How to ask a panelist a question that wakes up the whole room

At the three-day International Conference 2018 in New York, undergraduates mixed with executives and influential leaders through keynotes, seminars and networking, alongside a writing competition and impact challenge on the future of work. In that setting, a panel question can reveal how leaders think and turn a broad theme into a decision someone may face.

Strong audience questions can wake up the whole room, but they need preparation, restraint and a point of view. The best expose a meaningful tension, provide enough context to be understood and leave a panelist with room to answer honestly.

Start with a meaningful tension

Begin with the decision, not the topic. Instead of asking “What is the future of work?”, frame the issue as a choice leaders may need to make: whether to prioritise specialist hiring, generalist teams or responsible automation. A choice creates focus because it asks for judgement rather than a slogan.

Build the question from something you have noticed. A change in customer behaviour, a difficult team transition or an uncomfortable statistic can supply the evidence. Keep it specific enough to be recognisable and brief enough that the panelist can respond without decoding a long setup.

One test is to complete: “This matters because a leader must decide…” If the ending sounds vague, the question lacks stakes. Replace “in today’s rapidly changing world” with a concrete consequence, such as “before hiring budgets are cut for the next quarter.”

Listen for the gap

Panels are conversations, not scripted interviews, so the strongest question often grows just before the microphone reaches you. Listen for a gap between the speaker’s recommendation and the audience’s situation. That gap can produce a more useful question than a generic show of hands.

Distinguish a point that merely needs amplification from one that contains an unresolved choice. “Automation is changing teams” is an observation. “Leaders should preserve roles that build trust while automating repetitive tasks” is a position. Good questioning tests the boundary of that position without putting the panelist on trial.

Prepare one primary question and one brief follow-up. A follow-up might begin, “The tension in your answer is…” or “The practical constraint is…”. This lets you react to the discussion, show that you listened and avoid repeating another audience member’s question.

Make the issue recognisably Australian

Australian examples make a global subject immediate without turning it into a geography quiz. A founder might hire across Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane while managing staff who rely on the arvo coffee routine for workplace catch-ups. The point is to show how an idea survives an ordinary Australian day.

The local market strengthens the stakes. Small businesses make up the overwhelming majority of Australian businesses and employ most Australian workers, so advice about AI, apprenticeships or flexible work affects teams without large corporate resources. An impact challenge might ask: “When a Melbourne retailer introduces AI service tools, which part of the customer journey should remain human-led?”

Legislation can sharpen a question without turning it into legal advice. The Fair Work Act 2009, enforced by the Fair Work Ombudsman, matters when innovation changes rosters, hours or entitlements; the Modern Slavery Act 2018 matters when growth depends on supply chains. Ask which principle should guide the decision before compliance becomes an afterthought.

Shape the question for a live room

Once you have found the tension, compress it. A question that takes forty seconds to explain may never be heard. Aim for about twenty seconds: name the issue, add one concrete observation and ask for a response that can be applied.

Rehearsing the opening as a 30-second elevator pitch can expose vague phrasing; this winning pitch framework offers a useful model for making value clear before a judge or panel hears it. The transfer is simple: state what is at stake, show why it matters and invite the expert to fill in the judgement.

Use wording that gives the panelist something to answer. “What do you think about workplace change?” offers no path. “Which capability should Australian small-business owners protect as routine admin work becomes automated?” creates a clear choice while leaving room for nuance. Direct the question to one panelist, then invite others to add a different perspective.

Deliver it with confidence and care

A live panel rewards presence. Speak more slowly than you think necessary, look towards the panelist and let the first sentence stand without apologising. A brief pause gives the room time to hear the setup.

Even an undergraduate has influence in the room. That is leading without formal authority: earning attention through clarity, relevance and respect rather than rank. Address the panelist by name when appropriate, acknowledge uncertainty in your premise and avoid turning the answer into a debate about the questioner.

If an answer becomes promotional, use a bridge rather than an interruption: “That is helpful. The tension I see is…” Then narrow the response to the unresolved point. If the moderator signals that time is short, make the follow-up self-contained: repeat the issue in six words, then ask for one concrete example.

Prepare the exchange and use what comes next

Before the event, read the panel biographies, note where their experience overlaps with your question and practise aloud. A question written for one speaker may fit another better; knowing two credible targets gives you flexibility. Prepare the one-minute version, thirty-second version and one follow-up sentence.

Afterwards, capture the answer accurately and test it against what you actually heard. Did it resolve the tension, shift the premise or reveal a new constraint? A precise written reflection keeps the exchange useful beyond the applause and can become a stronger starting point for a future conversation.

Approach	What the room hears	Likely effect	Stronger framing
Broad theme	“What is the future of work?”	Several broad answers, little tension	Name the choice leaders face
Unsupported assertion	“Leaders always put people first”	The panelist must defend or reject a slogan	Offer one observation and ask where it breaks
Yes-or-no question	“Should employers use AI?”	A short answer closes the discussion	Ask what decision should guide implementation
Specific tension	“Which human capability becomes more valuable as routine work is automated?”	A focused answer with examples and trade-offs	Keep the issue, audience and constraint visible

The practical takeaway is to choose a real tension, listen for the gap and ask one clear question that the panel can answer with a specific example. The room’s attention is the test: when people lean in and hear their own concerns in the answer, the question has done its job.