Keep the Phones On During My Programs!

A new phenomenon is happening in speakers' audiences -- people texting instant word of mouth marketing and commentary while the program is going on! I heard about one technology speaker chastising people from the platform for leaving their mobile phones on and for opening computers during his session. How do I know this? Because people in the audience were twittering about it as he said it, and I got to read it 3000 miles away. They were not happy about his comments. Instant word of mouth. Are you ready for that type of bold scrutiny?

Being a speaker, I am used to hearing the formulaic pre-program announcement requesting all audience members to turn off phones and laptops. Today that request is expecting too much of people and many people will just not adhere to the request. Why? Because this is how we communicate in today's world. We need to start using this type of technology to our advantage; don't try to take it away from them.

Keep the phones on! Laptops too.

This past weekend I spoke at an international conference and on my opening slide (you know the one with the program title that stays on the screen as everyone is walking in) I posted my phone number and asked my audience to text questions to me during my program if they so desired. I listed my facebook url, my twitter url, my blog url and my website address and asked them to "Friend me up" while waiting for me to get started or after my program if it met with their approval. Don't fight technology -- embrace it, use it, incorporate it.

Forget the evaluations

Paper evaluations at the end of a program are so old school. Not to mention they have to be tallied, sorted and distributed to the speakers. Just set up a #(hash) page on twitter and let people provide the instant feedback as it happens. For example, let's say I set up the page #ARARussell (the conference and my name) on twitter. Anyone in my audience could give me instant feedback on what they learned and what they liked and what they didn't think I did well. Instantly! This can be accessed and updated instantly by phone text or laptop. There is one form of evaluation that needs no tally. It's there in raw form: open communication and quick access.

The Migration

Another form of evaluation that is the newest trend in conference audiences is the "Text Migration" effect. I was one of 5 concurrent programs at this conference. When I started, my room was full and the largest audience of the five, but as my program progressed, it grew to standing room only. I later was told by a number of my audience members their friends had texted them from other sessions to see how my session was going and based on that instant review they left the other sessions and came to mine. That is a serious evaluation for all the speakers.

Expect this trend to continue. In the first 15 minutes of a program the speaker needs to "lock in his audience" or they will migrate to the program that is totally making the most of the opportunity.

Allow audiences members to stay connected. Allow them to use the technology they love to use and incorporated it into your program.