Debaters often organise different types of public discoussions  using their skills developed through competitive debates.  There are different forms of public discussions, from a public debate similar than the one in the tournament seetings to pannel discussions with invited guests or a combination of both or some other type of public discoussions.  As debate organisations we usually in addition to organising debate tournaments also organise different types of public discussions and in this chapter we are presenting a few  types how to do it. 

 

Public debates

In public debates a formal debate is only a beginning, a starting point for further discussion where the audience is included. Formal debate is a method which allows to present arguments for different sides and it is an excellent tool to provoke and promote further discussion. Public debates  consist of two parts, one is the  formal debate, depending of the format lasting 30 to 40  minutes. After that the open forum  starts, where the audience and speakers discuss the issues on the table.  The audience can  be youth, inhabitants in the communities where the debate happens, local authorities and state governments representatives, civil society representatives, experts from the field and of course, media. Venues can be: youth centers, schools, municipalities, theatres, parks, libraries

Here is one of the examples of how such a debate can look like. Debate format used is developed from the format we debate at the high school level. 

Here are the main guidelines: 

 There are two 3- members debate teams, one team affirming and one team opposing debate motion. 

 Team members can be  only debaters, can be a combination of debaters and some invited guest speakers, like a mayor, an activist, an expert, a member of the parliament …. 

 Each speaker has 5 minutes to present their arguments and respond to the arguments of the opposing team. During the speeches the speakers of the opposing team try to ask questions to the speaker. 

 After the debate the discussion starts and audience comments and ask questions to the speakers. 

 Debate and the discussion  is moderated by a moderator.  

It is always good to video tape the debate and than archive it on the net so more people can access it. The same is true for writing the report with the main arguments, publicise them at your social media pages and send them to media. Often media report about the events if they get everything prepared and they even do not need to participate at the event. 

 

How to organize and moderate a panel disscusion

 

The purpose of a panel discussion is to bring together top talent and all institutionally or personally involved in one area so that a group of experts and representative of politics and public – civil sphere can share and build upon each other’s experience and opinions. Panel discussions are useful if an issue is too complex for one person to handle, or if the audience needs to be exposed to various people or viewpoints at the same session. Typically, panel discussions have a goal in mind, whether to introduce a new concept, disseminate facts, show different points of view, get people thinking in a new direction, or any one of a hundred other possibilities. Generally we know two types of round tables that can be distinguished by the goal of discussion. 

 

Types of panel discussion

The first type involves the panelists that have similar approaches to the topic and generally agree about its content. The goal of such a discussion is to inform public and to clarify some opinions. By that we mean the contribution to the deeper analysis of the topic which can bring out surplus value for the argumentation of the specific stance or even the stimulation of political action.  The second type is classical clash of radically different opinions. These kinds of discussions are very interesting for public, especially when discussing generally important issues that people can personally relate to but can be difficult to moderate, because the difference of opinions can sometimes bring the discussion off the topic and the event can become very confusing. 

 

Choosing the topic and preparing the concept of discussion

The crucial part of organizing the panel discussion is specifying the topic we are going to talk about. It is important to know that such public events are always organized for public, so when choosing the topic we should know the target group and then adapt the content and concept of the round table accordingly. So, when preparing the concept of a debate, moderator must know the audience. What are their key interests, needs and concerns? What is it about the panel that attracts them? What questions are they hoping to find answers to? What will be the impact of the panelists’ comments on their work and lives? Answers to these questions can help the moderator to prepare a discussion guide or structure that captures public intention and will keep the discussion relevant and meaningful to the audience.

 

In addition to that we also have to consider two main things. We have to be able to invite panelists who are qualify to present their point of view on the topic and the topic has to be manageable for the moderator, so he can prepare proper questions and the key bases for the discussion.

Successful panels need to have a title that is catchy or provocative, in tune for the conference, and has a detailed summary of what the audience will get out of it. That is the minimum good promotion. 

 

Speakers – panelists

The panelists should be chosen very carefully. In the event you namely need the right mix of expertise, ability to express an opinion coherently and divergent points of view. Organizer should look for diversity in backgrounds, opinions and vested interests and should be cognizant of the hidden agenda they’ll each have for agreeing to be on the panel.

When choosing panelists we should consider the variety of different approaches to the topic and different points of views presented in the public discourse. We should take care that all these opinions are equally represented by speakers. The organizer should invite the main actors (public institutions, groups of interest, individual representatives, experts, politicians, academics) publicly involved with the topic. 

 

Moderator has to research the panelists and know their points of view on the topic, as well as much as you can about their interests and background. He has to know their opinion on the topic so he can adapt the questions and the concepts of the whole event. He also has to know their past activities connected to the topic and has to collect biographies of the speakers for introduction purposes, that is to say moderator has to prepare their general references (which are proving the quest is someone we can trust and someone whose opinion we want to hear) and descriptions of his involvement in the topic. This is very important because the references are answering the question why the guest could be interesting for public and relevant for the debate.  Finally, It is very important to connect and talk to the speakers about their role and contribution to the debate. It is usually advised that moderator makes sure that the panelists know the basic background of the upcoming debate. The moderator also has to find out how the speakers would like to be announced or introduced. 

 

It is very important to connect and talk to the speakers about their role and contribution to the debate. It is usually advised that moderator makes sure that the panelists are introduced to the basic concept and background of the upcoming debate. It is good to establish and send some general high level bullets, so it helps the panelists to prepare and research. Moderator also has to find out how the speakers would like to be announced.

 

Panel size and length

Proper number of panelist is 3 to 5 - any less becomes difficult to flesh out all the viewpoints, and anymore becomes unwieldy and confused. This is the only way that the discussion is focused enough; interaction among the speakers can bring out the real clashes of different opinions. It also enables the proper moderation. Event should not take longer than one hour and a half, considering the concentration of the public. It is namely the end of the discussion which can, by involving the public, bring to the conclusions, articulation of new opinions and maybe even the idea for the political action, so we have to keep everybody focused. 

 

Moderator

Moderator has to have a sense of how to structure his questions and juggle the different points of view and of course he has to be able ensure that the panel has a tight focus or value proposition. He has to be rhetorically excellent, simply because likeable speech is easier to follow. The moderator creates a feeling that every step of the discussion, every answer and question logically and contently follows the previous one. That is to say he has to create an atmosphere of a debate as a connected and holistic event.

 

Moderator should be able to follow all the answers of the speakers and should be able to contextualized them accordingly to the structure of the debate and connect them with his following questions. 

 

That is why he should make a proper and detailed research on the topic and public discourse on the topic; he should be updated with current, pertinent and controversial relevant issues. Moderator should holistically understand the subject matter; in comparison to the speakers he should see the bigger picture of the whole debate and topic. The most entertaining panels have a dash of debate and look at an issue from many angles. Moderator should also find where the points of contention are and be sure to bring it up, this is how one can bill the panel. Moderator can use a blog post, Twitter or other feedback tool to glean questions from the community.

 

Appropriate moderator has to be in position of “tabula rasa”, that is to say moderator should be empty democratically critical subject who does not have any opinion in advance but is able to critically analyze all the answers of panelists. He has to be objective, he has to give equal amount of time to all the speakers and he has to be equally critical and provocative towards every argument. 

 

Moderator should not be a star of the debate. He has to act as anonymous representative of the public connecting the people to the speakers. He is not there to present and enforce his own opinions. He should realize that he is there just to guide the conversation 

 

Questions and structure of the discussion

The questions must be prepared in advance. Moderator should prepare open-ended questions that are both specific to each panelist’s individual interests and representative of issues the audience will be interested in. 

 

There are also three possibilities how to ask questions. First option is just to give the opening word to each panelist so they can explain their position on the topic. Even though that is true that a complex argumentation needs a lot of time to be explained this option is to time consuming. Second option is to give specific questions to each speaker according to their references and interests. The option is that each speaker gives an answer on the same question which can become very boring. The advice is to give them some time to explain their positions (which is really important so their point of view is presented to the debate), but focusing their speech within the frame of the debate with some sub questions. Usually moderator stars out with an easy question or topic so that panelists can settle in and relax. Then, he raises the stakes, probing into more controversial areas.

 

Before the questions moderator has to make the opening speech in which he shares the results of his research and introduced the public with the topic. This speech should be short, consistent; it should not be one of the central speeches of the discussion, but comprehensive enough to articulate the main goals of the debate. The opening speech has to extract the problem of the debate which has to be contextualized in the current events. It has to contain major concepts, the purpose of the round table, presentation of different positions on the topic and the current status of the topic discussed so far. The opening speech has to ensure the general reference to which all the answers can refer to, which is nothing more than conceptual frame of the debate with a common language. It is very important that all the panelists agree at least on what they disagree about. 

 

Beside the opening speech moderator has to prepare some link text to connect the questions and put them into the prospective. The most important is that debate is conceptual, meaning that the frame of the discussion is formed and the moderator has to make sure that the debate does not deviate from the proposed concept. 

At the beginning also some technical clarifications have to be made. Moderator has to Lay out the timeframe and any other ground rules or guidelines they need to know – format of the debate, how and when public can actively participate and so on.  

 

Setting the stage

The moderator has to make sure that the place for the event is properly prepared. The organizers have to take care of lightning, position of moderators,  microphones (if needed) and seating arrangement of panel as well as audience, acoustics and so on. It’s very unpleasant if discussion is distracted by any practical inertion that is why moderator should carefully attend the room logistics – “moderator has to own the place”.

 

During the debate

Firstly opening speech has to be made and then the panelist need to be introduced. Moderator has to explain who are the panelists and why are they a part of this debate – presentation of the bases and views on the topic of each panelist. He also has to present their references, explain why they are relevant to the discussion and interesting for the public – their connection to the topic. 

 

While the panelists are talking—especially if there’s a part of the panel where panelists deliver prepared remarks— moderator should listen very carefully, take notes and, wherever possible, capture important statements verbatim. Latter moderator can use what he has heard to invite other panelists to comment on particular parts of other panelists’ statements. Moderator should ssk follow-up questions that get to the story behind the canned response: Ask “Why do you believe this…?” “Do we all agree with what Joe has just stated…?” Panels that are too general or full of platitudes tend to bore audiences; controversy keeps it interesting. The conclusion of the debate has to be a question for each participant of the panel discussion – it is namely very boring just to ask panelist for some final thoughts. But these final question should be open enough to let the panelist to draw and present their own conclusions. 

 

The moderator has to keep time and ensure equal amount of time for each panelist at the same time he has to take care for order during the debate. Moderator should also be prepared to navigate and intervene with panelists on behalf of the audience as needed

 

Public

The public can be included in the debate at the end or during the debate. Questions from the public during the debate are very popular, because of the trend of “democratization of the panel discussions”, saying everybody is equal – no matter you are an expert or just a “average Joe” your opinion counts as well as long as it is well represented. So the moderator can choose to let the audience know that he will take questions trough out debate, if audience member raise their hands. 

 

The key with doing that is not to allow an off-topic or obscure question to derail the panel and bore the other audience members. If you get a super-detailed question that seems like it is only of interest to the questioner, the moderator can easily ask one specific panelists to address it and then move on. This kind of discussion is hard to moderate and control. 

If the public is included at the end of the debate then the round table is easier to handle. During the main question-and-answer period, the moderator should try to avoid calling on the same person twice until everyone has gotten a chance to ask a question. In the event that there are no questions immediately, it's good for the moderator to either have someone in the audience (perhaps one of the organizers) primed to ask a question, or for the moderator to have an extra question or two in reserve. 

 

No matter how the moderator include the public in the debate he should establish simple systems everyone can access. This might range from an open mic in the aisle to note cards they can write questions passed to your assistants to online systems for submitting questions.

 

After the formal discussion

Many audience members will want a chance to chat informally with the panelists and moderator. That is why it is good to ask your speakers in advance to stick around at the event for at least 15 or 20 minutes after their session, so that attendees will have a chance to buttonhole them in the hallway after their session. Even better is to encourage them to stay for reception if it is planned. 

 

Miha Andrić