The twitter logo
Over on his blog, the fascinating Jeff Hurt is saying some interesting things. On one post in particular, asking “Is your Conference Twitter Worthy or Not?” he makes the suggestion that technology, in the context of social media is the sixth sense… it gives us an awareness of where our friends are and what they’re doing.
The important point however, from my point of view as a professional speaker and trainer is that I’m not sure I’d want people tweeting while I was talking… obviously if they’re doing it to let everyone know how wonderful I am it’s not as bad as if they’re saying the opposite but whatever they’re tweeting, should they be tweeting if they were as interested in my message as I’d hope?
(Have a quick read of my comment on Jeff’s blog to see where I’m starting from.)
Now obviously I’m over-stating the case here for the sake of a quick blog post (who me? cynical?) but I’m generally sticking by my guns here – if people are ‘able’ to tweet while listening to the speaker, the speaker has a problem… even if the tweets are complimentary. The point is that your presentation should, in an ideal world, be so interesting and to provide so much information that the audience simply doesn’t think of tweeting – they’re too fascinated!
Is that just me? Am I too optimistic to suggest that a professional speaker should be able to hold the attention of his or her audience?
Postscript: That said, I can see a use for this kind of technology if it’s use to provide immediate feedback to the speaker – such as by asking questions or getting an informal feel for the opinion of the room. Asking everyone in the room to tweet with a #hashtag followed by ‘yes’ or ‘no’ might be useful.
Simon:
Good to see you continuing the conversation here on your blog!
So let me ask you the same question I left on your comment on my blog. What do you think about people taking notes during your presentation?
Are you for it, against it or indifferent?
For me, I use Twitter to take notes. It just so happens that I’m sharing those notes with everyone that follows me. Good, bad or indifferent, I try to keep my notes positive. There are times I will disagree with the presenter and then will even cite another article with my POV. When finished, I go to a specific software program and print my notes in a PDF format. From a learning perspective, tweeting during a presentation makes my brain work harder. I have to listen to what the speaker is saying and translate that into 140 characters or less to tweet it. I’m actually using my brain more than someone just listening. (The ROI on listening is very low when it comes to learning!)
Here’s a resource to dig into this topic even further…The Backchannel: How Audiences Are Using Twitter And Social Media And Changing Presentations Forever by Cliff Atkinson.
Hi Jeff…
I can see your point about making notes: personally, my approach is generally to provide people with a PDF they can download on the grounds that most people are experienced/skilled enough to both take notes and pay 100% attention at the same time. It’s a skill that students need to develop in lectures, of course, but ‘normal people’ (whatever they hell they are!) don’t get that level of practise! :)
People like you – who can listen AND note – are rarer than we think.
You’re absolutely right about the ROI on listening – the research is pretty well unequivocal – hence my use of handouts and so on.
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