Eggblogg

Interesting stuff I've seen recently on Twitter

Several times over the last week or so I've found myself in the position of being asked, in fact almost bombarded, with questions about Twitter. At a workshop on PR (where I was a participant), at a dinner party, in the pub.

What is it? What's it for? Is it like Facebook? What's the point of it for businesses? Isn't it just people saying what they just had for breakfast?

Clearly the broadcast media has fuelled a Twitter frenzy, but it has very few answers to the questions on people's lips.

One of the things I always tell people is that Twitter is very much in-the-moment. It's like a conversation that passes very quickly, and if you weren't there when something happened or was said, it's easy to miss it. I found that out the hard way on Friday morning, after I'd spent the previous evening at an event and hadn't been online since midday. When I got to work and caught site of a tweet about Michael Jackson, without pausing to check out the story I tweeted 'Did MJ really die or is it an Internet rumour?"

Within minutes I'd been inundated with replies, ranging from the straightforward ("yes, he'd dead") the ironic ("well it's on the BBC so I guess it's probably true") to the condemnatory ("Don't you read the papers/watch TV or listen to radio?")

It has since occurred to me that not everyone is 'in the room' when a story, question or discussion takes place, and therefore quite a lot of good stuff probably gets missed on Twitter. OK, so no-one in the entire universe could now be in any doubt as to the sad demise of Michael Jackson, but here are a few interesting stories I retweeted that you may have missed this week.

- About the death of local newspapers, interesting piece by Jonathan Guthrie in the FT
- Excellent article from @marketingwizdom: If you're in business you must read this: The forgotten cost of discounting
- Retweeted by @chriskeene: the Guardian on library uses of twitter
- How @msofficeus plans to carry on using Word to render emails in Outlook, killing standards support. See http://fixoutlook.org
- Tweeted by @journalismnews Twitterers claim victory over loaded Daily Mail poll
- Tweeted by @getshust: A Collection of Social Network Stats for 2009  <--useful for presentations, pitches

What I get out of using Twitter

I'm often asked 'what's the point of Twitter?' and in many ways the answer depends on the context.

They may mean 'what's the business rationale for using Twitter?' Or 'why does anyone use Twitter?' Or sometimes it's just 'why on earth do you spend time on that Twitter thingy?'

Twitter is like any large gathering - there are people sharing interesting news, private jokes, asking and answering questions. There are open discussions, people watching and listening, others touting their wares or showing off, others sharing stuff they doing, seeing or learning. There are the loud ones, the quiet ones, the excited ones and the bored ones.

I got into using Twitter when I first heard about it, early in 2007, because it's my job to keep up with what's new on the web. But it was a year or so before I started getting anything much out of it. Now I use it as a social network, a research tool and a way of sharing knowledge and experience with many great people, some in my industry and others completely not. Some of them I knew before, some I've subsequently met, others I will no doubt meet at some point, others I'll never meet.

Just to give you an idea, this week on Twitter I've:

...discovered the top 12 social media stories this week
...followed people's comments on a controversial Prime Minister's Question Time
...learned how beautiful a Sussex morning can be
...promoted my eTips blog post
...discussed whether to attend an industry event
...laughed at a spoof 'ebook' promotion
...recommended a supplier to one of my contacts

But, I hear you saying, what about the question 'what's the business rationale for using Twitter?' More on that in a future post!

In the meantime I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on what you get out of Twitter, or, if you're not a Tweeter, what your perception of it is.

Tips for giving great presentations - part 2: Body language

In this follow up to part 1 about finding your presentation voice, here are some quick tips about non-verbal communication when talking to a group. The non-verbal element makes up 55% of the message received - so it's worth thinking about!

1. Unless you really have to use a lectern, don't. If you stand behind anything it's a barrier between you and the audience. They will feel you are either hiding from them or distancing yourself from them, when really you want to gain their trust and make them feel comfortable.


2. Make eye contact. If it's a small group, say, fewer than 20, there is no excuse for not looking everyone in the eye regularly. Go from person to person in a sweep, left to right, right to left. Try not to keep any one person's gaze for too long though.
   
   When you see an encouraging face it's tempting just to look at them, but don't! For a larger audience, make systematic sweeps of the room, front, middle, back and sides, still looking for eye contact however brief. Avoid the common mistake of fixing your look just above people's heads - that doesn't fool anyone and can be highly irritating!


3. Be still, be relaxed, own your stage presence. Try not to perpetually shift your weight from one leg to the other, or pace a couple of steps this way, then that, for no reason - these are very common mistakes people make, perhaps thinking that perpetual movement will somehow make their presentations livelier or more animated.
   
   In fact, a presenter who won't stand still can make the audience feel tired, distracted and irritated. It can become a subconscious habit - and you may need to video yourself to see whether you do it (or ask for honest feedback).


4. Eliminate mannerisms or nervous habits - fiddling with your hair or hands, for example. Again, it's hard to do this without feedback and awareness of the problem, and even experienced presenters can lapse at a tricky moment (I know!)

Sadly, if the non-verbal cues say one thing and your words say another, people will believe the non-verbal! Think about what the audience sees and feels as soon as you take the stage. You can influence that.

A word about nerves: If you're nervous, they're nervous. They want to feel safe with you, they want to trust you. While they're happy and comfortable they're on your side. So more about eliminating nerves in another post.

As always, I welcome your comments or suggestions... do you agree? What has worked for you?

Photo: Flyoverstate, Flickr

eTips: How to build a social web presence without it taking up all your time

The subject I get asked to speak about most these days is the social web. How does/should a business get involved? Does it work? How much time will it take up?

The last question usually comes after I've outlined the basics of social networking communities, photo & video sharing sites, how content is the currency of the social web, how Twitter is 'always on'... and so forth. Running a small business is already pretty full-on, and now we're expected to be blogging, Tweeting, reading, commenting and creating all day??

This month's eTips outlines a few ideas about how set aside time to build a social web presence without it taking over your life - it's something I'm still learning and I wish I had followed these tips myself about a year ago!

See the March edition of eTips here....

If you need a Web 2.0 user manual, you're showing your age

Have you ever wondered why so many gadgets come without user manuals? Careful - how you answer may betray your age!

My husband bought an iPod Touch about a month ago and is still figuring it out. It's the same with many Web 2.0 websites - there can be a level of assumed knowledge or understanding that may seem inpenetrable. Take a look at the Seesmic homepage, for example. What would your average man or woman in the street make of it?

Of course, you could argue that no-one reads user manuals anyway, they're famously boring and often your question isn't answered.

Some have even suggested that making things difficult to fathom is deliberate, in order to exclude... I recall a designer once handing me a business card which was almost illegible and laughingly remarking that the typeface was small because 'anyone who couldn't read it would probably be too old ...' ('...for us to want to work with' was hanging in the air.) OK, it was a joke, but perhaps not that far from the truth!

It's probably more likely that I'm just showing my age - unlike the Milennials, us older peeps grew up taking instructions and expecting a user manual. But for anyone under 30, it's about figuring stuff out, quickly seeing potential and doing your own thing - you choose how to use your gadgets, customise your profile pages, create your own content and methods. You ask your friends, discuss it on forums & blogs, exchange tips and re-write wikis.

It's one reason why there seem to be as many Twitter or Facebook experts as there are users, and why there are so many widgets, mashups and new apps being developed all the time. The sheer creativity is fantastic, I love it. But part of me also mourns the good old user manual.

I don't think that the younger generation is necessarily more able to grasp new technology or work with Web 2.0, they just have different expectations and different approaches. My 13 year-old stepson is just as bemused with his iPod Touch as my husband is with his, the difference is that not being able to refer to a manual doesn't frustrate him.

Is this trend a good thing - does it mean people are becoming more creative, better problem solvers, potentially better teachers, leaders and collaborators?