When you are on a stage…

By Rajesh Setty on Tue 19 Jan 2010, 12:10 AM – 4 Comments

Photo Courtesy: Michale on Flickr

How will you behave when you are on the stage?

You are typically nervous and you want to put on a good show. You are well prepared and you have rehearsed it a number of times and you know that your reputation is online. You know that people will make assessments about you and your capacity based on how you perform. You know that what you say is important and can make a difference in how they view you when you come on stage the next time.

So, in summary:

* You prepare well

* You are a bit nervous (generally, I am not talking about professional speakers who are speaking 200 times in a year)

* You care for your audience

* You give it your best shot and hope to exceed the expectations

* You are happy when you do a good job and get great reviews.

If you think about it, with all the social networks and social media, you are always on the stage. Just that you are not there physically in front of a crowd. But all other rules apply. The same risks and same opportunities exist as if you were there on a stage in-person.

However, you don’t give it the same importance as if you were on a “real” stage.

Why?

Simply because you don’t get a “visual” feedback about how the audience is receiving what you are sending. In “real life stage experience” if you are not interesting, all people can do is ignore you and focus on their Blackberry to take care of their things. You get a visual feedback on the interest level.

On social media, if you are not interesting, what do people do, they just click through to the next thing that is interesting. You can get some feedback on that based on how much time that they have spent on what you have shared. However, you don’t really get all the feedback as some of them may never come back and also don’t bother to say anything about how they were not “satisfied” with the return they are getting from spending time on what you have shared.

They are just gone. Vanished.

Actually, forget about social media. Let me take it to the next level. When you send your next email you are on a stage. The same rules apply there too.

So, the thing to remember is simply this:

Whatever you share and however you share it, there is a cost of consumption for the reader. If that cost is not justified, you are history – sooner than later.

Have a great day.

Related Articles:

• Ways to distinguish yourself #151 – Enroll people to provide progressive feedback
• Mini Saga #30 – The Opportunity
• The Three Stages of an Idea
• 2010 – The end of the fairy tale employment

Posted in the Main Page category.

If you enjoyed this article, Get Life Beyond Code delivered by email or subscribe using your Feed Reader and RSS