How to Host a Panel Discussion on Your Podcast

What is a Panel Discussion and Why Might You Want One?

A panel discussion is where multiple guests join the host for a dicsussion where they will each share their perspective on the topic. Often these are done live – you’ve probably seen them at conferences – but they can be a podcasting strategy, too.

There are a few times you might want to consider a panel discussion on your podcast. Among other things, if you have a guest waitlist so long you can’t see the end, or you want to absolutely speedrun your relationship building, it can be a good strategy. It’s also a great way to learn from many people at once (for you and your audience!), and gives you the opportunity to connect your guests with eachother.

It comes with some challenges, however: more people equals more scheduling conflicts, more sharing assets, and more follow-up, and a very different skillset than hosting one guest at a time.

You want to make sure that each of your panelists has a chance to speak, and that the cadence is a little more engaging than 1 question, 3 answers, repeat – that gets old fast. You also want to make sure that people aren’t interrupting eachother, repeating eachother or generally creating (well-intentioned!) chaos. All of this requires plenty of planning and a good amount of practice.

Robbie Samuels is the host of the Biz Book Pub Hub Podcast which is 100% panel discussions. (Twice a week panel discussions!) I asked him to join me on the Business Podcast Spotlight to talk about how he manages these conversations, and he shared a masterclass in exactly how to do it well.

About Robbie Samuels

Robbie Samuels is an award-winning author, book launch strategist, and business development coach. His latest book is “LAUNCH Your Book! An Entrepreneur’s Guide to Reviews That Drive Revenue,” and his four books have received over 900 reviews and reached #1 Best Seller in 37 categories.

Based on the success of his book launches, Robbie became sought out for his insight. He coaches entrepreneurs to build book launch teams that lead to 50+ Amazon reviews and create a pipeline from the book to their business.

You can check out his author services at Book Launch Brainstorm and his resource ecosystem  for entrepreneurs at Biz Book Pub Hub.

Listen to our full conversation below, or check it out on the podcast player you like best, then read on to learn more about hosting an effective panel discussion on your podcast, and how it can help you grow your business.

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How to Host a Panel Discussion on Your Podcast

I want to review some of the specific strategies that Robbie recommends for hosting an effective panel discussion:

Before the call:

• Plan exactly how the call is going to go in advance. Make sure to include time for introductions, questions, follow-ups and closing. (Listen to the episode for the timings he recommends specifically!)
• Give each panelist a primary question, that you pre-assign so you know who is going to be speaking when.
• Help your panelists understand how to get your attention if they have somethng to say, for example by leaning forward. This is subtle enough it won’t interrupt the flow of conversation, and clear enough you’ll be able to see it as the moderator.

During the Call:

• When you have follow-ups or audience questions, let the speaker know you’re about to ask them a question by saying something like “Jane, here’s a question for you” or “I’m going to get Jane to answer, the Billy,” then ask the question. This gives your panelists a chance to lock in, pay attention and know they are going to be called on.
• Remember that not everyone needs to answer every question! You can decide who is going to be the best one to answer, and can make sure that you’re creating a balance between the speakers. Variety in the number of answers for each question also keeps the flow of the discussion interesting.
• You want everyone to look good! You can teach and share your own knowledge during your panel moderation, but make sure you are highlighting wehre your guests are doing a great job, and if you have advice or insight, let them absorb it indirectly by what you ask others rather than through a more direct, live coaching strategy.

This is a skill that, like most others, takes practice to really master, but if you put in that time, there are some really interesting ways you can work panel dicussions into your podcasting strategy. 

When a Panel Discussion Works Best

Now let’s talk about when a panel discussion podcast makes strategic sense.

If you are aggressively trying to build your network, panel discussions will get you talking to more people more quickly, and that can pay big dividends. But remember: hosting someone on a podcast, whether alone or as part of a panel, is just one of the many, many steps involved in creating the kind of relationship that leads to sales, referrals and opportunities. For a real relationship to develop you need to invest time in the prep, and follow-up exactly the way you would if you were talking to one person at a time. Triple the networking equals almost triple the work. You will save a little time on recording and post-production, however.

If you have a membership or community, then, like Robbie, a spot on a panel can be an awesome perk that you offer to your members. (It can even be a paid one if you have a large enough audience!) Most entrepreneurs and experts are looking for oportunities for more exposure, and providing a platform for them to share their knowledge is valuable. It can also be a lovely thing to do if your community is largely composed of people who don’t have much media experience, but want to change that! Jill Lublin talked about this strategy in Three Unique Podcast Strategies!

Hosting a panel discussion also gives you the opportunity to learn from more people and share more viewpoints than you might be able to otherwise. Many people use their podcast as an educational and professional development tool, so having more experts weigh in can help you acquire more information more quickly. This means you can level up your own skills quickly, and it positions you to your audience as the source of insight, strategy and ideas from a wide variety of experts. Looking super well-connected doesn’t hurt either.

Finally, panel dicsussions provide the material for some pretty exciting repurposing. Round-up posts of experts answering the same or related questions are great to share, and contributors are often willing to do so. You want to be careful not to let your episode get repetitive and have everyone answering every question, but having one or two that you get every guest to answer, like “what is your single best strategy for X?” or “what is your favorite book on Y?” is amazing content for round-up posts. And if you get them to refer to other people, like podcasters, or authors, you have even MORE people to network with, and a great reason to reach out.

Should A Panel Discussion For Your Podcast be Live or Pre-Recorded?

Traditionally, panel discussions have been live events, and many podcasts that use them as one of their episode types livestream them like Robbie does with the Biz Book Pub Hub.

There are some benefits to doing them live – there is great energy when the audience can participate directly, and it can help raise your profile and gain followers on the platforms you are streaming on.

There are drawbacks, however. Doing it live means you’re going to be dealing with whatever happens in terms of how your guests and audience act, and the audio-visual quality on linvestreams is typically lower than it will be when you’re recording in advance in a proper virtual studio. This might affect the quality of the content you have to repurpose.

Ultimately, it’s up to you – there are good reasons to record in each way!

If you’re looking for a partner to help you figure out and deploy a strategy that will work for your business, we can help! Book a Podcast Strategy call, and let’s talk about it!