Comments on: While I Talked, People Twittered

By: Guest Post: 7 Ways to Use Twitter to Engage Your Audience | Chris Spagnuolo's EdgeHopper

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 07:18:21 +0000

[...] Paul Gillin Having recently waited six months to get audience evaluations from one presentation, I can tell you that the immediacy of the tweeted feedback was wonderful. [...]

By: Paul Gillin unveils the Secrets of Social Media Marketing | Hard Knox Life

Paul Gillin unveils the Secrets of Social Media Marketing | Hard Knox Life — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 17:02:44 +0000

[...] While I Talked, People Twittered [...]

By: Quantum Leap: Microsharing for Meetings and Events - Pistachio

Quantum Leap: Microsharing for Meetings and Events - Pistachio — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 17:59:02 +0000

[...] better with one another, and innovations can be captured and nurtured on the fly. More ideas from a speaker’s perspective, for a short event, and for event and meeting planners. Best Buy used Spy to display the [...]

By: Laura Bergells

Laura Bergells — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 17:27:34 +0000

Hashtagging a Twitter conference is the online version of what Joi Ito called the “hecklebot” a few years ago.

The “hecklebot” idea is that people should be able to use technology to more effectively heckle at conferences. In Ito’s “hecklebot” proposal, he wanted IM heckles to appear over the speaker’s head on a monitor.

Why would this be helpful? Well, over time, twitter heckling might create better presentations!

Just reviewing your tweetstream right now is going to be enlightening, and provide valuable feedback that can make you a better presenter.

Much better than the “after conference evaluation.”

In fact, now that you know that your next speaking engagement may be heckled on Twitter — how will that impact your presentation?

By: Paul Gillin

Paul Gillin — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 12:10:08 +0000

We are increasingly living in an asynchronous world where face-to-face plays less of a role, as you point out. I wouldn’t say snarky comments are “cowardly.” For some people, it’s the only way they know how to express themselves. I think it’s incumbent upon anyone in a public role, even if it’s just speaking to a few people, to be able to absorb any commentary constructively, even if it hurts to hear it. The trick is not to let a few vocal fans or critics affect you disproportionately. I like the approach professional researchers take of throwing out the top 10% and bottom 10% of responses because they represent the extreme ends of opinion. If Twitter gives voice to those in the middle who wouldn’t ordinarily comment at all, then it provides a valuable service.

I also want to compliment Damon Cortesi on his earlier comment about using real-time text messaging for structured feedback. If someone can figure out how to collect quantitative research this way, they’ve got a great market opportunity awaiting them.

By: Lisa Braithwaite

Lisa Braithwaite — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 03:52:41 +0000

I’m wondering if some people are using Twitter to avoid actually interacting with the speaker, asking questions or voicing opinions out in the open.

If people are using it to summarize and jot down ideas and impressions, that’s one thing. If people are using it as a cowardly way not to address the speaker in person but to make snarky comments online, I don’t see the benefit to anyone. The participant doesn’t fully engage with the presenter, and the presenter misses out on the opportunity to clarify issues with the participant.

Trying to follow tweets in real time during a presentation sounds like a nightmare to me! I can barely keep up when all I’m doing is reading Twitter.

By: Mark Logan

Mark Logan — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 15:20:07 +0000

Thanks so much for posting this. I’ve sat in the audience many times Twittering reactions to a presentation, and although I do a fair amount of speaking, I’ve yet to notice this phenomenon at a large scale during one of my own presentations. I’m guessing that’s going to change.

I want to think about this some more and figure out how best to embrace it. I’m not sure that it makes sense to use it as real-time feedback during the presentation. With a live audience, it seems like in-person interaction should trump microblogging. Maybe it’s different with a remote audience, however.

Anyway, lots of good stuff to ponder here.

By: émergenceweb : blogue » Blog Archive » Liens pour le 13/09/08

émergenceweb : blogue » Blog Archive » Liens pour le 13/09/08 — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 02:03:54 +0000

[...] While I Talked, People Twittered [...]

By: Paul Gillin

Paul Gillin — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 21:48:20 +0000

I like the comment about documenting your conference observations via Twitter and then assembling them later. People used to tell me to take a small notebook with me wherever I went to jot down ideas. It always sounded like a good idea and I never had the time. Now my cell phone and Twitter perform the same function!

By: Stales

Stales — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 16:16:26 +0000

P.S. Twitter is my ritalin.