# Stage presence: what five VOICES 2026 sessions demand of speakers

Author: Marin Niehues, Stage Starter · Published: 2026-04-08
Topic: Talks & Stage (https://www.stage-starter.de/en/blog/topic/talks-and-stage/)
Source: https://www.stage-starter.de/en/blog/stage-presence/

Stage presence takes a different form in each of the five sessions at the VOICES 2026 summit run by Staffbase, because the programme mixes a keynote with panel discussions and conversations among executives of large companies. Staffbase, a provider of employee communications software, published the programme in a [press release](https://staffbase.com/press/releases/voices-2026-brings-insights-on-the-human-edge-in-the-ai-era) on 8 April 2026, and the summit takes place on 12 May 2026 from 12:00 to 16:30 Eastern Time with free registration. According to the release, representatives of Mattel, Yum! Brands, Life Time, Intel, Henry Schein, Deere & Company and The Magnum Ice Cream Company are among the speakers. For speakers this means preparing your presence for each format, because a keynote and a panel make different demands on posture and speaking time than a conversation with a moderator does. When you approach a conference, you should therefore name in your proposal the format in which you are strongest.

**Key points at a glance**
- On 8 April 2026 Staffbase published the programme of its VOICES 2026 summit, which takes place on 12 May 2026 from 12:00 to 16:30 Eastern Time, four and a half hours in all.
- The press release names five sessions in four kinds: a keynote, two panel discussions, a conversation among chief people officers and an open session titled “Sin Filtro: The AI Workplace Roast!”.
- Nine companies besides the organiser are named, from Mattel to M&T Bank.
- Registration is free of charge.
- As background, Staffbase cites an MIT study according to which 90 per cent of organisations have started AI projects while only 5 per cent see measurable business results.

## Stage presence at the VOICES summit: the programme of 8 April 2026

Staffbase, which is based in New York and Chemnitz, describes itself as an AI-native employee experience platform and says it has more than 1,500 enterprise customers. The VOICES 2026 summit is aimed at people responsible for employee communications, human resources and IT. The [press release of 8 April 2026](https://staffbase.com/press/releases/voices-2026-brings-insights-on-the-human-edge-in-the-ai-era) puts the “human edge in the AI era” at the centre, meaning what people contribute to a working world shaped by AI. It illustrates the theme with a figure from the MIT study “The Gen AI Divide”: 90 per cent of organisations have started AI projects, and only 5 per cent achieve measurable business results. The release alone does not allow that figure to be checked, and the organiser uses it to justify its programme.

The programme consists of five sessions. Frank Wolf gives the keynote “AI and Employee Experience in 2026: Key Shifts Reshaping the Sector”, and he is a co-founder and the Chief Strategy Officer of Staffbase. In the panel “EXperts on EXperts: Building human edge in the AI Era”, Karen Ancira, Chief People Officer at Mattel, Andrea Whitney, Chief Communications and Community Impact Officer at Yum! Brands, and Matt Heinrichs, SVP Technology at Life Time Inc., speak together. A second panel, “Building an AI-Ready Intranet for Every Employee”, brings together representatives of Intel and of Henry Schein as well as of Deere & Company. There is also a conversation about culture and trust with chief people officers, among them one from The Magnum Ice Cream Company, and the open session “Sin Filtro”, in which people responsible at M&T Bank and Mission Fed Credit Union talk about their experience of AI in the workplace.

## What stage presence is and how you recognise it in a panel discussion

Stage presence is the ability of a speaker to lead an audience from the first sentence through posture and voice, and to stay attentive even while somebody else is speaking. In a talk it shows in a clear opening and a calm pace. In a panel discussion it shows above all in how a person listens, responds to the previous speaker and ends an answer at a length the audience can remember.

The programme from Staffbase demonstrates these differences without naming them. A keynote gives one person room for a long argument, a panel of three divides the same time among several voices, and an open session demands candour about successes and failures. How conference formats differ in general is described in our article [Which session formats are there at a conference?](/en/blog/conference-session-formats/), and the particulars of the panel are covered in [Panel discussion at a conference](/en/blog/panel-discussion-at-a-conference/).

## Five sessions, four kinds of appearance: what each format demands of you

The following table matches the five sessions from the press release to the demands they place on stage presence. The right-hand column is our own assessment and does not come from Staffbase.

**Five sessions at the VOICES summit and what they demand of your presence**
Session | Kind according to the release | Who speaks | What your presence has to achieve
AI and Employee Experience in 2026 | Keynote | Frank Wolf, Staffbase | Lead an argument without interruption, starting with a clear opening
EXperts on EXperts | Panel discussion | Mattel, Yum! Brands, Life Time | Make short contributions and respond to others
Building an AI-Ready Intranet | Panel discussion | Intel, Henry Schein, Deere & Company | Explain a method in a few sentences
CHRO Conversation | Conversation | Chief people officers, among them The Magnum Ice Cream Company | Answer questions and tell examples of your own
Sin Filtro | Open session | M&T Bank, Mission Fed Credit Union | Speak openly about failures

It is striking that four of the five sessions are given by executives of other companies, and only the keynote comes from Staffbase itself. Judging by the session titles, they speak about experience from their own organisations. For independent experts this indicates what kind of contribution a summit like this looks for: a report from practice with a decision and a result in figures, which an audience from the same field can place at once.

## An example calculation: how much speaking time a panellist really has

The release gives no duration for the sessions. The following calculation is therefore an example with assumptions. Suppose the panel “EXperts on EXperts” lasts 30 minutes, a moderator takes a quarter of the time, and the three panellists share the rest. That leaves 22.5 minutes for three people, or 7.5 minutes per panellist. With contributions of 90 seconds that makes five turns, and a single turn that grows to three minutes costs the panel two others. Five turns are not many.

It follows from this calculation that stage presence in a panel means above all discipline. A panellist who brings a slide or a story that needs three minutes pushes out the other panellists. That panellist appears less present than somebody whose answer ends after 60 seconds. How long slots usually are at industry conferences is shown in [How long is a conference talk?](/en/blog/how-long-is-a-conference-talk/).

## Building stage presence: five steps for every format

The steps can be prepared in two evenings. They apply to any conference that mixes several formats.

1. Choose the format before you submit: Look at the formats in which you have answered best so far and name that format in your proposal. The keynote is explained in [What is a conference keynote?](/en/blog/what-is-a-conference-keynote/).
2. Write three statements for the panel: Each statement has one sentence, one piece of evidence from your work and a length of 90 seconds at most. For a panel of three you need no more material than that.
3. Prepare two cases for the conversation: A conversation with a moderator lives on examples. One case in which something worked and one in which something went wrong cover most questions.
4. Practise listening: Note down a keyword from the contributions of others to which you can respond. If you pick up on a previous speaker by name, you show the audience that you are following the discussion.
5. Record yourself once: Set up your phone, answer three questions of 90 seconds each and watch the recording without sound. You will see posture, gaze and hands better there than in any rehearsal in front of a mirror.

**At the VOICES 2026 summit from Staffbase, five sessions mix four kinds of appearance in four and a half hours, and each demands a different stage presence: an argument in the keynote, discipline in the panel, examples in the conversation and candour in the open session.**

**Stage Starter and your way onto conference stages**
Stage Starter is a speaker agency for entrepreneurs and independent professionals. We develop your talk with you, write your abstracts in several versions, research the conferences where your customers are, submit on your behalf and follow up with the organisers. Marin Niehues, the founder of Stage Starter, has received more than 100 invitations and has spoken at more than 50 conferences in 30 countries on six continents, and Sessionize named him Most Active Speaker in 2024 and 2025. In an [initial consultation](/en/erstgespraech/) we discuss the topic that takes you onto the stages of your industry.

**The programme of the VOICES 2026 summit shows in five sessions that stage presence means something different in each format. Anyone who works out the speaking time, prepares their statements and names the right format in the proposal enters the stage with a clear plan.**

## Frequently asked questions

### What is stage presence and how do I build it?

Stage presence is the effect a speaker has on an audience through posture and voice, supported by eye contact. You build it by preparing your opening and key statements word for word. A rehearsal in front of a camera shows you your pace, which you then adapt to the format. The shorter the speaking time, the more a clear first sentence matters.

### Which formats are there at a conference besides the talk?

Besides the talk and the keynote, the Staffbase programme for the VOICES 2026 summit lists panel discussions, a conversation with chief people officers and an open session. Each of these formats divides the speaking time differently and calls for different preparation.

### How long may I speak in a panel discussion?

The organiser decides that, and the Staffbase press release gives no figure for it. With 30 minutes and a moderator, about 7.5 minutes remain for each of three panellists, spread over several short contributions.

### When does the VOICES 2026 summit take place and what does it cost?

Staffbase has announced the summit for 12 May 2026 from 12:00 to 16:30 Eastern Time. According to the press release, registration is free.

### How do I come across as present in a panel when I am not speaking?

You come across as present when you follow the contributions of the others and respond to their statements later. Eye contact with the speaker is part of it. A keyword from the previous speaker’s contribution is enough to show the audience that you are following the discussion.