Good morning, Readers!
Image courtesy of ign.com. Click for link.
This Can Con was one of many firsts for me.
Alright two. Two firsts. But they were big firsts, alright?
One of these was my first ever attempt at moderating a panel. Those of you who read yesterday's post know that this panel was:
Transport and Armament in the Ancient and Medieval World or The "I Geek Out Over Celtic Studies Stuff... Again" Panel
It was fantastic. Panellists Ariel Bolton, Evan May, and Jean-Louis Trudel were wonderful, knowledgeable and generous speakers and the information they managed impart was fiercely fascinating.
I hope I was a worthy moderator.
Unsurprisingly for anyone who knows me, I was petrified. Equally as unsurprisingly, I started off with a very difficult question, throwing everyone for a loop. I tried as moderator to focus on the topic in a way that would help writers and aspiring writers, talking about things to bear in mind when researching for fiction, writing and so forth.
I think the discussion was incredibly interesting... but I'm biased because I find the topic fiercely interesting.
I'm still quite unsure about my performance as a moderator, but It was a great panel.
Moderating is one of those skills that I feel I need to acquire in order to grow professionally. That said, I did resist being a moderator this year. I didn't feel I was equal to the task.
Much research went into what makes a good panel moderator, and though I did try to follow their very good advice, I felt woefully unprepared. That was pretty much how I felt the entire weekend, however.
Some things I learnt while moderating:
And that's everything I can think of right now.
It is impossible for me to have an objective view of my performance, so I'll leave it up to the audience and panellists decide.
Would I do it again? Yes. Would I be good at it? Eeeeeeeeh.... I mean, I couldn't be worse, and practice does make perfect!
Tomorrow I'll be blogging about my pitching sessions. Oh, pitching...
Ciao!
Alright two. Two firsts. But they were big firsts, alright?
One of these was my first ever attempt at moderating a panel. Those of you who read yesterday's post know that this panel was:
Transport and Armament in the Ancient and Medieval World or The "I Geek Out Over Celtic Studies Stuff... Again" Panel
It was fantastic. Panellists Ariel Bolton, Evan May, and Jean-Louis Trudel were wonderful, knowledgeable and generous speakers and the information they managed impart was fiercely fascinating.
I hope I was a worthy moderator.
Unsurprisingly for anyone who knows me, I was petrified. Equally as unsurprisingly, I started off with a very difficult question, throwing everyone for a loop. I tried as moderator to focus on the topic in a way that would help writers and aspiring writers, talking about things to bear in mind when researching for fiction, writing and so forth.
I think the discussion was incredibly interesting... but I'm biased because I find the topic fiercely interesting.
I'm still quite unsure about my performance as a moderator, but It was a great panel.
Moderating is one of those skills that I feel I need to acquire in order to grow professionally. That said, I did resist being a moderator this year. I didn't feel I was equal to the task.
Much research went into what makes a good panel moderator, and though I did try to follow their very good advice, I felt woefully unprepared. That was pretty much how I felt the entire weekend, however.
Some things I learnt while moderating:
- Sometimes conversation dies at the very beginning of a panel. You need at least five questions planned to keep the conversation moving.
- BRING A PAD AND PEN. Sometimes speakers say something or touch on something briefly that is well worth exploring further. JOT THAT SHIT DOWN!
- It's okay to jump in with extra information every once in a while, but your job is to guide the conversation, not dominate it (fingers crossed my geek outs were kept to a minimum).
- Audience questions are your friend!
- Respect is key. Show it. Enforce it.
And that's everything I can think of right now.
It is impossible for me to have an objective view of my performance, so I'll leave it up to the audience and panellists decide.
Would I do it again? Yes. Would I be good at it? Eeeeeeeeh.... I mean, I couldn't be worse, and practice does make perfect!
Tomorrow I'll be blogging about my pitching sessions. Oh, pitching...
Ciao!
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