Speakers: How to Make Your Presentation Go Viral

Get It In Writing

Every presenter wants social proof that they’ve been there and done that—the ability to tell an audience, I spoke at..., will naturally vet a speaker. It’s your way of saying, I told you so, in the speaker world. The best way for one to accomplish such a task, is by incorporating a social media campaign within your presentation. You say, but Ebony, what do you mean? I mean, give your audience a branded hashtag to use when posting a tweet of their aha moments, during Q&A (AMA—Ask Me Anything), or posting that photo of you during meet and greet.

Here’s my top 5 reasons why you want a branded hashtag when speaking at a conference or presenting:

1. It proves you were in the room

1. You asked for a testimonial without asking for it

1. You let other’s who couldn’t be in the room, experience your genius

1. You make other brands, companies, and conferences book you, because of your juicy content

1. You gain social proof of your interaction with the audience

Best Practices

It’s always a good practice to ask the conference organizer or company you are working with, if they have a conference specific hashtag or not. If so, you’ll want to encourage the audience to use it, in conjunction with your branded hashtag. For example, if I’m speaking at the #UnapologeticCulture Conference, I would remind the audience to use the hashtag throughout the day and my #BrandMeEbony hashtag during my presentation. This does two things:

1. Shows support for the organization and that I believe in their cause

1. Tells my virtual audience that I’m working, hire me, and look what you missed

Be sure to put your branded hashtag on your powerpoint slides too—treat it like a copyright so that the repetition sinks into your audiences hard drive. The more they see it, the more they will be inclined to use it. Also, make sure the conference organizer is okay with the audience’s social information sharing. Some conferences are confidential and open to a membership base. In this instance, the information you share is exclusive to this group of people, and not for public use. You’ll need to ask this when booking the opportunity. For some, this is viewed as a deal breaker. Here’s my workaround:

1. Take photos with conference attendees (group photos are good too) after the conference or presentation concludes

1. Take a photo of you getting ready in the morning, with a caption, Top Secret: prepping for an awesome day of speaking. Stay Tuned. #BrandMeEbony

1. Take a photo of you entering the building, with briefcase or laptop in hand. Use the caption, Shhhhh...speech in progress.

1. Do video clips of you walking to the venue, sitting in the boardroom (without any signage or logos). Use the caption, Great things are happening - so top secret, I can’t share all the details.

1. Take a photo of you holding the mic, with the program next to you (blur the logo), and use your hashtag.

BONUS: It’s always a good idea to take a photo with celebrities in the room, tag them in your post/tweet, and use the conference hashtag. You will pick up new followers because they’ll repost and retweet like crazy. They love seeing behind the scenes happenings of their favorite celeb, and you just granted them access.

I wish you viral success. Be sure to post your thoughts about this article, by using #BrandMeGlobal. I’ll be sure to repost and retweet.

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