The art of chairing – introducing our new hosting services

Please note that this article was published prior to the new brand name of PREACH Inclusion® on 25 April 2024, so you will notice references to BAME in Property.

We’re excited to formally introduce our hosting services, led by our founder, Priya Aggarwal-Shah. At a time when there is a greater need for conversations and unity about EDI, we’re ready to provide a service that can shape those challenging, yet necessary discussions.

We’ve all been there... A dragging panel discussion, where the chair is boring and a certain panellist is hogging the mic! You're watching the clock or distracted by your phone, and perhaps peering around the room to see many others doing the same.

The difference between a good event and a great event is often an engaging and interesting host. Someone who has evidently researched and spoken to the speakers beforehand, and understood their expertise and nuances, to provide them with an opportunity to shine.

The role of the chair is not simply to introduce speakers and ask a set of pre-agreed questions, it’s to move and guide the discussion, adapt to responses when someone goes on a tangent, and shift the mic away from someone who is waffling away.

With this in mind, we’re excited to formally introduce our hosting services, led by our founder, Priya Aggarwal-Shah. From chairing roundtables to panel discussions or an entire event, Priya comes with significant experience of public speaking and hosting on a range of topics, including diversity, equity and inclusion (EDI), as well as intersectional approaches, community and digital engagement, race and anti-racism, faith & religion and more.

Some of Priya’s experience includes:

• Chairing BAME in Property’s Corporate Partners’ roundtable discussion.
• Opening and leading the session about later living across ethnic minority communities at Property Week’s Later Living Conference.
• Chairing a discussion about anti-racism and internal communications at Inside Housing’s Communications Conference.
• Hosting and chairing the panel discussion for BAME in Property and NLA’s event about later living in South Asian communities.
• Chairing a discussion about ethnicity in planning and engagement with industry leaders.
• Chairing a discussion about faith and religion on behalf of the London Property Alliance.
• Speaking at Forsters LLP about race and anti-racism for Race Equality Week.

More in the images below too.

Hosting can be particularly beneficial for corporate events, where you’re looking for an external perspective from someone who is slightly more removed from the organisation of the event but who also has knowledge about the topic across the industry. For example, having an external, independent host for a topic about EDI could help reduce biases that may naturally occur if you had a host from the sponsor company instead.

We’re excited to launch this service at a time when there is a need for more challenging conversations about EDI (and other similar topics) across the industry. While all of our hosting is 100% professional, we won’t be shy to critique and challenge industry leaders about their positions and actions.

Please get in touch on hello@bameinproperty.com if you’re keen to discuss Priya supporting you on your next roundtable or panel event.

Head over to our Services page to learn more about all the ways we can support you.