5 Tips for Moderating a Fantastic Fireside Chat

OK, so you've been asked to moderate a fireside chat or onstage interview at a conference. These are my five best tips, from preparation and research to getting the audience engaged and ending strong. They're based on my experience moderating LOTs of fireside chats at conferences around the world, with speakers like Malcolm Gladwell, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, inventor Dean Kamen, futurist Ray Kurzweil, Craigslist founder Craig Newmark, former Boston mayor Kim Janey, etc.
The video is intended to be helpful to both moderators, and event organizers including fireside chats in their agendas.
After the video, I've included some bonus footage from actual fireside chats I've moderated with entrepreneur Steve Papa; Lucasfilm exec Vicki Dobbs Beck; Internet memesmith Ze Frank; and former Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick.
Related to this is my video, "How to Moderate a Panel Using Just One Index Card":
• How to Moderate a Pane...

[@christophertsai810]

Thank you for sharing this fantastic video with us, Scott. I applied your tips during a recent fireside chat and received such great feedback. One person told me it was the best fireseide he has been to, and that he has attended many! Thank you, Scott!

[@scottkirsner4493]

love to hear that!

[@JakeDBernstein]

Love the video! This is helpful for the fireside chat I'm prepping for :). Side question, what brand/style jacket are you wearing? I like the fit!

[@OliviaVanessaBaumgart]

Thanks for sharing this Bobbie Carlton ❤️

[@chelseawilson2707]

Thanks for your videos! Really helpful. Hope you continue to make these videos

[@shersher3872]

Thank you, Scott! Your tips are awesome and I am going to apply them at my next session :)

[@scottkirsner4493]

Let us know how it goes!

[@shersher3872]

The speaker said it was a good session :)

[@selfridgesforever4399]

Thank you for this. I’ll be doing my first fireside chat moderation next week so this was really helpful.

[@scottkirsner4493]

Good luck!

[@BuhayBuhaysaAmerika]

TY for sharing this information, I will be doing a Fire side moderator in a few days and watching this was very helpful. DO you have additional tips on how to prepare to do an interview?