Event Hosting & Moderating
A sparkling combination of deep knowledge and great energy
You’ve got the stakeholders and the topic. You need someone who makes it land with your guests.
★★★★★
“Elizabeth has a real talent for bringing out the best in people, and the panel was all the stronger for it.”
Dan Bradbury, Director Brand and Communications, World Land Trust
Elizabeth hosts and moderates 50+ events a year, from intimate dinners and roundtables to conferences of up to 1,000 guests. Every speaker gets a one-to-one briefing before the day, so they arrive prepared and feeling their best. On the day, she keeps the energy up, the conversation moving and the audience involved from start to finish.
50+
events a year
1,000
guests at the largest events
1:1
speaker briefings
Hosting or moderating?
The terms hosting and moderating are often used interchangeably but they’re not the same thing. Some events need one, some need both.
What they do share is a deep consideration for the content, landing key messages and extensive preparation.
Hosting
A face for the whole event
Hosting means looking after the whole event, from how it opens to how it all comes together at the end.
Elizabeth is present across every session, so the day feels like one programme rather than a string of separate slots.
Best for full-day or multi-day programmes, or when your team needs to be with your guests rather than on stage.
Moderating
One session, inside a wider programme
Moderating means running a single session: a panel, a fireside chat, a roundtable, a dinner or a book launch.
Elizabeth researches every speaker, briefs them one-to-one and makes sure the conversation covers ideas the audience hasn’t heard before.
Best for when the event is already in hand and you want your session to stand out.
Hosting
Making your convening moment count
A good host is the thread that runs through the whole event. Elizabeth sets the tone from the moment you start planning, through to the day itself where she knits each session to the next, before bringing it all together at the close, so your audience leaves with one clear story.
WHAT’S INCLUDED
- Content and speaker strategy ahead of the event
- One-to-one briefings for the event organiser and a dedicated project page
- Briefing packs, session sheets and the running script
- Hosting across the full programme, from the welcome to the close
- Audience engagement designed into the programme, not bolted on
- Post-event wrap-up and insight synthesis
ON THE DAY
- Setting the tone in the first 90 seconds, and holding the energy across the whole programme
- Carrying your key messages and your brand from the front, credibly
- Connecting sessions to each other so the day builds
- Keeping to time across a full running order, and absorbing any unplanned overruns
- Pointing out the connections between speakers and the audience as they happen
- Conserving the conversations that carry on over lunch
- Closing by pulling the threads together into a single story people take away
- Small touches, like the group photo nobody remembered to schedule, and making sure every speaker leaves with pictures of themselves on stage
WHEN THIS WORKS WELL
A full-day or multi-day programme that needs clear ownership of energy
Your team needs to be with your guests, not on stage
The content is strong, but needs a clear thread to bring sessions together
An internal host would be too close to the subject
Smart and engaging
“I don’t remember being in an event with a host like Elizabeth before. Her incredible energy yes, but more than that the way she wrapped up every talk in such a smart and engaging way, that was SO impressive. It requires a lot of deep listening to each of those talks and intelligence to summarise your take in 30 seconds while also uplifting the room.”
Ezgi Erdal, Founder, Synarchy, and speaker at Earthfest Nature & Conservation
Moderating
Creating brilliant speaker-audience connections
Whether it’s a fireside chat, a panel or a roundtable, you need someone who can hold the space with confidence. Elizabeth prepares your speakers, researches the topic, shapes questions that meet the moment and keeps everything to time. For you, it’s peace of mind: send one introductory email connecting Elizabeth with your speakers, and she’ll take it from there.
WHAT’S INCLUDED
- Background research on every speaker, their organisation and the narrative they’re bringing
- One-to-one speaker briefings and question preparation
- A session sheet and running order for the slot
- Confident stage presence holding the discussion
- Speaker time management across the session
- Audience engagement and Q&A facilitation
- Speaker recommendations from a hand-picked network if you need help building the line-up
ON THE DAY
- Questions built to get a sense of the person and the topic in the time available
- Managing airtime, so confident speakers don’t overshadow quieter voices
- Landing key points and messages
- Handling the friction that keeps discussions interesting
- Audience participation prioritised
- A close that gives every speaker a final word
WHAT MAKES IT DIFFERENT
An external (neutral) moderator makes it easier for people to say what they really feel
Speakers arrived prepared, knowing who else is on the stage, what they’ll be asked and what their key messages are
A psychologically safe stage
Emphasising any calls to action on behalf of speakers
Our sessions were in great hands
“When Elizabeth agreed to moderate again at ChangeNOW we were thrilled because we knew our sessions were in great hands. She can be trusted to handle all aspects of a conference and creates an engaging discussion on stage and with the audience.”
Antonia Mehnert, Content Manager, ChangeNOW
BEHIND THE SCENES
This is the part most organisers never see, and it’s why you get peace of mind.
Hosting and moderating look like something that happens on stage, but the day itself is only about 20% of the work. The other 80% is preparation and experience, so you can hand your session over to Elizabeth with complete peace of mind.
Before the event
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The first message sets the tone. Speakers find out immediately that this will be prepared, that Elizabeth is on their side, and what she’ll need from them.
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Elizabeth can help confirm whether your ideas will work, suggest other things to try, and recommend speakers or guests from her network.
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Its purpose, what makes this edition different, the audience, your key messages, the closing call to action and any sensitivities.
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Before they speak, Elizabeth asks speakers for their key messages, what they’re hoping to get out of the session, what they’d rather not be asked and how confident they feel about speaking. Ten minutes of their time makes the briefing call twice as useful.
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Every speaker, every time. This is where Elizabeth finds out who’s nervous, who’s confident, what they care about, and where the real story is.
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Elizabeth helps summarise the key themes and the potential tensions, and suggests where to involve the audience.
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Elizabeth creates a single source of truth with a detailed briefing page, so everyone knows who else is on, what they’ll cover and how the session is shaped, with no duplication and no surprises.
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Written so that no one spends five minutes introducing themselves, and each one is made relevant to the audience.
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With great attention to detail, built from self-reported names, titles, pronunciations, headshots and travel, and timed minute-by-minute, so event organisers and AV teams can relax.
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They keep everyone connected and calm in the run-up, absorb the last-minute changes, and mean the ice is broken before anyone meets backstage.
On the day
Great energy on the day, with full support and commitment
A logistics check covering arrival times, the green room, mics, the tech check, housekeeping and VIPs
Speakers asked to stay on afterwards, so the audience can come and talk to them
Elizabeth’s outfit always has a nod to the topic at hand!
After the event
Post-event follow-up: Thank yous, highlights shared, speakers connected to the people they should have met, and a Keep, Change, Drop debrief with you so the learning feeds into your next event.
Why choose Elizabeth?
Infectious energy
It’s the first thing people comment on, and it’s because Elizabeth takes on work she cares about. By the time she’s on stage she’s genuinely interested in the conversation, and isn’t simply nodding along to an argument while waiting to ask the next question on the list.
Giving serendipity a helping hand
Connection doesn’t happen on its own, so Elizabeth makes it happen on purpose. This means naming the links between speakers out loud from the stage, spotting the two people in the audience who should meet, or connecting guests to her own network. At a recent two-day programme kick-off she created deeper value for everyone in attendance by bringing a guest into a Q&A on financial reporting requirements because she knew they’d been through exactly the same thing on a different programme.
Exceptional moderator and a true superconnector
“Working with Elizabeth across two events has been an absolute joy. Her energy is infectious, her ability to read a room and pivot where needed is seamless, and she goes above and beyond to make every speaker and the team feel supported and prepared. Elizabeth brings a mix of warmth, passion, and high level professionalism. I recommend Elizabeth highly!”
Caitlin Kubala, Programme Specialist, ARIA
What people say
“A sparkling combination of deep knowledge and great energy. :-)”
Costas Papaikonomou, UnaTerra
Let’s talk
Planning an event that needs expert hosting or moderating? Contact Elizabeth with the running order and the guest list.
Spoken on one of her panels?
If there’s an event you’d love to see her host, share this page with the organisers!