Delivering quality presentations will always be a challenge, but organizations should do a better job preparing their speakers, says Dave Lutz, managing director of Velvet Chainsaw.

Several strategies can help you ensure a proficient performance from your presenters. Session-planning calls can be the most effective way to prepare speakers, Lutz says, and they should be about more than logistics. Use them to assess the presenter’s commitment to delivering a quality session, understanding the audience, and making the content relevant or provocative.

Organizations could also beef up their speaker portals and provide resources that will help presenters improve.

“Curate or create short videos or links to resources that cover such topics as writing winning session proposals, PowerPoint and image best practices, copyrights do’s and don’ts, attracting attendance to your session, livestreaming presentation tips, and incorporating audience response systems,” Lutz says.

He notes that the preparation process should vary depending on each speaker’s experience. “For your most trusted presenters, you may have a brief conference call and be soft on deadlines. Conversely, rookie speakers would require that you schedule several calls and be more of a stickler on deadlines.”

Responding to Your Social Mentions

When creating a #socialmedia strategy, there are two things you should focus on:
☝️ How you’re talking to your customers
✌️ How you’re getting them to respondhttps://t.co/O9u9M5aVpG

— Sprout Social (@SproutSocial) January 14, 2020

Audience engagement is a key social media strategy. That includes knowing how to respond to any mention of your organization on social channels, writes digital marketing manager Chloe West for the Sprout Social blog.

“Each time you find a mention of your business on social media, you should make an effort to respond to it. You’ll have an opportunity to interact with people who are already aware of and interested in your brand,” West says.

Whether the mention is positive or negative, it’s important to respond quickly and positively.

“Even if the person mentioning your brand is extremely unhappy, always manage to stay positive and reassure them that you’re going to do whatever you can to make things right for them,” West says.

Other Links of Note

Do your volunteers have little to do? Andrea Holthouser breaks down how to offer more opportunities on the Network for Good blog.

SEO tips. H1 tags aren’t as important as you might think, says Levi Wardell in Association Chat.

Marketing automation. Nonprofits should be leveraging new technology to reach out to their communities, argues Kingsley Allen in Blue Avocado.

(Mikolette/iStock/Getty Images Plus)