Planning any company event or business meeting can be time-consuming and agonizingly stressful. But when you have more than one individual involved in an important presentation or as the main focus of the event, it requires you to properly coordinate schedules, talking points, time limits, and such. That's why as you pull together your ideas and envision how your event will unfold, you may want to consider these five tips:

Tip 1: Define your event and topic.

Knowing the purpose of your event and understanding the topic of discussion will help you to move forward. Is it an internal business meeting or something open to the general public? Are you trying to educate people on an important topic or move them to take action? What's the topic and focus of the discussion?

Before you take any other action, be very clear about what you want out of the event. After all, a panel discussion will be very difficult to plan if you don't understand your ultimate goal.

Tip 2: Don't go at it alone.

No matter what kind of gathering you're planning, know that it's always better to have at least one other person assisting you with the decisions and arrangements. And, if your event's intended to attract a large group of people, it will require even more planning as you work to secure the venue and speakers while notifying attendees and the media. Plus, you'll have to create signage and invitations while handling everything else.

Besides, the more people you get involved, the more people you'll have to invite their family and friends to attend. Also, you'll have better brainstorming sessions about discussion topics and the best event location.

Tip 3: Organize the panel.

Once you've determined your event focus and have established an organizing committee, you can select people for the panel. Identifying a subject-matter expert (SME) is a matter of determining who can discuss your topic with authority and where you can find them.

There are several places where you might find appropriate SMEs, including people in your network or within your organization, as well as members of professional associations, trade groups or even speaker's bureaus, such as the Premiere Speakers Bureau. Now, while there is no cost to use a speaker's bureau, most of the individuals it represents charge a speaker's fee plus the cost of incidentals (i.e., flight, hotel).

Depending on the source, contacting individuals may be done directly or through a third party. Once you've explained your request and have confirmed that the speaker is interested and available, you should get the details in a written contract. You'll want to request a short bio to utilize in any of your written materials (i.e., handouts, flyers, newsletters). Also, be sure that when all of the participants arrive at the event, you have a host to introduce them to one another.

Next, you need to decide how the panel will work. You may decide to have an open discussion with predetermined questions or topics identified by the organizing committee, much like a presidential debate. Or, you may choose to have the panel respond to questions from the audience, submitted before the event.

Finally, select someone from the organizing committee to introduce the panel and topic, monitor and moderate the discussion, keep the panelists and discussion on track, and ensure that time limits are met.

Tip 4: Organize the event.

Regardless of what type of event you're planning, you need good organization skills and lots of energy. Along with securing a location, you may also need to arrange food and beverage (if you're planning a dinner meeting) as well as the stage, sound equipment and signage. You'll also need to send out announcements and post fliers, invite the media (if appropriate), and record the event on video or still photos.

Tip 5: Take time to say "thank you."

After all is said and done, one of the most important steps is to thank your panelists and the audience for sharing their time and thoughts. You should do this at the end of the event; however, for the panelists, sending a follow-up "thank-you" note will secure your place in the hostess hall of fame.

Keep in mind that organizing any event requires a lot of preplanning. However, add a panel discussion or speaker's forum to the mix, and you'll need to take a few extra steps.