Speaking to a Tweeting crowd

This image was posted on Conversion Agent this morning in a great post titled "Twitter Brings Interaction to Events." In it, Valeria Maltoni offers some great tips to speakers on how to craft presentations that are interactive and sustain audience attention.

This is certainly a must read for anyone on the speaking circuit today, especially if you are addressing large audiences from a stage and may have wondered why half the crowd appears to be asleep during your presentation. You can be assuaged of your self doubt and take comfort in the knowledge that all those bowed heads are probably distributing, commenting and conversing about your subject matter to the world at large via Twitter.

Having spoken from large stages, I can vouch for the energy a speaker derives from eye-to-eye contact with the audience. The increasing number of Tweeters wrapped up in their own broadcasting makes that harder to achieve.

Personally, I wonder if the resolve for speakers is as simple as setting up a Twitter account for each presentation with appropriate hashtags, project it live onto the screen, and seamlessly incorporate the comments that ensue directly into their presentation.

There is no doubt that this would complete the circle of social interaction. But in any event, it is clear that speakers who are used to the "1.0" method of addressing a crowd - you presenting and the crowd listening - need to adopt new communication skills for a new kind of audience.

Kinda like every thing else these days.

-- Davison
Twitter:1000wattmarc

Comments

[Jay McGillicuddy]

This is so true in today's web 2.0 environment. We started seeing it at Real Estate meetings a year ago. A great way to keep others who can't attend informed. Great way to meet up with fellow Twitterer's. Social Networking at it's finest.

[Justin Stensrud]

I think bands and music venues should do this in conjunction to provide cool content to the crowds. What song is being played, download it, order stuff, even display tweets and texts on a screen live. Engage everyone that is at a concert or show. Quit passing around Flintstone tablets and use Jetson tools to further engage your listeners even more.

[Chris Dowell]

What a great idea! I am teaching a tech class next week. I'm going to try this.

[Missy Caulk]

That's a great idea. We used a hash tag for the Keller Williams Family Reunion, #KEFR. It worked great.

[Tony Arko]

I presented at ReBarCamp Va this week and had the same thoughts as I was speaking regarding the interaction with the audience. But a quick search on Twitter showed that they understood what I was saying and they were broadcasting the important points to 1000's of others outside of the room. It is definitely a dynamic that will take getting used to.

[Marc Davison]

Tell us more Missy. How did the speaker integrate that into the conversation?

[Marc Davison]

Good comment. Can you explain for readers how you did your quick Twitter search?

Thanks in advance

[Carola Von Hoffmannstahl-Solomonoff]

Good to hear (from Missy) that Twitterers were passing along her message rather than just OMG personal reactions. Kinda uncanny-- all those eyes turned downward. Though heavenward would have been more so...

[victor lund]

I will do this tomorrow in SLO to a group of agents.

Do you want to go? You can tape it.

[Tim White]

hmmm...don't know...sounds like group navel staring to me. Talk about being caught in a feedback loop. I've heard on un-conferences, is this the start of the un-speaker:)

sorry, my comment is being interrupted by an tweet from one of my followers. Gotta go...

[Marc Davison]

Thanks for the invite Victor. I'm up in the Bay Area in meetings throughout the day.

If I were home, I would have loved to attend.

Marc

[jose]

I`m going to try this think :)

[jose]

I`m going to try this think :)

[Louis Cammarosano]

The live as it happens content is overrated. 99.999% of all relevant content already happened.

What a speaker is saying does not need to be broadcast immediately to other twitters. Perhaps it needs to be listened to and reflected upon.

Most content is not better because it is fresher

[Marc Davison]

Great point. Is being the first to broadcast what you've just seen in slide 15 to the world worth potentially missing what is on slide 16-20? Personally, I do not think so.

[Tyler Portland Real Estate]

Thats actually a really good idea. My company does presentations to agents all the time, and this could add a fun element to it.