you and are just now learning why you are on the panel. The longer the bio, the more you are counting on your moderator’s presentation skills to carry the day. That’s a risky bet. Instead of a detailed bio, share two or three concepts about yourself you would like the moderator to share. When you send the moderator your bio, which lists all of your accomplishments, add,

If it’s easier for you, I’m glad to be introduced with, “David has spent his career researching and writing on supply chain issues. He has held roles in academia, the government, and in the private sector. Of late he has been looking at how global supply chains will be disrupted by climate change issues. He’s got some interesting observations to share with us today.”

(Note: If you are the moderator, schedule a meeting beforehand, and when you introduce everyone, remember that the bio you have been given is in the program materials. Instead of reading it, comment broadly on the panelist’s credentials and share a more personal anecdote about what you know about the panelist based on what you learned in your pre-call. You’ll sound more conversational and genuine and make the panelist and yourself more relatable to the audience.)

3. It’s a panel discussion, meaning a group effort with your other panelists. Panel discussions should not be a series of solos. The audience expects to hear an ensemble performance, not a bunch of divas. This requires two steps. First, talk to your other panelists beforehand. Understand what they plan to share and let them know your approach to the event.

Second, listen intently while your other panelists are speaking so that you can tie your comments to those shared by your colleagues on the dais. When you are sharing your own content, reference how it builds on what your co-panelists have shared. If you are responding to a question from the audience, incorporate into your answer how another panelist’s anecdote or advice is responsive and welcome them to answer as well. This creates a sense of camaraderie and community across the panel and will likely be reciprocated by your co-panelists. It also makes your response more about a takeaway for the audience rather than about you, which is always a win from your audience’s perspective. You will be viewed as the person on the panel who created a conversation, a huge win in its own right.

In order to do this, you’ll need to keep a small pad and a pen in your lap so that as your co-panelists are speaking you can jot down a quick note regarding an insightful comment they have made. Don’t write full sentences. Instead, before the event write the name of each other panelist on the page and leave some space after their name so you can write your thoughts in the appropriate space. Don’t worry about the appearance of taking notes. It makes you look thoughtful about what others are saying. Don’t take dictation; just jot down a few words from what someone says that you want to build upon.

4. Know your main message. You’re on the panel for a reason. When attendees leave the event, what is the one sentence you want them to remember about you? And it can’t be, “Hire me!” If it’s an external audience, you’re probably there to build business. But you can’t make your main message about yourself. Instead, your key takeaway for your audience should be about something they should consider as they address the topic of the panel. If you have planted a clear and actionable idea for them about how to address their problem, their impulse will automatically be that they need to reach out to you to make that happen.

5. Many successful professionals at large organizations are asked to speak on panels to younger colleagues about their own career paths. Whoever has asked you to speak usually says, “Just tell them about your career path.” They tell you that because they think it makes it easy for you. In fact, no one in the audience can replicate your career path, which makes that little bit of personal history mildly interesting and mostly irrelevant. Instead, think about the audience. What do you have to share that would be helpful to them in their career? They aren’t there to learn about you. They’re hoping to leave the room with something they can apply. Instead of talking about your path, pick three attributes you possess that you think have made you successful. And pick three things they can actually do. Tell your audience, “I’ve been successful because I work really hard, I volunteer for challenges other people don’t want, and I have treated everyone along the way with ultimate respect, regardless of their role in the project.” Then tell a very brief anecdote about how each of those approaches has served you well. That’s far mor valuable than reciting your resume to the audience.

Panel discussions aren’t easy, in large part because you only control a small part of the exchange. And yet, if done well, they can heighten your profile and help build your brand. See the opportunity as a mini community-building exercise. If the panel does well overall, each member of the panel is elevated.

Originally published on Forbes.com.