All a-Twitter
And thinks he that the chirping of a wren,
By crying comfort from a hollow breast,
Can chase away the first-conceived sound?
– Henry VI, Part ii, Act 3, Scene 2
Speaking while people Tweet
Olivia Mitchell has a useful article on Pistachio’s Touchbase Blog about the growing phenomena of members of your audience using Twitter to comment on a presentation in real-time on laptops, Blackberries and iPhones.
She advises audience members on the best way to engage in the conversation. She also advises speakers on how to deal with this new ‘back-channel’ of information.
Presenting while people are twittering is challenging. But isn’t it better to get that feedback in real-time when you can do something to retrieve the situation – than wait till you read the evaluation sheets a few days after the conference – and find that you bombed?
The 92 comments (to date) highlight the many implications, including this from Morriss on the way Twittering instantly repurposes a speech beyond the confines of the room:
You left out a huge bonus to the presenter: key highlights of your presentation are being sent out to an audience much bigger than those in the room. If you have something truly insightful or newsworthy to say, your message may be retweeted far and wide.
Twitter is just one aspect of modern technology that is changing public speaking.
5 Comments so far
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I wonder, has anyone ever thought of asking the Twitterers to “follow” the speaker, then project the speaker’s page on the big screen, where everyone’s comments can be seen by everyone else in the room? Sounds like fun.
By RB Wallis on 02.27.09 9:55 am
RB: Great idea!
I saw something similar at the Stanford Always On Conference where bloggers in the audience posted comments onto a screen on the podium. Savvy presenters would keep one eye on these comments and respond in real-time.
A live Twitter-feed using #hashtags to ID the tweets would be a stunning addition to a truly interactive presentation.
Ideally a CNN-style ticker-tape feed could be projected underneath the presenter’s image on the big screen – or would this get too distracting?
And what about malicious tweets? Few presenters would keep it together if they saw “He’s full of s**t”” scrolling across the screen underneath their face.
By Ian on 02.27.09 10:24 am
I have mixed feelings on this. People can’t pay both attention to the speaker and read at the same time, which means something is being lost…probably part of the speaker’s message. I’m a huge Twitter fan but, like cell phones, it can be distracting too. Speakers will have to come up with a better system than just leaving it the audience, because as everyone knows, once you’re on Twitter, it’s hard to stop.
@markivey
By mark ivey on 03.02.09 1:33 pm
Mark
I wish someone would tell the producers at CNN, CNBC, Fox News and others that we can’t possibly pay attention to a presenter and read at the same time. They seem to think not one, not two but of three ‘ticker tapes’ of information need to scroll across the screen *while* the newscaster is talking.
If that’s the way that mass communication is headed, then a twitter-feed on a screen onstage or in people’s hands is the least of it.
Multi-tasking: the ultimate refuge of small minds?
By Ian on 03.02.09 3:08 pm
Olivia has just posted a follow-up list of “8 Things She Likes” about using Twitter as a participation tool when you present.
Loved #6: Let go of the illusion that you might know more than the audience. Twitter allows the audience to offer their expertise.
Great list – check it out.
By Ian on 03.02.09 5:54 pm
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