Last night I did something for the first time, I was asked to speak to the Pittsburgh chapter of American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) about social media. Strengthening Your Brand by Continuing the Conversation, was the topic of our conversation.
Let's say I was a little nervous, I don't do a lot of public speaking and it has always been something that I wasn't fully comfortable doing. I prepped and prepped for this talk and frankly felt pretty prepared (which admittedly was a new feeling for me LOL) I even had a few slides prepared with links to all of our favorite social media sites to help illustrate my talk. The group size was between 15-20 folks and included a good mix of newer vs seasoned members. This directly correlated with their previous social media knowledge.
I discussed how to integrate Facebook Fan Pages, Twitter and blogs into current routines and explained the strength of the social media conversation explaining how it will eventually lead to the goal of increasing sales, a topic that is very familiar to all small business owners.
The group was welcoming and engaging, they all asked great questions which helped tremendously. I also agreed to be recorded during my talk, two hour-long tapes later, I've now got raw footage and audio of my presentation which may or may not make it to my blog eventually. (Who and I kidding! It probably will - I just need to decide if it will be the full video or just the audio... maybe both....) I am also certain that my audio/video will be shared via ASMP and their social media outlets.
My comfort zone has now been expanded! I had such an enjoyable time talking to a group of folks who were eager to learn about something that I know quite a bit about. It was a very new feeling and one that I enjoyed! Can't wait to do this again.
5 comments:
I knew you would be great, Cara. Congrats! I felt so awkward when I first considered going to Blissdom as a new blogger (and because I wondered whether I would really stand out as a law professor). It rarely came up -- I met so many wonderful women with great stories and connections. It was totally worth it! So congrats for stepping out of your comfort zone -- I hope you'll have more chances to speak in the future!
Hollee -
Thanks for the comment and the well wishes! Means a lot!
Yay! The best is that you feel great about having done it and love the experience of sharing your expertise with others. Sounds like you are adding yet another hat to the many ones you already wear. Congratulations!
Congrats on the public speaking. I know the feeling of the nerves that you're talking about. That's good that you felt prepared.
I'm always glad to hear success stories like that. Public speaking is a great thing.
Thanks for the comment Bryan - I agree, it felt great to be prepared and that end in the end I had FUN!
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