By Brett Kaufman. 8 years using relationships to build sales pipelines, from political fundraising to a 7 figure business to running matchmaking for two communities. Over 1,000 introductions facilitated.

Text the panel moderator within 24 hours with one specific thank you and one useful thing, like a photo or a clip, and ask for nothing. Then give them a real reason to hear from you every month or two, because moderators are often the people organizers ask when the next panel needs a name.

This page covers one person only: how to follow up with the panel moderator after the event, so the next panel comes to you.

Here is the scene. The moderator did a prep call with you the week before. On stage, she set up your best answer with a perfect question. Afterward, three attendees grab you and she walks off with the organizer. You email the organizer that night. The moderator gets nothing. Six months later she builds a panel for her own chapter, and you are not on her list. You never gave her a reason to remember you after the applause.

I have never spoken on a panel. I have made over 1,000 introductions, and the person who quietly made an introduction work is the one most people forget to thank. On a panel, that person is the moderator.

Why is the moderator the follow up most speakers miss?

Speakers miss the moderator because the moderator does not feel like a contact. They feel like part of the event. But the moderator saw your prep, your timing and how you handled the room, closer than anyone else did.

Moderators also tend to have pull. Many sit on the committees that build programs. The ACG Boston Speaker Committee, for example, says its goal is “to determine content and speakers” for the deal community, and it asks members to bring connections to strong speakers and answer speaker requests throughout the year. Others host podcasts, run member dinners or chair chapter events. When any of them gets asked “who would be good on this?”, they name people they watched do it well and heard from since.

Follow up with panel moderator after event: the timeline

Here is the timeline I would run. It is illustrative, built around how the relationship works, not a rule from any event.

When	What you send	Why then
Within 24 hours	Text 1: specific thank you, plus a photo or clip	She is still replaying the panel
Day 3 to 7	Answer a room question she raised, or share an attendee result	Proof the panel produced something
Week 2 to 4	Text 2: an intro that helps her, a guest, a speaker, a sponsor	Giving before you ever ask
Months 2 to 3	Text 3: react to something she published or announced	Stay recent with a real reason
Every 2 to 3 months	One touch with a reason	Keeps you on her short list
When she builds a panel	Offer one named session, once	Now the ask fits

That table is the piece most advice skips. It turns “thank the moderator” into five touches across a year, which is a pace you can keep during a deal.

What should you text the moderator?

Text the moderator two lines: a thank you for one specific thing she did, and one useful thing for her. Keep each under 40 words. Swap in your own details.

Text 1, within 24 hours (32 words)

Thank you for running that so well yesterday. The prep call made it easy, and your question on seller notes opened up the best ten minutes. Here’s the photo from the stage.

Text 2, week 2 to 4 (31 words)

You mentioned your chapter is building a lender session. Dana runs credit at a search fund lender and would be sharp on it. Want me to connect you two this week?

Text 3, months 2 to 3 (26 words)

Saw the new dinner series announcement. Great lineup. If you need someone on the buyer side of the add on topic in the spring, I’m around.

Text 1 thanks her. Text 2 gives her something. Text 3 says you are available without asking for a slot. That order matters. If the email version of the thank you suits you better, there is a joint note to the organizer and moderator in these thank you email templates for event organizers.

What useful things can you send a moderator?

Send whatever makes her job, or her next event, easier. Ranked, highest value first:

1. An intro she needs. A guest for her show, a speaker for her chapter, a sponsor for her dinner.
2. Proof the panel worked. “Two people from the room are now talking about a deal.” Moderators rarely hear what happened next.
3. The clip or photo. Something she can post. It makes her look good too.
4. An answer to a room question. If she asked one you deferred, close it.
5. A specific reaction to her work. One real line on her post or episode, not “great job.”

The first one is where I would spend the effort. Over 1,000 introductions taught me that the person who makes the intro is the person who gets remembered.

How does the moderator fit the bigger plan?

The moderator is one of three paths every panel opens, along with the organizer and the audience members who run their own rooms. The 30 day plan across all three is in how to get more speaking gigs after a panel. For the organizer side, month by month, read how to get invited to speak at conferences.

Why the moderator slips

The moderator slips because the event hands you 20 new people in an afternoon and she feels like part of the venue, not one of them. You thank the organizer, you answer the attendees, and by Friday the moderator is a name on the agenda you cannot find in your phone.

The full stage strategy is in the speaking, podcasts and panels playbook.

The system that remembers the moderator

That is why I built FRONT OF MIND. In the green room, say a name and a sentence out loud, like “moderator, runs a chapter dinner series, prep call Tuesday,” snap her badge, or take a selfie together, and it is filed under the event.

Then it opens on your 10 minutes for today. The next morning she shows up with a reason: you met at an event and have not followed up. When she announces a dinner series, you see it, and posts are only shown once confirmed to belong to that person. Every person comes with a drafted text style message, 40 words max, in your voice. Nothing sends without your tap, and it learns from your edits. Intros to make this week show up with dated proof on both sides, so the lender you offered her actually gets introduced.

Your contacts are encrypted. No one on our team looks at them. Export and delete anytime.

Start free with your first 25 contacts and see who comes up first.

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