Beyond the speaking venue – 3 ways to get talked about (F!RST framework, part 5)

How can you spread your message beyond the audience you’re speaking to?

Well, in the F!RST framework’s overview (which shares 5 ways to be a top presenter), I wrote:

By getting talked about through social media and other channels, you can reach far more people who can champion your message.

In effect, that lets you “breathe new life” into your talk. So it’s fitting that getting talked about uses the mnemonic “CPR”…

In this post, then, you’ll find techniques you can use on social media and elsewhere to get your message talked about.

As you’ll see in a few moments, the techniques are arranged into these 3 pillars:

• C – Conversation – Speak conversationally, so people get used to engaging with and responding to your message, which makes them more likely to share it.
• P – Promotion – Market your talk (before, after, and even during your event) to tempt people to post about it.
• R – Recording – Publish video highlights of your talk, which gives people something else concrete to share.

You can click any of those links to jump to the details below. Or, just keep reading…

 

Pillar 1: ConversationScroll to Contents ↑

Get people used to engaging with your content – they’re more likely to share

This pillar’s based on the following premise: If you get people used to engaging with and responding to your content (by making your talk conversational), they’re more likely to share it.

In fact, you can get all my tips for conversational speaking in a recent post I wrote. So for full details, please click that link.

 

Pillar 2: PromotionScroll to Contents ↑

To tempt people to post about your talk, you can promote it at these times:

1. Before your event
2. During your event
3. After your event

 

a. Before your eventScroll to Contents ↑

Before your speaking event, you can increase engagement by posting about it on social media (and on your blog or website if you have one). That has 3 benefits:

• More people will hear about your event.
• It’s easy for people to repost your messages to their followers.
• If there’s an event organiser, they’ll love you for promoting the event!

Post on several days, and at various times of day, to increase your reach. For tips on what content to put in your posts, see the sections below:

● Add a generic hashtagScroll to Contents ↑

Include an obvious, generic hashtag about your topic

To make your posts visible to as many people as you can, include an obvious, generic hashtag about your topic. For instance, if you’ll be presenting about public speaking, you’d likely use:

#PublicSpeaking

● Add a specific hashtag tooScroll to Contents ↑

Also add a specific hashtag about your core message

To intrigue people about your content, it’s helpful to also add a specific hashtag about your core message. For example, if I was going to present about the subject of this blog post, I’d tend to use a pair of hashtags like these:

#PublicSpeaking #GetTalkedAbout

If you’ll be speaking at a conference or other multi-speaker event, also find out what the event’s hashtag is, and include that in your posts too.

● Mention specific peopleScroll to Contents ↑

Mention other speakers…

To further increase the reach of your posts, @-mention one or more relevant people as well. For instance, you could mention other speakers who’ll appear at the same event, or an industry expert who you quote on one of your slides.

● Raise attendees’ issuesScroll to Contents ↑

Especially when you’ll present your talk online, you’ll likely have a Web-based system where people can sign up. One benefit of those systems is you can often use them to ask attendees a few questions about their interest in your topic, to better focus your talk. Then, you can use their responses (without people’s names) in your pre-event promotion.

For instance, you might post messages on Twitter and Instagram like this:

Want tips for your #PublicSpeaking? 92% of registrants for my workshop at #SpeakerFest18 want to use social media to increase their reach and #GetTalkedAbout. Join me & @JohnSmith to learn how http://bit.ly/2OA4Emp

 

b. During your eventScroll to Contents ↑

To promote your talk while you’re speaking, my key suggestion is:

Make it easy for
people to look good
to their followers.

If you do that, they’re far more likely to share your content during your talk. That’s just one reason I recommend you make your talk’s content:

• Easy to share
• Compelling
• Professional-looking

More specifically, try these tips, which I’ve grouped into those same 3 categories:

Easy to shareScroll to Contents ↑

• Use slides (or other visuals) so people can share photos of them. (People love to share photos, which also get more engagement than text-only posts.)
• Add your Twitter handle (and relevant hashtags) to your slides.
• Use an acronym (or a similar mnemonic) to distill your core message, because they’re highly shareable. For example, this post uses the mnemonic “CPR”.


CompellingScroll to Contents ↑

• Touch people’s feelings, like by sharing emotive stories from your work (or even from your personal life, if they’re relevant to the point you’re making).
• Telling a story? Black out your slide to starkly contrast with the rest of your talk.
• Use almost no text on your slides, so people can grasp them quickly.
• Frequently pause for several seconds to drive home your message.
• Occasionally show a pithy quote from a respected source. (The source’s credibility rubs off on whoever cites the quote. So it rubs off first on you, and then on whoever shares a photo of your slide.)


ProfessionalScroll to Contents ↑

• Use a simple but striking colour scheme for your slide deck.
• Use big photos to help convey emotion or real-world context.
• Use true visuals like charts, diagrams, and icons to make your slides photogenic. For instance, rather than a bullet list, you could use a series of shapes with just keywords or short phrases on them, like on this slide:
  

c. After your eventScroll to Contents ↑

After you finish speaking, there are still ways you can promote your message to get more mileage from it:

• Get written feedback, and ask for testimonials from the people who write great comments.
• Share resources, like your handout (or your slides or recording), and encourage people to share them further. (Blogger Laura Foley’s great tip: Using a QR code makes them a cinch to find.)
• Search online for the hashtags you used, and thank the people who shared them.
• Follow up with attendees (especially on social media, if you have their details).

 

Pillar 3: RecordingScroll to Contents ↑

Give people some­thing extremely concrete to share

By publishing video highlights of your talk, you give people something extremely concrete to share. That’s one of the best ways to get more speaking gigs, because prospective organisers can be far more confident about what you’ll deliver on the day.

For detailed tips, see my post on making videos of your presentations. In particular, the section about keeping your video short is relevant here. That’s because people are much less patient when they watch a talk on video compared with watching the same talk in person.

So, you’ll get the best response if you make each video just a couple of minutes long.

 

Over to youScroll to Contents ↑

As a reminder, here are the 3 pillars I recommend you use for getting your presentation talked about, letting you “breathe new life into it” through “CPR”:

• C – Conversation – Speak conversationally, so people get used to engaging with and responding to your message, which makes them more likely to share it.
• P – Promotion – Market your talk (before, after, and even during your event) to tempt people to post about it.
• R – Recording – Publish video highlights of your talk, which gives people something else concrete to share.

What’s your feeling about those? Are there techniques I’ve left out? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

 

Also check outScroll to Contents ↑

• 6 tips to nail your conference speech, from Colin James [Video]
• Speaking on a panel? 3 tips from @DeckerBen [Video]
• 5 ways to be a top presenter – meet the F!RST framework
• Want your talk ranked #1? Make it conversational – here’s how… [PACE principles, part 3]
• 6 tips for great videos of your presentations or demos
• Today’s most popular posts, and the latest visitor comments

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