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1. Determine your audience. Now that you've chosen what you want to talk about, you need to figure out who might be interested in that subject. Will it be just about everyone at the con? An older crowd? A scientific crowd? Very loud fangirls? Even though this is the first step, often you can't judge exactly who will come to your panel. It may end up scheduled at a bad time (i.e. opposite the masquerade or early on Sunday morning), or the fans of that particular show are less concentrated where you're going than where you came from. Still, this is an important step and will help you decide what to do for step 2.
2. Choose a format. There are five basic formats for panels, but there are many variations on each format.
1.) The Presentation: the Presentation format is best used to teach people about something they probably don't know a lot about. It works quite well for visual media (i.e. series specific panels) or historical and scientific topics. Often presentations are aided by PowerPoint, which can add a layer of visual interest. A good non-PowerPoint presentation might be something where you talk about a scientific topic and have a panel of experts.
2.) Demo or Workshop: this can be a variation on the Presentation format, but it usually includes some hands on portion. This is a format used to teach people how to DO something. It's best used to teach sewing panels, makeup panels, or crafts of some sort. You can also do a workshop on kimono dressing, music, or another hands-on activity.
3.) Roundtable Discussion: this is probably the most common panel format at science fiction conventions. A Roundtable makes everyone a panelist. The people running the panel usually prepare in advance some topics to get the discussion going and moderate the discussion by calling on people or putting in their two cents, but everyone talks together about the topic. This is a good format for "FIAWOL" panels, or "Fandom is a way of life" panels, discussions on topics ranging from how to run a con masquerade to getting weird stares in public. These can be very fun late-night panels, and the panelist is responsible for getting the audience to open up.
4.) Q&A: the Q&A format is usually reserved for guests of honor, but sometimes professionals in a field will run them as well. This is a good format for professional writers or costumers to just answer people's questions. Another common panel done in this style is the Masquerade Show & Tell on Sunday of many cons.
5.) Games: a format that is becoming increasingly popular is the game panel. These are not huge game shows like the staff of a convention might run but maybe a trivia game on a specific series or a children's game adapted to the convention format. This is good for series specific panels where everyone has already seen the series (i.e. Death Note) or used as a portion of a panel to break the ice (i.e. a "True or False" game to open a drawing panel).
3. Create a presentation. Now that you've figured out what format you're going to use, you need to figure out what exactly you want to say. I should hope that you're passionate about your topic enough to do a little research because the best panels are ones that aren't done on the fly (although sometimes it works out that way). If you're making a PowerPoint, try to balance your text with visuals. In fact, no text on the screen (or very little) and just a note sheet for you is the best way to go. Sometimes I've tried too hard to make a presentation too informative. Remember that you're presenting to people who are at a convention. They're probably a little tired and hyper, and very likely they don't have an attention span more than a few minutes. If you want to teach about how to use patterns, for example, don't pick the British military uniform. Opt for a simple skirt so that you don't do the same thing over and over. Prepare a list of things you want to talk about if you don't have a PowerPoint.
4. Practice your presentation. Talk to your mirror. Are you boring yourself? Tell a friend about the presentation (especially someone who doesn't know the topic). Does he/she seem interested? Get your pronunciation as right as possible. Yes, we all fumble over words with more than three syllables sometimes, but if you repeatedly butcher words important to your topic, you're teaching your audience wrong. This is especially important for panels about Japanese culture. It's a "wah-kee-zah-shee" not a "wacky-zachi".
5. Prepare a contingency plan. Things go wrong. The projector they promised you isn't there. They have the wrong cable for your laptop. You got moved to a tiny room at the last minute. Anything can happen. You can't prepare for everything, but try to make it so that some things work in your favor. We now take a projector with us when we run panels, just in case. We ask ahead of time if there is Internet when we want to present videos from YouTube. We bring extra presentations in case ours just won't work at all (and this has happened!). Prepare what you will do if no one shows up to your panel. Will you try to lure people in with candy (it works!)? Will you cancel it? Always go to your panel room 15 minutes early, especially if you have A/V you need to set up. If no one is still presenting, then you can start setting up and be ready when your panel is supposed to begin. Be prepared to ask the panelist before you to leave when they're going over time.
A few other important things to remember:
Have some respect for your topic. Don't keep saying how stupid it is or mocking the characters. A little bit of teasing on popular shows is fine, but your audience is there to learn and/or talk about something they LIKE. Insulting it is not a good way to keep an audience. If you don't like it, please don't try to run a panel on it.
Don't make it about you. So what if they didn't have the cable you wanted for your laptop (if you have a Mac, by the way, bring your own VGA adaptor because NO ONE has all six or seven of the adaptors needed to run any Mac)? Who cares about your boyfriend or how many times you've met Vic Mignogna? Unless you did something really cool (often something that makes you guest of honor worthy), you probably shouldn't talk about YOU.
Talk loudly or use a microphone. Unless you're in a very small circle talking during your panel, not everyone can hear you.
Don't just have a "shout out your favorites" panel. Sometimes it's fun to have a panel where you all say what your favorite ____ is, but many audiences are bored to tears if all you're doing is saying what your favorite ___ is for an hour.
Stay on topic. Try to keep the panel on topic. Fend off panel pirates who come for the sole purpose of turning the discussion to their favorite subject.
Don't be rude to your audience. If someone leaves, don't yell at them or accuse them of being mean. People leave panels. It could be the topic. It could be your presentation. It could be that they had a ten-minute break before what they really wanted to do and wandered in. That's how cons work.
If you follow all or most of these instructions, you'll be well on your way to having great panels all the time! As always, the most important thing is to PREPARE!
