Marianna Evenstein
A serious agenda is only as good as the person running it. When a panel slides off topic, when a senior speaker needs to be brought back to the question, when three languages and a tight format have to land in front of a global audience, the moderator decides whether the room learns something or politely waits for lunch. The discipline is composure under live pressure, and most events underestimate it.
Marianna Evenstein is an American broadcast journalist and event moderator based in Berlin who hosts conferences, summits, and corporate events for international audiences in English, German, and Russian.
Full Profile
Why organisations work with Marianna Evenstein
- DW News anchor experience translates directly to live event control: she keeps senior speakers on the question, manages timing without visible effort, and reads a multilingual room in real time.
- Three working languages (English, German, Russian) let her host the same agenda for a Berlin board, a global trade fair, and a Russian-language guest in one programme without handoffs.
- Has hosted events for Adidas, Allianz, BASF, Bayer, Deutsche Bank, Deutsche Telekom, Mercedes-Benz, Samsung, Volkswagen, and Philips, which is the relevant proof for a corporate communications lead deciding whether she can carry a tier-one stage.
- Advises on programme design and speaker preparation before the event, not just on-the-day delivery, which raises the quality of what panels actually produce.
- Doubles as a media coach for executives who will be on the same stage, useful when the brief includes both running the event and getting senior leaders camera-ready.
Biography highlights
- News editor and television anchor at DW News, Germany’s international broadcaster, since 2008.
- Former radio host and reporter for DW’s Newslink.
- Moderator at Falling Walls 2025, the Berlin science and society summit.
- Hosts and moderates conferences, panels, galas, and trade fairs for clients including Adidas, Allianz, BASF, Bayer, Deutsche Bank, Deutsche Telekom, Hugo Boss, Mercedes-Benz, Philips, Samsung, and Volkswagen.
- Media coach for executives preparing for interviews and on-camera appearances.
- Comparative Literature and Philosophy degree, New York University.
Biography
A live event with five named speakers, three languages, a hard finish time and a senior audience is not a panel discussion. It is a production. The person at the front of the room is responsible for whether the agenda translates into something the audience can use, or whether it dissolves into competing monologues.
Marianna Evenstein has spent her career on that side of the camera. As a news editor and television anchor at DW News, Germany’s international broadcaster, she has worked the same discipline live for international audiences since 2008, after starting in radio at DW’s Newslink. The transferable skill is not charisma. It is timing, accurate listening, and the ability to redirect a conversation without losing the speaker’s dignity.
That is the basis on which she is booked by Adidas, Allianz, BASF, Bayer, Deutsche Bank, Deutsche Telekom, Mercedes-Benz, Philips, Samsung, Volkswagen and Austrian Airlines, among others, to host conferences, summits, trade fairs, and gala evenings. She works in English, German, and Russian, which removes the seam most international events have to design around. In 2025 she moderated Falling Walls in Berlin, a summit format that demands quick comprehension across science, policy, and business in a single afternoon.
Her work also extends backwards into the agenda. She advises clients on programme design and speaker preparation, and runs media coaching for executives who will be on stage themselves. This is the part of the offer that distinguishes her from a presenter who arrives on the day with cue cards.
Key speaking topics
- Conference and summit moderation
- Panel moderation across business, policy, and science
- Awards ceremony and gala hosting
- Trade fair and product launch presenting
- Multilingual event hosting (English, German, Russian)
- Media coaching for executive interviews
- Programme design and speaker preparation
Ideal for
- Heads of communications and event directors planning international flagship events with multilingual audiences.
- Corporate teams whose agenda includes senior internal speakers who need on-camera coaching alongside event hosting.
- Foundations, NGOs, and policy institutes running cross-sector summits where panel discipline matters.
- Trade fair and awards organisers needing a presenter who can carry a televised-quality main stage.
Audience outcomes
- A live agenda that finishes on time with the planned questions actually answered.
- Panels in which senior speakers are kept on point without visible correction.
- Smooth handover between English, German, and Russian segments without translation friction.
- Executive contributors who arrive better prepared because they were briefed and coached in advance.