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Here are my two cents about events, in-person and virtual. - Please, no fake influencers. If you give off the vibe that you are selling something or promoting

Here are my two cents about events, in-person and virtual. - Please, no fake influencers. If you give off the vibe that you are selling something or promoting yourself, I have already turned off or logged off. - Emphasize the message. No long introductions. What is it you are telling me? I am here for the earth shattering message you said you were going to tell me. Fill in the details later. - Your monologue should be finished in 20 minutes. The interesting part is the Q&A. Be prepared for the Q&A. Yes, the audience will ask stupid questions because we didn't get what you were telling us. Repeat your message ad nauseum until we get the point. - Wrap up and give us an email so we can contact you.

mgbmtl 4y ago
I'm a big fan of Q&A, but I really hate conferences where Q&A is where people go and promote themselves or their project (or fake-influencers, as you say). "I work on X (usually with a 10 min intro) and would really love hearing your thoughts on our project/product" Discouraging self-promotion goes a long way (besides saying "I work at X")
- celestialcheese 4y ago
  100% agreed. It's noticeable and wonderful when there's enforced "No Self Promotion" clauses with conferences or talks. Improves the quality of questions and discussions immensely by giving space for people with real questions.
- karmaniverous 4y ago
  I’m the author. We solved that problem by giving every intro a VERY tight time constraint, 2 min I think. I’d make ‘em stay inside those lines, but then I would also find an interesting point in their speil & ask a leading question to draw them out for another minute. So nobody drones on and you maintain control of the format, but everybody still feels like they got to say their piece in front of an interested audience. Oh also: there was often a previous attendee on the call with a similar or complementary story. So I would often make that intro right there and use the opportunity to get a quick update from that person. It made for a really organic flow and the sound bites were short enough that nobody got to be boring for long. Not even me. :)

mgbmtl 4y ago

I'm a big fan of Q&A, but I really hate conferences where Q&A is where people go and promote themselves or their project (or fake-influencers, as you say). "I work on X (usually with a 10 min intro) and would really love hearing your thoughts on our project/product" Discouraging self-promotion goes a long way (besides saying "I work at X")

celestialcheese 4y ago
100% agreed. It's noticeable and wonderful when there's enforced "No Self Promotion" clauses with conferences or talks. Improves the quality of questions and discussions immensely by giving space for people with real questions.
karmaniverous 4y ago
I’m the author. We solved that problem by giving every intro a VERY tight time constraint, 2 min I think. I’d make ‘em stay inside those lines, but then I would also find an interesting point in their speil & ask a leading question to draw them out for another minute. So nobody drones on and you maintain control of the format, but everybody still feels like they got to say their piece in front of an interested audience. Oh also: there was often a previous attendee on the call with a similar or complementary story. So I would often make that intro right there and use the opportunity to get a quick update from that person. It made for a really organic flow and the sound bites were short enough that nobody got to be boring for long. Not even me. :)