Marketing Director

Maturing at the Lectern: Confidence

photo by: @jeremylim
Confidence. The word itself is powerful and complex. The concept maybe even more so. It is said the greatest fear people have is public speaking. For others it's not only a fear, but a thrill, a joy, a privilege and a delight. Recently during a day of back-to-back speaking engagements I started to feel something more than at ease in front of the audience. I felt able and prepared to lead a learning exploration. To field their questions and prepared to go 'off track'. Most of all, I like the audience to be in control.

The following presentation was prepared as a Professional Development lunch and learn for a real estate development firm in Vancouver. The audience was great and the boardroom was packed full. The presentation has a Personal/Professional Development focus. This presentation was created from scratch specifically for this purpose.


Networked Social Opportunity


Earlier that day I had the opportunity to speak to Health Care Professionals at the Four Seasons Hotel in Vancouver during a health care Quality Forum as part of 'Health Care Social Media Camp'. This is the kind of work that I do upon request. The following presentation was designed to incorporate some older elements of my 'intro to social media' presentations. I also brought in a strong focus on health care with specific items around policy and a complete section of examples of implementations for health care in social communications...
Health Care Social Media Camp - Twitter Presentation

Standing in front of both audiences I felt an unusual sense of calm. Nervousness when speaking in front of people often drives my presentation energy. In these cases I felt confident that I could deliver on the expectations of the audience while allowing them to guide the presentations. Being prepared and knowing the audience ultimately helps lead to that confidence. It's different depending on what capacity one is speaking in and what kind of event it is. What do you find as an audience member? As a presenter?

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Google+ Copies Facebook: Or is it Us?





Besides having the heads positioned in an opposing fashion there is little to nothing that's different about these two profiles.

Similarities

  • The new 'banner' image is fully replicated.
  • Vitals directly below the profile pic.
  • The tabbed options look and function similarly but there are different.
  • Timeline style profile - industry standard.
  • Positioning of the top right settings and account menu - industry standard.
  • Position of logo on the top left - industry standard.
  • Position of search field: this is an industry standard.

Differences

  • Where Facebook has ads; Google+ has ominous white space.
  • Google+ has profile style tabs; Facebook integrates that into an extra row on the profile.
  • Google+ clearly displays the nav bar on the left hand side - industry standard.

Are we as humans that predictable that everything on the top of a web page should obey a certain order? Maybe, yes. Are we heading to a face off between these platforms? Yes. May other platforms out there be different and present differently? Yes. You be the judge of the majors by telling me - @kempedu - if you believe LinkedIn or Twitter are operating on the same user design principles for profile pages.


 



For me the most interesting contrast between all of these profiles is how they attempt to get new users to sign up. When I captured these shots I logged out. Facebook doesn't allow non-users to see my profile unless they login or sign-up. It's not hard to tell who understand that users are at the core of almost everywhere iteration of computing technology. The bottom line is...

Users Rule




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Research: Building on Shared Experience

Hand talking
Learning about your audience before you meet them and before you speak with them is key. Whether meeting your new girlfriend's parents for the first time; spending eight figure marketing budgets or beginning work for a new company this is where research becomes so important. Consider researching the past and the future of an organization, new in-laws or your next employer.

If you are delivering a presentation to a group it's best that you take the time to learn about them and learn as much as you can. Tailor your message for that group and understand them enough so that you can make the experience special for them and yourself. Also keep in mind that your assumptions may not be accurate. Gauge your audience before you begin. This can be done by tracking a #hashtag at an event, sitting in the audience listening to the chatter or meeting and mingling with people when possible.

I watched one of the internet's top speakers give a talk in Vancouver last year. It was sad to watch as they fell on their face with a poorly planned talk that meandered aimlessly and talked down to the audience. At one point the speaker said that it was best to dress like your audience. If you are under-dressed it looks like you don't respect your audience while if you are over dressed it can look as if you are superior to them. The funny part was that this speaker was under-dressed therefore insinuating that they didn't respect us. This speaker has one of the most powerful voices in the social web; yet misses connecting genuinely with their audience in real life.

For me connecting with your audience, understanding them and being able to change your presentation on the fly to move with them help guide presenters to effective public speaking. Recently I had the opportunity to present one of my main talks to students at Kwantlen University. This is an evolving talk that I've given three or four times now. When using material that's been presented before customization is essential.


Getting on the Bus: A Social Media Story (Student Edition)
more presentations from Kemp Edmonds
Online Marketing: Social Media in Higher Education
more presentations from Kemp Edmonds
I recently spoke with a higher educational institute in a particularly unusual position. They are a satellite of a much larger entity that is based in another country. They cater to a large number of students from outside of Canada and they have an amazing location with a solid educational programs.

The opportunity to give guidance and advice to organizations especially in education is something I enjoy. Social Media's disruptive power doesn't always blend well with the realities of 20th century  organizational structures. Researching what others are doing and what works in your vertical/industry is  key to understanding how social media campaigns and tactics can work for you. Change them, morph them and customize them to your organization to find the success that can only be found when turning our world upside down and enlisting our users to tell the stories we so desperately want prospective customers to hear. Wow them.

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