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Running Projects Running Groups Books and Reading ListHigh-energy route to moderating
AQR's moderating skills course is one of the most popular on the calendar, and it's good to know that it's still giving delegates the tools they need for the job.
The idea of moderating can be intimidating for a beginner, but the introductory video and PowerPoint presentation we were sent beforehand put me much more at ease. The well-organised, friendly, and informative preparation enabled delegates to get to grips with the theory ahead of time, leaving more of the day itself for practical application.
It turned out to be a high-energy course that exceeded expectations. After a quick warm up, we got stuck in with a paired moderation, sharing the task of moderating with a partner. This was an ideal way to have a quick practice, pick up some hints and tips, and gain confidence before our main task of the afternoon: moderating a group of four for 20 minutes.
We learned that moderating is all about having a toolkit of activities and approaches up our sleeve that allow us to respond to whichever direction the group is going in. We were taken through four separate projection techniques, one by each tutor. Not only did this give us four ready-made techniques for our toolkits, it also allowed us to experience four very different styles of moderation.
Wed been asked to prepare a discussion guide in advance for the afternoon session. Our tutors read through our approach and advised on timings, giving us a chance to fine tune our plans before putting them into action.
When the time came to moderate, we all felt that watching each other perform helped us learn some of the nuances between styles, which we could use to build our own approach.
Additionally, being respondents while others moderated gave us an insight into how it feels to be a participant, something that many of us hadnt experienced before.
For me, the overall highlight was the amount of one-to-one feedback we received throughout the day, while the opportunity to hear feedback on others was also useful.
Overall, the course managed to pack a huge amount of experience into one day, and was engaging and high energy throughout. Highly recommended!
Becky Evans
Senior Research Executive, Consumer Insight
This article was first published in InBrief magazine, November 2017
Copyright © Association for Qualitative Research, 2017
About the author

Becky Evans
Becky has been a Senior Research Executive at Consumer Insight since the start of 2017, specialising in brand and advertising development. Before this, she worked with a range of parenting brands as an Insight Executive at Mumsnet.