Last week, Mashable wrote an excellent article on how to make ordinary presentations more engaging with social media. In fact, Get-Synch liked the suggestions so well that we decided to expand on Mashable’s pointers and add five additional tips of our own, aimed specifically at live event presentations. Have any tips of your own? Let us know in the comments, or on Twitter at @GetSynch!
Create Anticipation through Every Channel You Have Available
You have a frequently updated Twitter page, a solid Facebook hub, and a sizable email list. Now start using those channels to promote your conference keynote, session presentation or trade show demo in advance of the event. If you don’t, you’re limiting your audience before you even get started. Connect with every piece of social media relevant to your presentation, and then network with gusto. Mashable’s reminder to use services like MeetUp is smart, too, as is creating a custom hashtag, so that the conversation can keep itself well-organized and so that outside readers can jump in mid-stream.
Play to Your Audience’s Strengths
Sure, Facebook and Twitter are wildly popular. Even so, they don’t hold the key to every audience. To connect with your target audience you have to speak their language. If you’re dealing with an older or decidedly non tech-savvy audience, keep technology simple. Easy text messages might be a big enough stretch for this crowd. What if your audience skews toward sales and marketing business types? Mine the power of LinkedIn relationships for pre- and post-presentation marketing. Whatever platform you choose, use URL shorteners like bit.ly for web addresses. You’ll save your audience time and capture more accurate data on the back end.
Use Interactive Polling to Lead the Discussion
Let your audience co-create the presentation with interactive Audience Response Systems, Twitter @replies and text message response platforms. Let’s say your presentation could branch into three different directions. Let the audience choose the direction and they’ll feel more personally involved. Starting to get bogged down with a lengthy monologue? Enliven the experience with a quick quiz or a poll through SMS messages. If interactivity is new to you, most services offer introductory packages so that you can get comfortable with the basics before moving onto more complex systems.
… But Don’t Bite Off More Than You Can Chew with Backchannel
Developing the backchannel sounds sexy, but displaying a live audience response via Twitter isn’t right for every performance situation. Think about your CEO making a keynote address; not a likely candidate to deal with a screen of distracting, flashing hashtags. Especially if you’re new to social media, get some experience with the fundamentals before handling a crowd via Twitter. There are horror stories of presentations derailed by rowdy audiences. The backchannel is a destination to work towards, not the first stop on your journey.
Engage Your Audience Every Way Possible Post-Presentation
Put yourself in the shoes of an audience member. You’ve been though the lead-in, the hype. You participated in the presentation and left your commentary and candid opinion of the presentation. Then, from the speaker… silence! That kind of treatment doesn’t develop loyalty. Attend to replies, follow-ups, and personal thanks while your performance is still fresh in the mind of your audience members. Traditional presentations may have a beginning and an end, but adding social touch points after the performance extends the experience and helps to build relationships.