Workshop. A success in Holland, where attendees rated the course unanimously high: Mastering Moderation, a workshop for conference moderators/facilitators. A good reason for initiators Kim Coppes and Jan-Jaap In der Maur – both highly experienced moderators – to take this course to the European market.
“What we found” Kim Coppes says, “is that many people actually moderate or would like to and so there is a real demand for greater competency. Our main objective is to share our knowledge, in order to help them raise their standard”. Although he earns his living as a full-time moderator, Jan-Jaap In der Maur opposes the dogma that hiring a professional moderator is always the best solution: “For most meetings, the investment in a professional moderator-facilitator is worth the cost. But let’s be honest: there is lots of talent outside the circle of well-paid MC’s. So why not harvest this breeding ground?”
The workshop is extremely hands-on and provides extensive personal attention, with only 12 attendees for two trainers. Ms Coppes and Mr In der Maur are convinced that this is crucial to the success of Mastering Moderation. Says Jan-Jaap: “You can only acquire moderating skills by experience, and that’s exactely what we provide: between the two of us, we literally have hundreds of meetings under our belts. We offer our trainees the opportunity to practise the basics of moderating over and over again, until they get the hang of it”. Of course, the learning does not stop after these two days; experience comes from on-going practice ‘on stage’. That’s why Ms Coppes and Mr in der Maur continue to be available for question after the training and actively pursue opportunities that will allow their participants to perform in real meetings.
During Mastering Moderation, all skills will be covered: chairing, moderating, debating, interviewing, presenting and stage-presence. Previous editons have shown that the training is interesting for people with many different backgrounds. Say Kim Coppes: “So many professionals in communications need to moderate every once in a while: leading internal management meetings, moderating public meetings, hosting client events. Some allready have stage experience and want to take it to the next level. Others have agreed to moderate a meeting, and are now terrified by the prospect. But every single one of our trainees knows, that moderating is a true profession, that should not be taken lightly”.
Mastering Moderation will take place on 18-19 September 2014 (London) and 11-12 December 2014 (Copenhagen).
