At the end of this post, you’ll find the topics for tonight’s #shehechat over on Twitter at 8 p.m. CST. Before we get to those, I’m going to share some thoughts on why I’m so excited that Shelby and I are taking “She Said, He Said” to the next level by doing a live version of our social media debate.
Public Speaking Needs To Change
If you attend conferences, you know that for the most part there are two types of sessions. First, we have the big (and not so big) name talking heads who come out and do their presentation. Some are great, energetic, entertaining and informative and some … not so much. In either case, it’s one person’s perspective and point of view for the duration of the presentation.
On the other side of the coin, there are panels of experts. Three or four sit before you in the room and pontificate on all things in which they have expertise. So several egos and knowledge bases end up being jammed into a one-hour session. Sometimes, I see who is on a panel and get all excited to go participate. It seldom works out well. Oftentimes, the moderator decides it’s really their session and doesn’t even utilize or call on all the expertise assembled.
I’ve had the opportunity to speak in both formats. Both work sometimes and I’ve enjoyed just about every opportunity I’ve had to speak. At the same time, as an audience member, I’ve been wondering if we can’t do something a little different to raise the entertainment level while still providing current and pertinent information to the audience.
The Birth of She Said, He Said Live
Debate is not a new style of presentation, nor is standup improv comedy. “She Said, He Said” Live is the intersection of those two formats. For an hour, my partner in crime, Shelby Sapusek, and I will tackle topics related to blogging, social media and WordPress. We have a list of 10 topics to pick from but no predetermined plan as to which topics will be used in which order.
The session will start with Shelby throwing a topic out for my opinion. When I’m done, she’ll respond with her opinion and more than likely give a little funny jab at my opinion. We’ll throw topics back and forth at each other and involve the audience as much as we can and as much as they desire to be involved.
This will not be a canned presentation. There are exactly four PowerPoint slides that we will use to introduce us and give the history of and the concept behind “She Said He Said” Live. We’ll both be speaking extemporaneously while throwing in lots of good-natured, off-the-cuff jabs at each other. Don’t worry. We get along off stage and actually carry on like this quite often in our day-to-day dealings with each other.
Come join us at WordCamp Chicago if you can. If you can’t, hopefully we’ll see you soon at a future speaking engagement. You can contact us about booking “She Said, He Said” Live! for your event.
Tonight’s #shehechat topics:
By the way we are going to be Ustreaming again tonight and you can watch it here live.
1. Integrating Google Plus onto your blog or website
2. What’s your favorite WordPress plugin and why?
3. Is Twitter’s 140 characters limiting conversation?
Updates on #shehechat
- “She Said, He Said” has its own page on this site now. You can check it out here.
- We are taking “She Said, He Said” live onstage at WordCamp Chicago on July 30.
- Read some of our past “She Said, He Said” blog posts here.