As I stated in How does one give a powerful presentation , a good speech or presentation is so much more than ‘good’ content. Presentations are live and dynamic, and there has to be a level of interaction. How you engage an audience—work off them, gauge their mood, or alter course if needed—is an essential skill for all those who regularly present in front of people. It is also about positioning yourself well, as the potential contacts you make could be invaluable.

All of the above elements can be taken forth into a virtual space. With the advent of social media tools, most notably video uploads, presentations can live online beyond a conference, bringing you all the benefits of feedback, questions, comments, new contacts and connections.

Social media tools and applications are making all of this easier to execute. New social media platforms such as SocMe^TM allow for the easy integration of content from a website into other sites, incorporating tools, applications and widgets that can instantly provide feedback, analytics and content tagging, as well as create a space for further collaboration and dialogue. 

Here are a few things to consider before posting online. And forgive me if some of these seem rudimentary, however I come across so many presentations online that have not given thought to the following:

1. Ensure that the footage is of high quality and captures some of the ambiance of the room. Audio is another crucial element, so make sure it is set up well.
2. Title the presentation and, if relevant, include any copyright/trademark components.
3. Consider carefully where you are going to post your presentation. You would never think of presenting at a conference that had little or nothing to do with your subject. Similarly, you need to identify appropriate and relevant online target audiences.
4. The presentation needs to be delivered in context. Provide a link and some background information about the conference, its objectives and important observations about what it did and/or didn’t achieve.
5. Pay close attention to SEO (Search Engine Optimization) when uploading the presentation, especially since most people find online presentations through search engines. Make sure you have correctly and thoughtfully tagged the presentation.
6. Where possible, allow people to download the presentation to watch at their leisure. If this is not an option on certain websites, then provide a link to where people can download it. 
7. Just as a live presentation offers an opportunity for dialogue and interaction, so too must your online presentation. This is not a hard sell opportunity, rather an opportunity for engagement. Ask for viewers’ participation and comments through providing them with the online tools to do so. Also provide contact details and a link to your company’s site.
8. The communication tools you choose will help set the tone for dialogue. A web form or email may be considered more formal while setting the expectation of a delayed response. A chat style or IM format might be considered less formal, but will set the expectation of an immediate response. The ability to leave comments or send emails are good standards.
9. Make it easy for the viewers to use social bookmarking features such as Stumbledupon, del.icio.us and Digg. Once this is done, use online analytics tools to monitor traffic to your presentation.
10.  Promote your presentation through using social media optimization (SMO).
11. Keep everything as concise as possible.  We truly believe EVERYONE is busy.
12. Write as you speak if possible.  Unless you are pedantic as a person, writing as you speak typically keeps the tone congenial and therefore more easily heard.
13. Finally, once the presentation is outdated, clearly communicate it as such and archive. You do not want to appear out of touch.

Have you used social media in your presentations? If so, how? What worked? What didn’t work? What would you like to try next?

Leave a comment or write to us at clarity@tcgagency.com

We are always interested in hearing and learning from other people’s experiences.

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