Have some pre-prepared 'most asked'questions to get the format established and for people to feel comfortable with the format.

Q&A sessions are excellent ways to provide access to your leadership team. These might be for employees or others, such as journalists or industry leaders. They ensure that audience members can ask questions directly of leaders and hear the answers in their own words. Question and answer sessions are primarily about the exchange of information. Well-structured questions can illuminate important topics, build understanding, and more. From business processes to the impact of materials on the environment, question and answer sessions allow you to clarify misconceptions and set the record straight. That can have additional benefits, including improving audience perception.

To transition smoothly from a panel discussion to a Q&A session during a live event, it's crucial to clearly announce this transition and give your audience at least 30 seconds to formulate questions. It's also important to brief your panelists on this Q&A process, asking them practice questions and encouraging direct, concise answers rather than wordy five-minute rambles.

To ensure a smooth transition to a Q&A session you should follow several steps namely: confirm the programme showing clearly the different sessions, share with all those participating in the programme, hire a moderator to lead the sessions and who will assist with the transition and brief all your panelists their roles and how the timing will flow.

Here are some of the ways I do this: ▶️ Announce the Q&A 5-10 minutes before the panel ends, giving attendees time to prepare questions. ▶️ Thank the panelists and smoothly pivot with a phrase like, "Now, let's hear from you." ▶️ Have a moderator with pre-prepared questions to kick things off and break the ice.