Panel Discussion Questions for Successful Events
Published on 15 Jan 2025
Panel discussions are staples of academic and association events. They offer a dynamic platform to explore topics, share insights, and encourage dialogue among participants. These sessions hold unique value during virtual events, bridging geographical divides and allowing global participation. At more traditional, in-person gatherings, these real-time interactions become some of the most memorable experiences for attendees.
At the heart of every successful panel discussion lies a moderator who has mastered the art of asking the right questions. Well-crafted questions don’t just guide the conversation—they inspire it. Great discussion questions ensure panelists share meaningful insights and encourage audience engagement.
Whether you’re working on your moderating skills or supporting someone else to plan a panel discussion at an event, here’s what you should know…
Why Panel Discussion Questions Matter
The tone, depth, and direction of a panel discussion often hinge on the quality of its questions. It’s important to do your research on the topic and take your question crafting seriously. Good panel moderators know how to:
Set the Tone
Well-crafted, thought-provoking questions shape the focus and energy of the discussion. They clarify the panel’s purpose for both participants and spectators, ensuring a more engaging and meaningful dialogue.
Encourage Diverse Viewpoints
Thoughtful questions can uncover unique perspectives, ensuring that all voices are heard, especially in multidisciplinary panels.
Drive Audience Interaction
Open-ended questions often spark audience curiosity, encouraging participation through live Q&A or polls.
Guide Expert Insights
Sometimes, when you’re an expert on a topic, it can be difficult to know when to start when you’re asked a “general question” about your work. Good moderators help experts share their most relevant and impactful insights by asking pointed questions, providing clear prompts that align with the audience's interests, and encouraging panelists to expand on key points for clarity and value.
Foster Dynamic Discussion
Asking follow-up and probing questions keeps the conversations fluid, encouraging panelists to build on each other’s ideas.
Tailoring Questions to Your Panel Discussion Format
In addition to your conference format, the type of panel format you choose will influence how questions should be framed during the discussion. Here’s how to adapt to three of the most common formats:
Moderated Discussion
In this classic format, the moderator leads the discussion, balancing panelist input and audience engagement. Questions should flow logically, covering key themes while leaving room for audience contributions. This flexible style gives the moderator the most control to guide the discussion based on the energy in the room and the topics they want to cover.
Q&A Session
Here, the audience drives much of the conversation. Pre-prepared questions can kick things off, but moderators should be ready to summarize and connect audience questions to the panel’s goals. This is a popular style of panel that usually starts with a brief introduction of the speakers and the topics/themes that the discussion aims to cover. After a longer question period with the audience, the moderator will commonly try to summarize the conversation and get a final few words of insight from each panelist before closing.
Debate Format
Debates focus on opposing views. Questions should highlight contrasting perspectives among the panelists while encouraging respectful dialogue. It’s important here for the moderator to ask follow-up questions that encourage the speakers to explore the implications of each stance. This format can lead to highly engaging and dynamic panels, but the moderator needs to be prepared to reign things in if the conversation gets too heated.
Types of Panel Discussion Questions (and Examples)
If you’re planning or moderating a panel discussion, it’s important to have a wide range of question types prepared to ask your speakers. Diversity in approach will lead to a dynamic discussion and a more interesting experience for both the panelists and the audience. In particular, you should avoid yes/no questions. Opt for ones that demand thoughtful, detailed answers. Some ways you could categorize your panel discussion questions are outlined below (including a few examples of each type):
Personal Questions
Start by introducing the panelists and allowing them to connect with the audience and the other panelists. Think of these as a warm-up to get the conversation flowing more naturally before the more complicated questions are asked.
Examples of personal questions to ask during a panel discussion include…
- Can you share a personal story or experience that led you to your current work?
- What inspired you to enter this field?
- What’s the most surprising thing about your work?
- What do you see as the most exciting trend in your area of expertise?
- What practical advice would you give to someone just starting in this field?
Thought-Provoking Questions
These questions challenge panelists to think a bit more deeply about the topic and can spark interest from the audience (i.e. have them engage with thinking how they might answer the question if someone asked them).
Examples of thought-provoking questions to ask during a panel discussion include…
- What emerging trend in this field do you believe will have the biggest impact in the next decade, and why?
- What is the biggest challenge facing [specific field/topic] today, and how should we tackle it?
- How do you see this issue intersecting with global challenges like climate change?
- What are the ethical considerations that we need to address in [topic/field]?
- What do you think we’ll look back on in 10 years and realize we were doing wrong?
Open-Ended Questions
Leaving space for open-ended answers can encourage more detailed responses from your panelists and support multiple viewpoints. Instead of asking for a specific “thing” or whether a speaker disagrees or agrees with something, these questions allow for nuance.
Examples of open-ended questions to ask during a panel discussion include…
- How do you see this issue evolving over the next few years?
- How has [specific trend or technology] changed the way you approach your work?
- How should organizations adapt to better meet the needs of [specific audience]?
- What would success look like for [topic/initiative]?
- If you had unlimited resources, what project would you pursue?
Follow-Up Questions
A moderator can use these to dive deeper into panelists’ responses and further explore the underlying ideas or interesting points that come up in conversation. These require the moderator to be more engaged in the panel and somewhat knowledgeable about the topics of discussion.
Examples of follow-up questions to ask during a panel discussion include…
- Can you elaborate on that point?
- What are the practical implications of this finding that you’ve mentioned?
- If someone wanted to learn more about that, where would you suggest they look?
- That’s a unique perspective. Have you ever had anyone challenge you on it?
Controversial Questions
When appropriate, these questions can stimulate interesting debate by centering the discussion around more sensitive (or even divisive issues). It’s important to make sure the moderator and the panelists are comfortable with this type of debate before the panel begins.
Examples of controversial questions to ask during a panel discussion include…
- What’s a commonly held belief in this field that you strongly disagree with, and why?
- If you could debunk one common myth about your work, what would it be?
- What would you say to critics of [specific aspect of the field/topic]?
Closing Questions
This category may overlap with the types of questions above. However, the focus here is to get the panelists and the audience focused on what they can take away from the session. Try to encourage quick answers and center on applying what has been learned.
Examples of closing questions to ask during a panel discussion include…
- What is one key takeaway you hope the audience leaves with today?
- What question do you wish more people would ask about this topic?
- What’s one piece of advice you would give your younger self when starting in this field?
- What role can the audience play in driving change in [topic/field]?
How to Craft Memorable & Impactful Panel Questions
Creating a great set of questions for a panel takes time and a strategic approach. Follow these steps to give your panel the best shot at sticking in your audience’s minds:
1. Establish the Goal of the Panel
Clarify with your organizing team and/or moderator what the discussion is aiming to achieve. Are you exploring new research findings, actively solving problems, or inspiring opportunities for collaboration? The goal of the discussion should guide how you draft your questions, as well as who you ask to sit on the panel. So, focus on this first.
2. Conduct Thorough Research
Before drafting questions, it’s important to understand the panelists you’ve invited and their perspectives. You should also have a basic grasp of the subject matter and a good idea of who will be sitting in the audience of the panel. All of this info will help you ensure your questions are relevant to the viewers and informed by the current research.
Great moderators fully understand the context of the discussion that they are guiding. The more familiar you can be with the topic, the better, especially if the audience members are likely to know quite a bit as well. Other topics to research could include: reading reviews of the speakers’ published pieces, finding updates on trends in the industry, or finding relevant blogs on the topic.
3. Regroup & Align with Speakers
While recruiting panelists, discuss the goals of the session with them. This alignment will ensure everyone is prepared and on the same page. They may even give you good ideas for questions during early discovery interviews with them. So, keep an ear out.
4. List Potential Panel Questions
Start by brainstorming a wide range of questions that cover the session’s key themes. Allow the ideas to flow freely and write everything down that comes to mind (it may even be helpful to start this process during the research phase - as questions are likely to be inspired by that research). Don’t worry about how questions are phrased or what order they’re in at this stage. Just get them on the page. You can do the refining in later stages!
5. Organize and Sequence the Questions
Look at your list of questions from the last step and begin to arrange them in logical order. A good strategy is to follow this sequence:
- Personal/Ice-breakers: Start with light, personal questions to put the panelists at ease and engage the audience.
- Thought-Provoking/Open-Ended/Controversial: Transition to deeper questions that spark discussion, invite diverse perspectives, or address key challenges in the topic.
- Closing/Takeaways: End with reflective or summary questions that encourage panelists to share actionable insights or final thoughts.
This order mirrors the flow of a natural conversation and helps maintain audience interest throughout the discussion.
6. Craft a Strong Opening and Closing Question
From your list, pick your strongest opening and closing questions. Then think about them both in depth: What is the approach for each? Who will be the first panelist you ask for each? The first panelist to speak will have a big impact on the tone of the rest of the panel, so it’s important to consider that in your planning.
For your opening question: Think about what might be the most engaging, yet straightforward one. How do you want to set the tone for the rest of the discussion?
For your closing question: Think about how to end the discussion in a meaningful way. Make this final question brief so that the panel doesn’t ramble on for several more minutes. Don’t forget to make a note to thank your speakers and audience after the final question.
7. Review and Refine the Questions (and Save Some for Backup)
Narrow your list of questions down to around 2-3 questions per panelist (depending how much time you have). Don’t delete the others! It’s worth keeping a list of backup questions just in case the audience isn’t as curious as you’d hoped or the discussion runs much faster than expected.
Polish the questions that are left for clarity, relevance, and variety. Make sure the audience can easily understand them and that you know why they should care about the answers to each. If possible, ask a friend or colleague to review the list of questions and give some feedback.
8. Plan for Audience Interaction
Incorporate questions or moments that encourage audience input. Running live polls or allowing questions via Q&A platforms are both great ways to do this. If great questions come in from the audience, be prepared to sacrifice some of your planned questions in favor of the Q&A. “We have a question from the audience” is a sure hook to keep people interested in the session and feeling like their input matters.
9. Host a Tech Rehearsal & Pre-Panel Discussion
If possible, run through the planned questions with your panelists in advance so they have a bit of warning about where the discussion will go. Ask if they have any questions or concerns about the list that you’ve presented, and do your best to understand what type of discussion they’re comfortable with (i.e. debate or friendly or a mix).
Creating Inclusive Panel Discussions and More Accessible Interactions
Offering options for virtual event attendance, live transcripts, and closed captioning can ensure that your panel discussions are more accessible to all participants. Recordings with translations after the event can also support learning and inclusion for groups beyond the language your panel was hosted in.
In general, a moderator can keep the discussion inclusive to a variety of audience members by remaining neutral (i.e. avoiding taking sides and respecting the perspectives of all the panelists equally) and mixing in audience questions throughout the panel. Using engagement tools like polls and Q&A can make everyone feel like they’re a part of the conversation.
Fast Answers to Your Panel Discussion FAQs
- How can I encourage audience engagement during a panel discussion?
Use live polling, Q&A tools, or audience shout-outs to make the discussion interactive. Conference management software can help with this. - How can I avoid common pitfalls in panel discussion moderation?
Prepare thoroughly, keep questions concise, and tactfully redirect off-topic responses. - How can I handle off-topic questions?
Acknowledge the question, tie it back to the main topic with an important takeaway for the audience, or address it briefly before refocusing. - How can I ensure all panelists feel heard and respected?
Balance speaking time, actively involve quieter panelists, and validate all contributions. - How can I formulate engaging questions for a diverse audience?
Consider the audience’s backgrounds and craft questions that resonate across different perspectives. Review your questions with a variety of people before that panel.
Conclusion: Driving Meaningful Discussion
A well-executed panel discussion can transform an event from ordinary to extraordinary. By prioritizing thoughtful preparation, crafting impactful questions, and fostering inclusivity, moderators can create a space for meaningful dialogue that resonates with both panelists and audiences.
Whether virtual or in-person, a successful panel hinges on a balance of guiding conversations with great questions and encouraging audience engagement. With the right approach and a commitment to thoughtful planning, your next panel discussion is sure to be a highlight of your conference program.