Thank you so much for being involved in Solar Media’s event series. This page guides you on what to expect as a speaker.
If you have any other questions, please reach out to our team:
A panel discussion involves a group of people gathered to discuss a topic in front of an audience. Typically it would involve one moderator and three to five panelists.
A panel typically lasts between 40 and 60 minutes.
Panels do not have slides or presentations.
Around two to four weeks before the event Solar Media will organize a panel preparation call in which the panel will discuss what everyone is and is not comfortable talking about. The outcome should be that there is a plan for what questions and talking points will be discussed on the day of the event. Everyone should attend this. Before the panel preparation call the moderator should prepare 5-10 questions to test with the panelists during the preparation call.
The below is a rough structure of how a panel works. The timings are not exact but are rough guidance.
Please arrive at least 30 minutes before the panel start to meet the producer at the AV desk so that you can be fitted with a microphone.
Panel begins:
The conference area will be equipped with a stage, lectern/mics, a remote control to forward your slides, AV team onsite, chairs on stage.
Please arrive at least 30 minutes before the presentation starts to meet the producer at the AV desk so that you can be fitted with a microphone.
The session chairperson will introduce you to the stage using your biography. Please reserve 5 minutes of your speaking slot duration, for questions from the audience. Please let the chairperson/event producer know in advance if you do not wish to do answer questions from the audience. A member of staff will be on hand with a wireless microphone for audience members.
The producer will hold a 10-minute and 5-minute sign up for you to clearly see in the back of the audience. Please make sure you stick to timings and if you are running late to a session, then you must cut your session short to keep the smooth running of the day.
You will be asked to submit your presentation slides by email the week before the event. Please also bring the final version along to the event on a USB device 1 hour (minimum) prior to your speaking time. We ask that a draft is supplied to us in advance, for us to store as a back-up file for you. You will be able to make edits to the file and bring the up to date version with you on the day.
If your presentation is too large to send by email, please use a file sharing website such as WeTransfer.
The specs for the presentation slides are 16:9.
The Chairperson’s role is to ensure that the sessions run smoothly from one to the other; essentially to act as the MC for their specific room. The producer on-site from Solar Media will be responsible for any logistical/AV-related issues, but the Chairperson would be relied upon to fill the gaps between one session and the next, perhaps by making a comment or asking a question based on the last session whilst the next one is setting up.
The producer will brief you in advance of the day as to what to expect, and will provide biographies where relevant for speaker introductions along with any more necessary information about specific networking sessions happening that may need to be mentioned to the audience.
When you arrive on site, please make yourself known to a member of Solar Media and find your room and relevant producer to say hi.
As an invited guest speaker your network is eligible for a 20% discount. Please contact the producer for details of your code.
Enjoy it and have fun!
If there are any issues on the day or if you have a question please go to the registration desk where a member of the Solar Media team can assist you.
We will be using Slido at the event, an app which facilitates Q&A during sessions.
On the day, the hashtag for each room or stream will appear on the screen, the details of how to submit will be mentioned in the opening speech and the Chairperson will remind attendees during the sessions where they can submit their questions.
Toward the end of a presentation/panel, any questions submitted on Slido will appear on the screen for everyone to see – this should prompt the moderator or Chair to move to these questions.
It is the role of the producer on-site to work with AV team to make sure that Slido is on screen at the right time, and not the role of the Chairperson. It is also the responsibility of the producer to set up the Slido hashtags for each stream, and moderate the questions to ensure that they are approved before appearing on screen.