Comments on: Tweeting During Presentations- Rebuttal to the Rebuttal (Will the Rebuttals Ever End?!?)

By: Dave Crisp

Dave Crisp — Fri, 06 Jun 2014 18:34:13 +0000

Far be it from me to suggest anyone can or can’t do anything they jolly well like as long as they aren’t distracting or interfering with others. However I object when someone who’s tweeted all the way through a presentation has the gall to say the presentation was bad. All the brain science we have says multi-tasking is not ‘simultaneous tasking’ – while doing one thing you are not listening to another and taking it in, therefore are in no position to evaluate it’s benefits or lack thereof.

By: Amanda K

Amanda K — Wed, 30 Apr 2014 15:55:00 +0000

I work for Jeff and I help him with his social media marketing and I have a unique prospective here so I thought I would weigh in. (Also on a side note, the fact that I get paychecks is evidence that he’s not out of touch with the social media reality!)

I was excited to see Christina’s article because I agree with her- tweeting during presentations is a great way to promote the speaker, get a back-channel conversation going and keep others who couldn’t attend the event in person a chance to be there virtually.

However, since working for Jeff I have come over to his side at least a little bit for a few reasons.

– We went to a social media focused event together and I chimed in with a few tweets. While I was composing a tweet Jeff leaned in and asked “What do you think about what she (the speaker) just said?”. My response was “blluhhhh???” because honestly I had no idea and I’m prone to making weird noises. As Jeff likes to say, everyone thinks they are good at multitasking but no one is.

– I know I’m biased but Jeff is one of those speakers who can keep the audience engaged for close to 100% of the time he’s on stage. (Don’t believe me? watch a video http://youtu.be/jQma2AzXvjo?t=35s) When you’re watching him you have to give him your undivided attention because he talks so fast that you might miss a helpful tip or a joke. Now, speakers with a different style might make it easier to get a tweet in, but even as a Twitter fanatic, I would tell Jeff’s audience members that his presentations are best enjoyed with phones put away.

– While many events are incorporating social media to engage attendees, the majority of events Jeff speaks at do not. Maybe that’s just a function of the type of events he is hired for, but tweeting during presentations really depends on the type of event you’re at. Marketing, social media, software, technology events, farmers (surprisingly they love social media) – tweet away! A meeting of the Coal Miners Association… you might get more out of it if you just listen. Which brings me to my final point….

When it comes to tweeting during presentations, I think of it like going to a workout class at the gym. If I want to come to class late, leave before the cool down, and not push myself- that’s my business because it’s my time and I paid for the class so I can use it however I want to. When it comes to events, I will do whatever I need to do to get the most out of a presentation, and in the case of someone like Jeff- the best course is listening. At a more technology oriented conference- tweeting the whole time might be the way to go!

Thanks for commenting! I hope our readers can learn from our discussion!

By: Kelby Carr

Kelby Carr — Wed, 30 Apr 2014 14:36:10 +0000

The key flaw in your arguments is that you assume only social media professionals communicate via Twitter (or Facebook, or Instagram, or any number of online channels). The fact is social media has been mainstream for several years. Any speaker who still thinks people will put down their smartphones during a presentation (or even hopes for that) is seriously out of touch with reality.

By: Christina Gleason @ WELL, in THIS House

Christina Gleason @ WELL, in THIS House — Tue, 29 Apr 2014 19:28:10 +0000

I think what we’re debating is really two separate beasts. In my industry, I think the presenters craft their messages differently. You actually hear the phrase, “You’re going to want to tweet this.” If you want your audience to engage and share in real time, you tailor your talking points for this type of presentation. In other industries that tend to discourage sharing in real time, as you describe, audience members will miss out if the presenters aren’t structuring their discussions in a manner conducive to sharing. I think the latter type of presenter will need to adapt their messages in the future in order to meet the needs of the former type of audience, for whom social media sharing doubles as note-taking. But until those two can meet in the middle, yes, both sides will miss out when content is missed.