werseluta.info

To the Presenter:

So you’ve decided to use moderator* to help you monitor the Twitter backchannel. Smart move! Unless your moderator has done this before, chances are he or she will have a few questions for you. Below are some tips to help you and your moderator get the most out of your Twitter backchannel experience.

To the Moderator

A presenter has asked you to help moderate the Twitter backchannel. This will allow the presenter to have more audience interaction — which is always a good thing! By serving as the moderator, more people inside and outside of the room will become involved in the conversation. I’m sure your presenter and those watching the conversation through Twitter will appreciate what you’re doing!

Hashtags

The hashtag for the event is #___________.

The hashtag for the session is #___________.

Getting started. The Moderator should:
o Log into the Twitter stream monitoring tool recommended by the speaker. (I recommend TweetChat.com.)
o Search on the session hashtag #___________.
o Decrease the refresh speed to the fastest refresh speed (5 seconds last time I looked).
o Watch the twitter feed throughout the session.

What the Presenter will be doing
o The presenter will introduce the session hashtag toward the beginning of the session. He or she should also have it prominently posted in the room if at all possible.

o The presenter will let the audience know that you as the moderator will be monitoring tweets with the session hashtag. The presenter will encourage the audience to tweet questions or comments about what they’re hearing during the session.

o The presenter will also encourage anyone who wants to monitor the session hashtag to retweet anything they agree with. If the audience hears something they like, then they’re sharing valuable information with their followers. If the audience member has the same question or the same disagreement as another’s tweet, the presenter will encourage them to retweet that too. Those retweets let the presenter know that there is more than one person who has the same question or issue so he or she will want to be sure to address that topic.

What the Moderator needs to do

o As the moderator, tweet directly from TweetChat. TweetChat will automatically put in the session hashtag and post the tweet from your Twitter account. Also include the conference hashtag too so that the conference organizers and those who couldn’t make the conference get the benefit of the Twitter conversation.

o If someone has a simple questions that you can answer (What time does this session end? What did the speaker say her name was? What was the website that she said the moderator was using to monitor the Twitter stream?) please tweet a reply to help that person out.

o The presenter will take a Twitter break approximately 15 minutes into the program. The presenter will turn to you at that time and ask for any feedback from the tweets so far.

o As you monitor the tweets, look for trends. If anything is retweeted, particularly questions or disagreements with content, be sure and bring up that topic during the Twitter breaks.

o Subsequent Twitter breaks will be in approximately 15 minutes intervals. The presenter will again turn to you to see what questions or feedback there may be.

o For smaller audiences, expect that discussion and questions will come through traditional verbal exchanges between attendees and the presenter, even with the Twitter discussion.

o For audiences new to the concept, expect some experimentation and joking around (“Hey, world, look at me”, ribbing a buddy across in the room, etc.). That kind of experimentation is fine. Once the presenter get into the meat of the content, the audience should focus on the material and get involved in the conversation.

o Talk to your presenter to see how he or she wants to handle the situation if things start going off track and the Twitter backchannel is talking about it – for example – the audience can’t hear the speaker, the speaker is talking too quickly, people are going on too long with the “Hey, world, look at me” chatter. Generally speaking, getting the presenter’s attention and addressing the situation as soon as possible, with as much transparency as possible, works best. Better to discuss such a situation with the presenter before it happens so everyone – audience member, speaker and you as the moderator – is able to adjust to the interruption with their dignity intact.

o For larger audiences, Twitter will be a godsend to look for trends and to hear great questions from the introvert who would never speak up in a big crowd.

The Twitter backchannel is a great way to engage an audience. These guidelines can help everyone tweet each other well!

I’d love to hear your feedback after using these guidelines! Were they helpful? What was the hardest thing about moderating the backchannel? What was the most surprising? What was the coolest part? I’d love to hear what you think! Send me an email!

*If you moderator is relatively new to twitter, point him or her to this blog post for basic terminology:
http://kellyvandever.wordpress.com/2011/01/27/twitter-the-presenters-new-best-bud-part-2-the-terminology/

In my interview about negotiation with Camp Group CEO Jim Camp, he pointed out to be the difference between tactics and principles.

As a pilot in the Air Force, he was taught that a principle will always beat a tactic. So, it’s very important to take a look at the difference between a tactic and a principle.

A tactic is something that is designed to take advantage of a weakness in the opponent.

A principle is something never-changing and consistent.

I will illustrate the above with an example from the negotiation for the purchase of a new car. We will see the tactic of using reciprocity and guilt versus the principle of honesty.

We’ve all seen it on television and in the movies and we’ve probably all had it happen to us at one time or another: Good Guy Bad Guy. This classic negotiation tactic is still taught and still applied frequently.

At the car dealership, it goes like this: You have decided on the make and model of the car you want and now you are negotiating the price. The salesperson excuses himself to go talk to the sales manager about the price you’ve requested. He comes back and says that he really fought for you and was only able to get the sales manager to agree to a small discount.

So, again, he says he’ll go to bat for you and go above the sales manager and talk to the general manager, even though this is putting his job at risk, he really wants to help.

Perhaps someone who is young and going through their first negotiation might fall for this classic tactic. But, anyone who has been through some negotiations or who has studied negotiation will immediately see this tactic for what it is.

Here is where the showdown between tactic and principle takes place. The principle here is that of honesty. Honesty is valued by people and necessary to conduct proper business. Regardless of how well the salesperson executes the Good Guy Bad Guy tactic, if there is even a hint of dishonesty about it, the plan will implode and the buyer will lose confidence and respect for the salesperson.

Yes, he may still purchase the vehicle if the price works for him, but we can be sure that he won’t be sending any referrals to this salesperson and that the salesperson career will be short-lived.

Never try to use a tactic that is going to compete with a principle. Anytime you try to implement a negotiating tactic, think it through and be sure that it is backed by proper principles.

Once a month I do a free work shop teaching BNI members how to improve their “Sales Manager Minutes”, aka 60 second presentations. As a BNI Director and business consultant, I get the privilege of helping people fix their word of mouth marketing mistakes. During these monthly training sessions I am asked lots of question about how do create and deliver great 60 second presentations. My sessions always start out with this question. Let me hear what you’re doing now. This evaluation process allows me to help them focus on eliminating any of the 20 most common mistakes I hear.

This article is the second installment of a four part series. In this segment I will discuss 5 more of the 20 mistakes that I often see. Reading all 4 articles will give the reader the cure for all of these so common aliments. Eliminating a few of these mistakes from your 60 second presentation and you will start to see real results. Eliminate them all and the referrals will come rolling in. So let’s get started on segment 2.

Mistake #1 is NO Pain! I often see 60 second presentations where the person does a good job of describing their product or service but leave out the potential customer pain. I try to include 2 or 3 customer pains in all my infomercials. Adding the customer’s pain to your description of your product or service, really make the message pop. It helps clarify the “why” for your listener and clarity produces power. What kind of power you ask? It gives them the power to act; it motivates someone to take action on your behalf.

Mistake #2 NO Emotion 60 Second presentations need to be delivered with feeling in order to be perceived as genuine. Without passion, you come across as fake. Emotions’ help the listener empathize. They are more likely to listen and get involved if the believe what you say. Saying things with emotion and passion gives you this credibility. If you come across without passion and emotion your message will be flat and your listeners’ will be turn off and will tune out.

Mistake #3 Poor Delivery This can be related to not being passionate about your subject but it can also be just a poor delivery. What I am talking about here is your pace, intonation and volume. Going to fast or going too slow can turn off your audience. For some, going too fast carries the connotation of “of a disclaimer”. Going to slow carries the connotation of being boring. Being too loud, equates to obnoxious, too quiet, being timid. A good deliver is varied in pace, intonation and volume. When you speak with emotion and passion this often automatically happens. Remember that presenting has many elements of acting in it. These techniques can be master through practice. Take the time to “rehearse your lines”. Once they are fully memorized, you can then start to work on the other elements of the presentation. Remember to have fun while you’re being serious. This will help you be more authentic and being authentic can help sway your listeners.

Mistake #4 Leaving out “Door Opener” Door openers are statements used to catch a person’s attention. Door openers are word hooks like “on sale, limited offer, free and guaranteed”. Most people automatically pay more attention to these words because most people want to take advantage of or at least know of these “specials”. Using “attention getting words”, gives your referral partners the ammunition to get your foot in the door. Use them and you will get more referral and more sales.

Mistake #5 Using Profanity I don’t often hear profanity used in presentations but when I do, WOW, it doesn’t make the presenter look good. Even using phrases like “stuff happens” brings you close to being in a bad place. You may hear laughter when it is used but it will never increase your credibility or make you look more professional. I have even seen great 10 minute presentations totally destroyed because they used one bad word during their presentation. One word out of several thousand and their presentation was remembers for the one bad word. Never use profanity in your 60 second presentations. It will destroy your entire effort. It may be good tool for comedians working the adult’s only circuit but its bad news for your 60 second or 10 minute presentation.

My next article, (segment 3), will discuss 5 more common mistakes made during 60 second presentations. Each segment will help the reader eliminate 5 possible mistakes that they may be making, until we have covered all 20 possible mistakes. Eliminating any of these mistakes improves your ability to communicate effectively. Each new attempt will bring improvements, focus and message clarity. Look for Segment 3 covering 5 more common mistakes to be out real soon. Until next time, work hard to eliminating the 5 mistakes covered here. Doing so will move the reader closer to their first perfect 60 second presentation. Until next time.