A short guide
Five short sections. Everything we've learned from running (and watching) live Q&As go well and badly. Nothing here is theory — it's what actually happens in the room.
Running a jukebox instead? Read that guide01Before the doors open
Ninety percent of a good Q&A is set up before anyone walks in. None of this takes long.
Test the QR from where the back row will actually sit. QRs can look fine at desk width and fail from thirty feet.
Put the QR on your title slide, not a "questions now" slide. People take out phones during the intro, not at the end.
Decide your moderation floor and write it down: are you filtering for topic, tone, or both? You'll be quicker under pressure.
Have the audience view open on your own phone. You'll spot problems — typos in the title, a submission failure — before anyone else complains.
02The first thirty seconds
An empty question queue is the same problem as an empty dance floor. Someone has to start.
Say the URL out loud as well as showing the QR. Old phones, cracked cameras, the person hiding at the back.
Ask a specific person you know will answer to submit a warm-up question. Approve theirs first — a seed makes the pond feel populated.
Tell people names are optional. Half the good questions come from someone who wouldn't attach their name.
If nothing appears in the first minute, that's normal. Keep speaking. Questions land in bursts.
03During
Fast moderation is about rhythm, not throughput. The audience is watching you decide as much as they're reading the question.
Show Live for one question. Read it aloud. Answer it. Only then show the next. Never queue two.
Pin questions you want to come back to so they don't sink under new arrivals.
Dismiss silently. Don’t announce that you’re removing something. Just remove it and keep moving.
If two questions cover the same ground, answer the one that reads best. The other person will hear it.
04When it gets awkward
You will get a hostile question, or a question you can't answer, or a joke that lands wrong. Have a move for each.
Trolls want a reaction. Dismiss and move on. Not addressing it is the answer.
A spiky-but-fair question? Pin it. Answer it near the end. Composure reads.
A question you can't answer? Say so. "I don't know — here's what I'd want to find out." The room prefers honest over polished.
A friendly disagreement? Read the question flat, answer honestly, don't debate it live. The person asking often just wants to be heard.
05After
The transcript is the piece of the event that lives after everyone leaves. Don't waste it.
Export the transcript. Even if you never read it back, an organiser will, a co-speaker will, someone in the audience will want it.
Send a one-line thank-you to your co-speakers, your organiser, whoever ran the AV. Small effort, disproportionate return.
Answered questions become blog posts. Every good Q&A produces two or three angles you didn't plan and someone else would like to read.
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