Source: SAP Web 2.0

I participated in a webinar this past week, the topic was “Managing Social Media Campaigns”. Before the speakers began the moderator conducted a poll of the audience. The question was “What is the current social media usage in your business.” The audience was given a multiple choice answer like this;

a) not at all
b) some social media
c) using 3 or more social media tools

Now I had never seen a moderator conduct a poll before a presentation, but what was unusual was that the audience was asked to use Twitter to provide their responses. Using the hashtag #thiswebinar, the audience then tweeted  their answers. Using the powerpoint presentation, the moderator could instantly gauge the audiences experience and share with the speakers. The information was then gathered and displayed within the presentation so that everyone could see the results of the poll.

This was a webinar presentation unlike anything I had ever experienced before. Are we not used to a one-sided presentation, the speaker talks and everyone listens? No engagement, no connection.

The integration of social media turned the presentation automatically into a conversation. Taking a poll at the start of the presentation was great information for the speakers to know their audience. It also set the tone of the presentation by involving the audience, and fostering particiaption.

Fostering participation has always been a challenge in a traditional presentation. Not in this presentation. The audience were also encouraged to tweet their questions for the speakers. The questions then formed the Q&A period, which was lively and conversational. There was no waiting, or the awkward silence when no one in the audience speaks.

This was one of the most interactive and engaging webinars I have ever been a part of.  The speakers really enjoyed it, especially in the webinar environment when you do not see your audience, and the audience had fun with tweeting and they became very engaged.

Do you want to make your presentations more interactive? Looking for a way to include social media tools that move your one-way presentation into a two-way conversation? Now you can have the Web 2.0 experience in your PowerPoint presentations. SAP has created a PowerPoint Twitter Tool that embeds directly within your presentations real-time tweets from your audience.  The tweets display either as a ticker or refreshable comment page. Now your Q&A period becomes engaging and conversational. The PowerPoint Twitter Tools offers six Twitter elements:

- PowerPoint Twitter feedback slide
- PowerPoint Twitter ticker bar
- PowerPoint Twitter update bar
- PowerPoint Twitter voting — bar charts and pie chart
- PowerPoint Mood meter
- PowerPoint Crowd meter

This FREE PowerPoint Twitter Tool requires only PowerPoint for Windows and Adobe Flash to run.

You can get details, see more screenshots, and get the download to try out the tool by heading over to the blog SAP Web 2.0.

More on Presentations and Social Media

How Speakers Should Integrate Social Into Their Presentation
Twitter-heckled Key Note Speaker

I would love to hear from you. What do you think of Powerpoint presentations using Twitter? Do you think this is a good idea? Or not?