Since 1982 I have been among the pioneers in new meeting technology (from 50 slide projectors on one screen to live broadcast quality seminars and MeetingNet Interactive Media (now OptionTechnologies). We embrace the use of new technology in our client's successful meetings. Call me to discuss how to use Twitter in your next event.

Today I attended a webinar hosted by Cliff Atkinson, author of The Backchannel, A Presenter's Nightmare, or a Dream Come True? Cliff is the very successful author of Beyond Bullet Points.

Ready or not, the backchannel has arrived! Armed with laptops and smartphones, audiences are no longer sitting quietly while speakers are talking – instead they’re using Twitter and other tools to create a backchannel where they chat with one another, make comments about your presentation and broadcast their thoughts to people all over the world.

If audiences are happy, the backchannel can spread your ideas far and wide, create buzz about your ideas and keep a conversation going long after you left the podium. But if audiences are unhappy, the backchannel can criticize your ideas and delivery, disrupt your talk and even derail your presentation completely.

So is the backchannel yet another thing to fear when you give your next presentation? Or a great opportunity to really know what your audience is thinking?

I continue researching the various ways to use social media in meetings.

Ray Franklin

Stage America

702-879-8177