There’s nothing quite like attending a literary festival to make you feel under-read, bordering on illiterate. Also, not everyone can pull off a Chetan Bhagat – I don’t read and I write for readers like me, he famously said on debut years ago. Sometimes you nod along and fake it, but if you’re a true-blue nerd/reader at heart, most times you’re trying to take furious mental notes, asking “What did she write again?” while trying not to put your lack of education and erudition on display.
If you do nudge past your ego, though, you’re likely to hear of some pretty incredible writers, not to mention hear some of that talent first-hand. Now if you’re a slightly anxious sort, then you already have that barometer that reads Fraud! Ignoramus! (Or something ruder, depending on how harsh your inner voice is.) Dial that up by 1,000, if you’re said personality type and are on a panel, or hosting a panel discussion.
As a former TV news anchor, I’ve been invited to my fair share of panel discussions, to moderate sessions on health and healthcare innovations, publishing, as well as discussions on books. It’s great fun, all told, when all goes well. The trick is to be prepared, right?
Research, research, research
When it’s a subject everyone doesn’t have an opinion or claim to expertise on, I find it’s easier. You do your fair share of research and, like any good journalist, you can quickly find questions and solid ground. Oh and about questions? It’s true – as they say – the simpler the better. You’re asking questions to reveal different facets of the subject, surely, not to display your own smarts.
If you’re lucky, you have a genuinely interesting panelist or at least the writer of a genuinely interesting book, the thinker of an interesting thought... (If not, maybe re-think why you agreed to be on the panel?) But it’s just as likely that you have someone who has an attention problem, or a condescending air, or a tendency to grab all the “air-time” or… at the other end of the spectrum, is painfully shy, unable to articulate a thought, or just unbearably vague. A cross-section of society, that is.
You might bristle, if you’re at the receiving end of a faintly patronising air or assumption of ignorance, but it’s up to you to stay calm and… carry on. Moderating is of course an art – you’re aiming for smart, conversational, charming, in control, and of course, effortless. Even if you want to box someone for not only not answering your question, but taking up way more than their allotted time to launch into some infernal monologue, when you can do nothing but flash a strained smile, and then nod along furiously… in ever-more furious fashion.
All of this is just par for the course. It gets a trifle more complicated when it’s a literary panel or discussion. When it comes to reading and books, fiction and non-fiction, everyone and their grandma has an opinion. Most of them want to hear as little of you the moderator (imagine!) as possible. And some of them are just waiting to catch you out as a phoney. If you ask really inane or mundane questions, you can almost hear a room groan.
Don’t get me wrong – it’s often genuinely fun. Especially if you love reading. And while it’s not a prerequisite in the least, there are definitely some writers who are also great performers.
Loony tune
What I find even more fun – and I’m a Twitter fiend, remember! – is to get in as many audience questions as possible. It also seems like the most natural way to get the writer in her own element. Though you always have to be on guard – never underestimate the power of the mike to bring out the loony tune in anyone!
It’s also a good tactic, because people almost always want to get their own comments in. They want to bond with their literary hero/ flavour of the season! And while no one wants to go first, it’s usually easier from then on out. And you get to help steer that conversation.
Strike all of this if you’re on a panel, talking about your own book. Then dial the anxiety and nausea right back up again.
Amrita Tripathi (@amritat) is a writer and journalist. Clips from panels and other encounters are at amritatripathi.com. Her second novel, The Sibius Knot, will be published soon.
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If you do nudge past your ego, though, you’re likely to hear of some pretty incredible writers, not to mention hear some of that talent first-hand. Now if you’re a slightly anxious sort, then you already have that barometer that reads Fraud! Ignoramus! (Or something ruder, depending on how harsh your inner voice is.) Dial that up by 1,000, if you’re said personality type and are on a panel, or hosting a panel discussion.
As a former TV news anchor, I’ve been invited to my fair share of panel discussions, to moderate sessions on health and healthcare innovations, publishing, as well as discussions on books. It’s great fun, all told, when all goes well. The trick is to be prepared, right?
Research, research, research
When it’s a subject everyone doesn’t have an opinion or claim to expertise on, I find it’s easier. You do your fair share of research and, like any good journalist, you can quickly find questions and solid ground. Oh and about questions? It’s true – as they say – the simpler the better. You’re asking questions to reveal different facets of the subject, surely, not to display your own smarts.
If you’re lucky, you have a genuinely interesting panelist or at least the writer of a genuinely interesting book, the thinker of an interesting thought... (If not, maybe re-think why you agreed to be on the panel?) But it’s just as likely that you have someone who has an attention problem, or a condescending air, or a tendency to grab all the “air-time” or… at the other end of the spectrum, is painfully shy, unable to articulate a thought, or just unbearably vague. A cross-section of society, that is.
You might bristle, if you’re at the receiving end of a faintly patronising air or assumption of ignorance, but it’s up to you to stay calm and… carry on. Moderating is of course an art – you’re aiming for smart, conversational, charming, in control, and of course, effortless. Even if you want to box someone for not only not answering your question, but taking up way more than their allotted time to launch into some infernal monologue, when you can do nothing but flash a strained smile, and then nod along furiously… in ever-more furious fashion.
All of this is just par for the course. It gets a trifle more complicated when it’s a literary panel or discussion. When it comes to reading and books, fiction and non-fiction, everyone and their grandma has an opinion. Most of them want to hear as little of you the moderator (imagine!) as possible. And some of them are just waiting to catch you out as a phoney. If you ask really inane or mundane questions, you can almost hear a room groan.
Don’t get me wrong – it’s often genuinely fun. Especially if you love reading. And while it’s not a prerequisite in the least, there are definitely some writers who are also great performers.
Loony tune
What I find even more fun – and I’m a Twitter fiend, remember! – is to get in as many audience questions as possible. It also seems like the most natural way to get the writer in her own element. Though you always have to be on guard – never underestimate the power of the mike to bring out the loony tune in anyone!
It’s also a good tactic, because people almost always want to get their own comments in. They want to bond with their literary hero/ flavour of the season! And while no one wants to go first, it’s usually easier from then on out. And you get to help steer that conversation.
Strike all of this if you’re on a panel, talking about your own book. Then dial the anxiety and nausea right back up again.
Amrita Tripathi (@amritat) is a writer and journalist. Clips from panels and other encounters are at amritatripathi.com. Her second novel, The Sibius Knot, will be published soon.
