How to Live Tweet from a Technical Talk

Ten top tips for tweeting from specialist or technical events outside of your area of expertise.

Transcript

1. How to live tweet from a technical talk ! @eventamplifier
2. Prepare Read the session description and research any key terminology Make sure you prepare any logistical or introductory tweets in advance so you can concentrate on the opening of the talk Follow the speaker on Twitter to get a feel for their style
3. Keep the speaker’s website open in your browser The speaker’s blog or website is the best place to find the correct spelling for jargon terms and links to relevant materials they may mention in their presentation
4. Exploit the slides Bullet points and slide headings are particularly useful for tweets Always sit near the front so you can tweet photos of any complex diagrams or illustrations
5. Focus on the ‘normal’ language Focus on the ordinary, everyday language between the jargon. If you understand how the jargon term behaves as a word within a sentence and how it connects to other ideas, you don’t need to know its meaning in detail to construct a convincing tweet.
6. Read other people’s tweets Watch the event hashtag throughout the talk, as other delegates may rephrase a statement or tweet a response in a way that makes the meaning more obvious to you
7. Listen for key point flags Listen out for phrases that suggest the speaker is about to make an important point, e.g. “The key thing to remember is…” Try to capture these points verbatim, then edit down into tweet-sized chunks
8. Search and share If the speaker references an article, comic strip or other online resource, search for the link and share it
9. Provide a narrative for demos If the speaker is demonstrating software, use photos and explain what they are doing to provide a narrative If you know in advance that there will be a demo, ask the speaker if you can Periscope it
10. Talk to other delegates during lunch breaks Talk to other delegates about their views and the challenges they face in their own work This can give you more context and help you to understand the issues that are important to your audience
11. Don’t try to capture everything A live Twitter commentary shouldn’t include every single statement uttered by the speaker Aim for quality over quantity so your tweets are really useful to the audience
12. Find out more at eventamplifier.com