Expert Tips: Mastering The Moderator Role (Forum/Mastermind)

Congratulations on being nominated, elected, or in many cases being forced into being your group's moderator. I say congratulations because unlike any of the other roles, the moderator role is really the only one that will grow your leadership skills in a way that you can actually use in many other parts of your life. I know this because it happened to me. You see, I was the youngest in my group and while I was going to the bathroom, I think I need a bathroom, they decided to vote me in as moderator. And so there I was. I didn't really have a choice. I was extremely nervous going into my first meeting. But I quickly learned the skills I needed to run the group smoothly. The foremost expert, it helped run my business more smoothly. If I could lead a group of a players like that were in my group, then I knew that running my team in my business was gonna be a pie of cake. And in this video, I'm going to show you the six main activities that moderators are responsible for. Then at the end of the video, I'm going to give you just a few additional sneaky facilitation tricks to help you run your meeting better. Let's start with the first thing that moderators are responsible for, which is the prep email. One week prior to the meeting, you should send out a prep email to the group that includes the following information. It should include the meeting date and time, the meeting location, physical location, or a link if it's virtual, link to the monthly update, a link to the agenda, and a reminder that if someone is presenting or the group has to do some prep work ahead of time, that they know what they have to prep before the meeting. That's it for the technical part of the email. I also though like to start that email off with some kind of like personal message. You know, it might sound like this.

I can't believe it's already been a month since we last met. But with all this bad weather we've been having, it'll be a treat to get to catch up with each other.

That's it for the prep email. Simple enough so far, right? Yes, yes.

Good.

Let me stick with emails for a moment because the second thing you're responsible for is the wrap up email. The wrap up email happens right after the meeting and should include the following. The next meeting date and time, a reminder, reminder to complete those 24 hour aims or goals and a link to the parking lot, a reminder to the coach and presenter for the next meeting if there was one decided, and then any other reminder or action items that came up during the meeting. And just like with the prep email, I also like to include something personal in this email. I usually comment on something funny or interesting that happened during the meeting. Okay, now that we've covered two things that you're responsible for before and after the meeting, let's go actually into the meeting and discuss those two things that you need to do while the meeting is happening. I'll start with the first one which is the easiest. Picking a warmup question for the group. If you remember, during that opening segment of a meeting, there is a warmup question that gets the group going. You get to pick that question. Just make sure you do this ahead of time before the meeting and you aren't trying to come up with it in the moment. It's going to waste time, kill the energy. So the good news is I have a document with over 50 questions that I've put into almost every group that I work with. They are tiered from easiest to most intense. Don't worry, you don't have to think of a new question as there are plenty to choose from in this document. And for this section I want to give you just two quick tips on how to run it. First tip, I like to pick a question that has a purpose. And by that I mean I pick a question related to something that happened to me since the last meeting. That way then when I'm setting up the question, it just makes it more intentional as to why I picked it. And so that it doesn't just feel like I just chose from the list, it might go something like this. Last week a friend's house burned down unexpectedly. Thank goodness no humans or pets were hurt, but he said he only had a few moments to grab his non living possessions. And this got me thinking, what would I grab if this happened to me? So our warmup question today is imagine something similar happened to you and thank goodness all living beings were safe. But you only had time to grab three non living things from your house. What would you grab after I go, John, you're going to go next? For me it would be and seen the second tip after you tell them the question, you should always share first. There are two reasons for this. The first reason is because they just need time to think of an answer. So by you sharing first, they'll have the time. The second is because you as the moderator set an example as to how they should answer the question. If you share at a deeper level, they're going to share at a deeper level. But if you share at a shallow, very short level, they're only Going to share at a shallow, short level. The goal in this section is to keep everyone's answer under 90 seconds and to go deep. So model that with your answer. Okay. We've covered three of the six main areas of a moderator, which brings me to the fourth one, which is the one I hope you don't have to deal with much. This has to do with being the group arbitrator. Conflict is bound to happen in any group, and when it does, the moderator is the one who helps to manage the process of overcoming that conflict. While it's impossible to cover every possible type of conflict here in this training, there is a basic structure that you can follow based on what's written in your group's code of conduct. Oh, remember that document you all were supposed to sign? Here are the steps after the conflict comes up. First, try and have the members hash it out themselves outside of the meeting on their own.

Let's go outside for a moment.

You're going to be aware of it, however, and if this doesn't work, you now get involved in the conversation outside the meeting and you act as their arbitrator to help them come to a resolution again outside the meeting. If that doesn't work, bring the issue to the larger group where both sides share their case and then the group votes on a resolution where the majority wins. You as the moderator are the tie breaking vote for any vote. If at any point in this process you are unsure or worried about what to do, reach out to an official at the organization or someone like me to help guide you through the process. I've helped groups get through all sorts of conflicts, so when in doubt, use people like me as a resource. Speaking of reaching out, that brings us to the fifth action of the moderator, which is to act as a liaison between the organization and the group. The main organization often wants to disseminate information to all the groups simultaneously. This could be about an upcoming event, a new guideline for the groups, or some sort of like fun contest that they're going to have between the groups. When this happens, you as the moderator will be the one they reach out to to share with the whole group. There is also a moderator group chat where you can ask questions and get answers from the organization's experts like me or fellow moderators. Now, on to the last and final action of the moderator, which is to run and keep the meeting on track. So let me run through each section of the meeting right now and give you some pointers for that section, starting with the starting time. The goal is to start exactly on time. So even if people are late, you should get the meeting going to set a precedent that we start on time. Next is the opening. It might sound like this. Welcome everyone and remember to turn off those cell phones or anything else that might make a buzz or beep during the meeting. Next section, the one word current state and you may say something like this. And to get things going, I'm just curious, let's go around and share one word, how you're feeling right now in this moment. I'll go first and then you go around the group. Next is the three minute meditation. Use an app like Calm or Headspace to guide the group through three minutes of meditation. It might sound like this to get us focused and present and grounded in this special moment here. We always like to start off with a three minute meditation. Don't worry, she's going to guide us through so just kind of follow her instructions. Next is the core tenets review. It might sound like this. And as a quick reminder we have steps, several core tenets here that are the foundation from which we work from. And just as a reminder, I'm going to pick one of you to share what is the core tenet and why it matters to you. Next is that warm up question we just talked about and it might sound like this. And to get us warmed up, here's a question I was thinking about that we'll use as our warmup question. And when they're done, you thank everyone for sharing. And remember, you should always go first so they have time to think and you set the tone. Next is the monthly update. It might sound like this. Now it's time to move on to those monthly updates. Make sure that the timekeeper and the parking lot keeper are all set up. Your role during this is to keep it moving from person to person and to facilitate that feedback section. Speaking of which, the Q and A and feedback. This is a section where the group asks questions to give feedback on what the person just shared in their monthly update. Next is the aims. Head over to the goals section. The AIMS is all about the goals and the AIMS person runs that. Next is the shout outs and it might sound like this. And lastly before, before we take a break, I want to take a moment to allow everyone to share some feedback or shout outs to fellow members about something they said here at this meeting or maybe something that happened between the meetings over the past month, popcorn style. Whoever wants to go first. Next you take the break, set the timer as people will drag on in the break for as long as you Allow it. So you got to cut it off. Next is the needs and leads. The needs and leads person runs a section and everyone first shares their needs and. And then everyone shares their lead. Then there's the deep dive. If you're doing one, you just need to pass the baton to the coach who will run the deep dive section. There's nothing for you to do here as the moderator. And then we get to housekeeping. You'll want to set up who's presenting at the next meeting, the date and the time of the next meeting. Just make sure all the logistics are taken care of. And then final thought is the last part and you might sound like this. To close out this meeting, let's go around and each person share something about what this meeting was like for them. Where are you at right now as we close out this meeting? I'll see. Start. Da da da da da. That was a lot of information. That was a lot. I suggest having these notes as you walk through each section of the meeting on the table in front of you. I promise that in no time you will be an expert. But before I let you go, let me give you a few quick hot tips on facilitating meetings. Make sure you always try to start and end on time as best as possible. Even if people are late, it's better to get started and let them keep catch up. Otherwise people will keep showing up late. Second, you set the tone and the energy for the group. If you show up at 50%, don't expect them to show up at more than the level of energy you're showing up. So show up at the level of energy you want them to show up at. Third, for the roles. Make sure everyone on your team knows their role and knows which part of the meeting they're running. The aims, the needs and leads, and the deep dives, those are all run by other people in the group. So you just need to pass the baton to them. Next one, keep things moving. Don't let someone talk too long. Don't allow too much dead air. So if someone's done jump in, grab that space and pull it back as the moderator to keep the meeting going. And then next, enjoy it. I know the pressure of the moderator role. I've been there many times. But remember that everyone in the table is human, so have fun with it. Don't be too authoritative, but also don't be too loose. You, as the moderator, you set the the theme and the tone for your group. They're going to be looking at you to see what they should do next. So you get to choose. What do you want this year to be like as the moderator? What do you want this meeting to be like as the moderator? And as I said earlier, I know this is a lot of information and it feels like a lot of pressure. Yes, it does. But I promise you, once you get through a couple meetings, you are going to be an expert with some of the best moderators out there. And that, my friends, is it. Best of luck to you as you launch into your moderator role. And as always, remember we are here to support you. So please do follow up with any additional questions or comments you have. Good luck. You are going to be a great moderator.