Question Moderation

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:

1. Navigate to your session in the Q&A module
2. Click the Questions tab in the session management interface
3. Review the list of questions with their current status
4. Use the Actions column to manage individual questions

Moderation Actions

Publishing Questions

For sessions with manual approval enabled:

1. Review the question content in the Content column
2. Ensure the question is appropriate and relevant
3. Click Publish to make the question visible to participants
4. The question immediately becomes available for voting and presentation

Hiding Questions

To hide inappropriate or off-topic questions:

1. Locate the question in your moderation interface
2. Click Hide in the Actions column
3. The question disappears from the participant view
4. 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

1. Initial Review: First moderator reviews for basic appropriateness
2. Subject Expert Review: Content expert evaluates technical accuracy and relevance
3. Final Approval: Lead moderator or host makes final publication decision
4. 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

1. Review all published questions before starting presentation mode
2. Identify questions that work well together
3. Plan transitions between different question topics
4. 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:

1. Prepare for your live presentation
2. Use presentation mode to engage with your audience
3. Monitor ongoing question quality and session engagement

Continue with: Live Presentation Mode