PULTEVENT
Panel discussion audience interaction: 7 moves for the moderator's run sheet
Panel discussion audience interaction is usually left to the last ten minutes, when the moderator turns to the room and asks if there are any questions. By then half the audience has spent forty minutes as spectators. With PULTEVENT the room is part of the panel from the introductions onward: delegates send questions to a specific panellist from their phones, react while people speak, and vote live when two panellists take opposite positions. The moderator steers all of it from a laptop at the side of the stage.
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A panel is the hardest format to keep lively. Four or five people, a loose structure, and a moderator trying to balance airtime, follow the argument and watch the clock. Adding interaction should reduce the load, not increase it, so the guest side is kept simple: scan the code, pick a panellist, type, send. Reactions are one tap. A vote is one tap.
Everything runs in the mobile browser on iOS and Android, with no app and no registration. The hall screen shows whatever the moderator chooses: a single approved question with the panellist's name, a feed of popular questions, reaction bubbles, or a split bar for a vote. Phones and the laptop need an internet connection.
7 moves that bring the audience into a panel discussion
1 Opening poll before anyone speaks
Put the panel's central question to the room as two options. The hall votes before the first answer, and the result becomes the moderator's opening line.
How to run it. Keep vote changing on. You will want to show at the end whether the panel moved the room.
Panellists know where the audience stands, and the audience has a stake from minute one.
2 Reactions during the first round of answers
While each panellist gives their opening view, the room taps reactions: something new, a good example, strong opinion, agree, thanks, unclear.
How to run it. If the screen sits behind the panel, tell panellists it is there. Some like to glance back.
The moderator can see which opening view got the room going and follow up there.
3 Question queue, running in the background
From the introductions onward, delegates send questions to a named panellist. The moderator sees them arrive and can bring one in mid-discussion rather than waiting for the end.
How to run it. Filter by panellist every ten minutes. If one name has no questions, direct the next one at them yourself.
The audience's questions shape the panel as it happens.
4 Live vote when two panellists disagree
Two panellists take opposite sides. The moderator sets up a quick round with their photos and one-line positions, and the split bar moves as the hall votes during their exchange.
How to run it. Prepare two or three likely disagreements as ready-made rounds before the panel, so you can open one in seconds.
It turns the best moment of a panel into something the whole room joins.
5 The audience's top three
Sort the question list by support and push the top three to the screen one at a time, each with the name of the panellist it was addressed to.
How to run it. Read how many people supported the question before you read the question. It frames it as the room's voice.
Panellists cannot dodge a question that fifty people backed.
6 Lightning round with votes
The moderator asks each panellist for a one-sentence prediction. The hall votes on which prediction is most likely by splitting a small budget of points across them.
How to run it. Name the points something light, such as confidence tokens. Keep each card to one line.
A playful, fast close that still produces a clear result.
7 Closing vote and the swing
Show the opening question again and the timeline of how votes moved through the session. Then thank the panel.
How to run it. Close the round before the reveal so the chart does not move while you describe it.
The panel ends with evidence that the discussion mattered.
Questions tagged by panellist
Delegates choose who they are asking. The moderator filters by panellist to keep the conversation balanced.
Instant votes on a disagreement
Two panellists, two positions, and the hall picks a side while the argument is still running.
Reactions without interruption
The room responds with one tap, and the screen shows the balance of reactions within a couple of seconds.
One person can run it
A moderator with a laptop or a colleague at the tech desk handles questions, votes and the screen.
Preparing the panel
Add each panellist with a photo and a short title so delegates can pick them from a list. Write the opening poll in two short, fair options. From the pre-panel call, note where panellists disagree and prepare those as battle rounds with their photos and one-line positions. If you plan a lightning round, prepare the prediction cards blank and fill them in on the day, or keep that round for a panel you know well.
Where the moderator's attention goes
The laptop should show the question list, not the hall screen. Glance at it when a panellist is mid-answer, not when you are talking. Approve in batches rather than one by one.
If a colleague can sit at the tech desk, give them the approvals and the rounds, and keep only the choice of which question to put on screen for yourself. A panel moderator who is also typing looks distracted on camera.
Things that go wrong in panels
Opening a vote without saying what it is. People need both options read out before they tap, or they vote for whatever is on the left.
Forgetting to start a new reaction session between two panels in the same hall. The second panel's chart is then mixed with the first.
Letting one panellist collect every question. Use the filter and redirect.
Not closing a round. A bar that keeps moving after the moderator has announced the result confuses everyone watching.
Panels at different kinds of events
At an industry conference, the debate round is the most valuable piece, because panellists often represent competing approaches. At an internal leadership panel, anonymous questions matter more. At a startup event, the lightning round with points works well because the audience already thinks in terms of backing ideas. The mechanics stay the same; the emphasis moves.
Trying it before the event
Use the free 72-hour demo, no card required, to run the whole panel with colleagues pretending to be the audience. Afterwards choose monthly access or a one-time payment for lifetime access to all sections. See pultevent.ru/en.
About the author
PULTEVENT was built by Ruslan Barashkin, who moderates business forums and corporate conferences and has hosted over 500 events since 2014: best host of Moscow 2024 and of Saint Petersburg 2023 at the TOP 100 Awards. He made it for his own events first. The rest is at pultevent.ru/en.
How to add audience interaction to a panel discussion
- 1
Add the panellists with photos and titles, and write the opening poll.
- 2
Prepare two or three debate rounds for the disagreements you expect.
- 3
Switch on pre-moderation and set the anonymity rule for questions.
- 4
Show the QR code during the introductions and open the question form.
- 5
Bring in questions and votes during the discussion, filtering by panellist.
- 6
Close with the top questions and the swing chart, then export the results.
FAQ
Can delegates choose which panellist to ask?
How fast can I set up a vote mid-panel?
Can one moderator handle it alone?
Do delegates need an app?
Can we show how opinions changed?
Can a person vote more than once?
See also
Run brighter events — with PULTEVENT
All audience interactions, a second screen and timing in one app. Guests join by QR — internet is needed for you and for them.
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