Question moderation is a critical aspect of managing successful Q&A sessions. This guide covers how to review, approve, and manage questions to ensure productive discussions and maintain session quality.
Understanding Question States
Questions in your session can exist in different states:
Published Questions
- Visible to all participants in the session
- Can be voted on by participants to indicate priority
- Appear in presentation mode and can be addressed during live sessions
- Can be hidden by hosts or moderators if needed
Pending Questions
- Awaiting moderation when auto-approval is disabled
- Only visible to hosts and moderators until approved
- Cannot be voted on by regular participants
- Must be manually published to become visible
Hidden Questions
- Previously published but subsequently hidden by moderators
- Not visible to participants but remain in the moderation interface
- Can be republished if the decision is reversed
- Maintain their original submission details and any votes received
Accessing Question Moderation
To moderate questions in your session:
- Navigate to your session in the Q&A module
- Click the Questions tab in the session management interface
- Review the list of questions with their current status
- Use the Actions column to manage individual questions
Moderation Actions
Publishing Questions
For sessions with manual approval enabled:
- Review the question content in the Content column
- Ensure the question is appropriate and relevant
- Click Publish to make the question visible to participants
- The question immediately becomes available for voting and presentation
Hiding Questions
To hide inappropriate or off-topic questions:
- Locate the question in your moderation interface
- Click Hide in the Actions column
- The question disappears from the participant view
- The question remains in your moderation interface for record-keeping
Moderation Best Practices
Content Guidelines
Approve questions that are:
- Relevant to the session topic and objectives
- Clearly written and understandable
- Respectful in tone and language
- Constructive and likely to benefit the broader audience
Consider hiding questions that are:
- Off-topic or unrelated to the session purpose
- Duplicate content already covered by other questions
- Inappropriate language or personal attacks
- Too specific for the general audience (redirect privately)
Timing Considerations
Pre-Session Moderation:
- Review and approve questions as they arrive
- Build a queue of quality questions for the live session
- Identify high-priority questions based on votes and relevance
Live Session Moderation:
- Continue monitoring for new questions during presentation
- Quickly approve relevant questions that arise during discussion
- Hide questions that become irrelevant due to session flow
- Coordinate with other moderators to avoid conflicts
Communication with Participants
Transparency:
- Explain the moderation process when sharing session links
- Set expectations for approval timeframes
- Communicate any delays in question review
- Acknowledge when questions are being actively moderated
Feedback:
- Consider reaching out privately for clarification on unclear questions
- Explain moderation decisions when appropriate
- Encourage participants to rephrase inappropriate questions
- Thank participants for high-quality submissions
Working with Multiple Moderators
Coordination Strategies
Role Division:
- Assign specific moderators to review questions from different departments
- Have primary and backup moderators for continuous coverage
- Designate one moderator as the "lead" for final approval decisions
- Use external communication channels to coordinate decisions
Avoiding Conflicts:
- Establish clear moderation criteria before the session
- Discuss borderline cases with other moderators before acting
- Use consistent decision-making frameworks across the team
- Review and learn from moderation decisions together
Moderation Workflow
- Initial Review: First moderator reviews for basic appropriateness
- Subject Expert Review: Content expert evaluates technical accuracy and relevance
- Final Approval: Lead moderator or host makes final publication decision
- Communication: Inform team of any challenging moderation decisions
Managing Question Volume
High-Volume Sessions
Strategies for busy sessions:
- Enable auto-approval for trusted audiences to reduce workload
- Add more moderators to share the review burden
- Set character limits to keep questions concise and manageable
- Use time limits to create natural breaks in question submission
Prioritization Techniques:
- Focus on questions with the most participant votes
- Prioritize questions that represent common concerns
- Save highly specific questions for follow-up discussions
Low-Volume Sessions
Encouraging Participation:
- Share examples of good questions to inspire participants
- Personally invite key stakeholders to submit questions
- Allow longer time periods for question collection
- Consider reaching out privately to encourage submissions
Integration with Live Presentation
Preparing for Presentation
- Review all published questions before starting presentation mode
- Identify questions that work well together
- Plan transitions between different question topics
- Prepare backup questions in case discussion runs short
During Live Sessions
- Monitor the moderation interface while presenting
- Approve relevant new questions that enhance current discussion
- Hide questions that become redundant as topics are covered
- Coordinate with co-presenters on question selection and flow
Troubleshooting Common Challenges
Controversial or Sensitive Questions
- Evaluate carefully against session objectives
- Consider the broader audience and potential impact
- Consult with other moderators or session stakeholders
- Have clear escalation procedures for difficult decisions
Technical Issues
- Refresh the interface if questions aren't updating properly
- Check user permissions if moderation actions aren't working
- Contact support for persistent technical problems
- Have backup moderators ready to take over if needed
Participant Complaints
- Acknowledge concerns about moderation decisions professionally
- Explain the reasoning behind decisions when appropriate
- Offer alternative channels for questions that don't fit the session format
- Document feedback for improving future moderation processes
Next Steps
With effective question moderation in place:
- Prepare for your live presentation
- Use presentation mode to engage with your audience
- Monitor ongoing question quality and session engagement
Continue with: Live Presentation Mode
