Back in late September we announced Lava Row Camp (a recurring series of monthly educational social media seminars).

After our first event we decided to re-tool the format in order to make it more accessible to more people — we’re moving the event time from the noon hour to 5:00pm, shortening the overall content to allow for more Q&A and interaction, waiving ticket fees and (here’s the best news) incorporating cocktails!

For the next installment of Lava Row Camp, we’re ditching the 101 slides and focusing on what’s next for the future of social media marketing and business. Some of the topics we’ll cover are:

• Augmented Reality (AR)
• Location-based social networks like Foursquare and Gowalla, and the implications for marketing local businesses.
• Facebook’s recent changes to the News Feed (and Live Feed) and what this means for your business pages.
• Twitter Lists and how they will fundamentally change the Twittersphere (for the better).
• How Facebook Connect and Google SideWiki will forever change the corporate website.

So please join us at the Des Moines Social Club at 5:00pm on Wednesday, November 4th. Cocktails and networking start promptly at 5:00 and then we begin the discussion at 5:30. Be sure to bring your opinions and questions, as we want your insights to be a big part of the conversation. We’ll have a handful of drink tickets on hand for the first people to arrive — but they won’t last long!

The Technology Association of Iowa has graciously stepped in to help support these events, and we can’t thank them enough. Please RSVP for the event below, or you can just click here. We’re still in the process of assembling the presentation, so if there’s a topic you’d like us to cover, just contact us or leave a comment below. See you next Wednesday!

Photo credit: moriza via flickr

Photo credit: Terry Anderson Photography

Two years ago, public speaking isn’t something I imagined doing a lot of in my career, or even enjoying. Fast forward to today, and in fact quite the opposite has happened: I do a significant amount of it and I actually look forward to each and every engagement.

For those who are considering getting more active with public speaking, or maybe even thrust into a situation where it’s required of you, I wanted to create a post that serves as a guide for getting comfortable, getting better, and getting more gigs. Let’s get started.

Do it for free for one year.

This exact bit of advice was given to me by Drew McLellan when I was just starting out. I stuck to this motto and accepted every opportunity thrown my way – large and small. This kept me highly visible and I slowly built up a reputation network, a few connections here, a few references there, and so on. Today, public speaking is one of our services and makes up a significant percentage of our revenue. If compensation is your end goal, remember that you need to earn it first. Nobody invites you to speak and hands you money just because. If you do a good job, word will spread, and opportunities will come your way.

(Oh yeah, it’s cool to keep taking free gigs. Often times high exposure will beat a paycheck. You get to build your own filter.)

Learn from others.

I recently attended BlogWorld Expo 2009, and while the content was excellent, I learned just as much about speaking styles (and improving my own) by studying some of the individual speakers. Jeremiah Owyang‘s solo session taught me how to keep focused on connecting with the audience and their needs, putting less reliance on slides. Patrick O’Keefe demonstrated an amazing ability to lead an efficient panel discussion and keep each panelist on task and topic. (Not an easy task when Robert Scoble is one of the participants and wants to show off Twitter Lists!)

Go out and observe other speakers. Figure out what they’re doing right, what they’re doing wrong, and how you can adapt some of what you learn into your own presentations.

Prepare for questions.

Honestly, Hillary and I spend more time preparing for (and trying to anticipate) tough questions than we do buttoning-up the presentation itself. If you can’t answer your audience’s questions, chances are likely you won’t be getting many more speaking opportunities. Think ahead about their specific challenges and fears, and try to predict them. Have case studies in the hopper and be flexible. (This gets easier and comes more naturally over time.) Remember, they’re looking to you as the expert, so be ready to step up.

Be ready to adjust on the fly.

Despite all the time and effort you put into preparing for a speaking engagement, the needs of your audience may not fit into the exact framework you assembled. For example, let’s say you’re giving a Social Media 101 presentation, and multiple audience members really don’t get the benefits of having a LinkedIn account, and they want you to help them dig deeper. Be ready for this. You’ll also need to stay aware of how much time is left and what to skip over. Always come prepared with more ammunition and inventory than you think you’ll need.

Meet as many people as you can.

This one’s a no-brainer. Call it old-school social networking. Get to know the people who run conferences and professional organizations. The more people who know about you, the better. I recently spoke at the MIMA Summit but made a point to get to know Jennifer Kane (a major decision-maker). Ideally, this will help me get invited back next year.

Give them proof.

If you want to seek out bigger speaking opportunities, you’re going to need proof that you’re good at what you do. Document your speaking gigs with video, photos and share your presentations on Slideshare. I’ve organized all of my material, plus some references, on a speaking page that I often refer people to. I patterned my page after Chris Brogan’s, which is awesome. This gives anyone thinking about hiring you an idea of what to expect.

Create opportunities for others.

My very first speaking opportunity was actually handed to me by Mike Sansone, who had a conflict and couldn’t make it. Along the way, you’ll come across gigs that aren’t a good fit or just don’t jive with your schedule. This is your chance to recommend someone else – maybe somebody who is just getting started but knows their stuff. This is good karma. Use it!

Be entertaining.

Don’t take yourself too seriously. Even if you’re the most knowledgeable person on the topic, you can easily bore a room to death if you don’t show any personality. Make fun of yourself. Tell a funny story. This will help you make an instant connection with the audience. You’re there to inform, but you can also entertain.

Wrapping up

So, there you have it. Mr. Brogan and Owyang also have a ton of smart, insightful things to say on this topic, some of which overlap with mine. I’d encourage you to read those posts, as well.

What are your suggestions and tips on how to get started? What’s worked for you? What hasn’t? I’d love to hear your thoughts below.

Last week the Lava Row crew traveled to Indianapolis for the 2009 National FFA Convention (a first for myself and Hillary). We were assisting our client, Cargill Animal Nutrition, with their on-site social technology needs. The FFA Convention is absolutely huge – the last numbers we heard were just under 50,000 in attendance. That’s a lot of blue corduroy jackets! Below are some video highlights that we pulled together, which gives you a better idea of what we were up to.

We also got to meet John Blue of Truffle Media Networks, who has been involved in social media in the agriculture industry years before the term ‘social media’ even existed.

Readers: Were any of you in FFA? How did it shape your leadership skills and values growing up?

BlogWorld Expo 2009 took place in Las Vegas this past weekend, and I stopped by the U.S. Army booth to chat with MAJ Mary Constantino about how the organization uses social media for their communication and career recruitment efforts. One specific platform they’ve launched is ArmyStrongStories.com, a social network that offers unfiltered conversations between soldiers and the public.

Today I’m off to BlogWorld Expo in Las Vegas. There are three people that I absolutely have to meet: Brian Solis, Sarah Evans and Amanda Rose.

Are you at BlogWorld this weekend? Be sure to look me up and say hello!

HARO (Help A Reporter Out) is a fantastic service from Peter Shankman that summarizes / categorizes reporters looking for story leads and sources. It comes to you three times a day (morning, noon, and late afternoon) via email. Here at Lava Row, we’ve used this service to get press for our clients (and ourselves) in mainstream media. Because we get so buried in our work, it also helps us know what time it is, as noted in the video below:

Are you signed up for HARO alerts yet? Leave your success stories in the comments below. If you aren’t subscribed to the service, you can do so here.

I’m working on a lengthy blog post about how to get serious about becoming a professional speaker, but in the meantime, here’s a quick tip for those of you who frequently put on presentations:

Has this ever happened to you? Be sure to share your story below.