Be focused on the audience, especially the 'real' audience

9 Sometimes the "real" audience is just one person — the person who invited you to be on the panel. They are sitting there hoping the panel – and you – will be great! There could also be a key decision-maker in the audience; know who he or she is, and what his or her issues are. Be very careful not to drone on and on about you or your work. Be focused on them. Mortal sin #2 (#1 was the vacuous "thank you" and redundancy habit) is to talk about how great you are, the vast experiences you've had, and blah, blah, blah about you. Resist this. Focus instead on the idea, the strategy and the trend. That is how others see expertise. The more you talk about you, the more hot air fills the room. Rather, cool the room with good ideas based on your experience.

10 If there is a Q & A, and for some reason no questions are asked of you, raise your hand to the moderator and comment. This is no time to be shy! You don't want to dominate the microphone, but you do want to be heard – not because of you, but because of the value of your contribution. Your main thought is how to help your ideas shine in your several minutes as the selected expert.

11 Be available, really available, for one-to-one audience interaction after the program. Whoever comes up to you after the program, give him or her your full and complete attention and either answer a question, listen to any concern or paraphrase any criticism. Their interaction with you during this one-on-one time will be riveted in their minds for all time. You are the celebrity, and how they perceive your treatment of them can make or break their experience.

12 Finally, follow up with yourself after the program. What did you do that you were pleased with? What would you do differently next time? How can you follow up with an article, an action step, even a book to write? If you recorded the panel discussion – a good idea by the way – listen to it after a day or so without critical judgment. Try to hear it in a new way. The pros do this consistently and that is why they are ... pros!

Preparation so that you can engage, strategize and focus is the key to a memorable panel contribution. When you do prepare with these steps, reminders and goals in mind, they can help the audience, they will help you and they will advance the cause. And really, that is what an expert like you is for!