Lesson 6 CIW Social Media Strategy

Wayne has been asked to present to a large international audience through live streaming. The audience will have access to a chat feature where they will be able to comment, ask questions and respond to prompts. What type of presentation will this be?

• Webinar

• Podcast

• Webcast

• Slide presentation

Answer explanation

The word webcast is a combination of the words "web" and "broadcast." A webcast is a live broadcast of a media file, such as a presentation or a video, to a large audience over the Internet. The media file is not saved to the audience member's computer or device. The content of a webcast is created by the producer and does not contain any user-generated content. But if social features are added to a webcast platform, the audience members can chat with each other and ask the broadcaster questions.

A Webcast may be distributed in either of two ways:

• Live streaming — The video is sent in real-time to the computer or device that the audience member is using to watch the broadcast. Live streams are often only available one time, but screen or stream recording software allows recording of the stream so the audience can re-watch it. Live streaming is similar to a news broadcast on television and does not include any media files.

• On demand — The media files are progressively streamed in segments to a computer or device when the audience member requests to view it. On-demand webcasts are often saved to a Web server where the audience can stream the files to their computer or device for extended periods of time.

Felix maintains the editorial calendar for the social-media writers. Next, he needs to estimate how long it takes to develop a post. He knows the standard number of images per post is two. What else should Felix include in his estimate?

• 48 hours for the team’s approval process.

• 24 hours for legal to review and approve.

• Average length and time to research and write a post.

• Four posts per day per writer and six posts per day per reviewer.

Answer explanation

Publishing consistently is key for increasing traffic and leads from your company blog, so you should define a blog schedule. The blog schedule is usually included in the social media editorial calendar. To create a schedule, you need to understand how long it takes to create each blog post. For example, you will want to consider the following and estimate the time needed for each task:

• Determining the average length of your posts and the time needed to research and write a post. A 1,000-word post may take three to four hours to research and write.

• Determining the number of images or graphics included with each post and if they will be original or from another source, such as a royalty-free stock provider.

In which presentation format does the main presenter take on a moderator role and ask questions and direct panelists when it is their turn to answer?

• Question and answer session

• Demonstration

• Panel discussion

• Interview

Answer explanation

Panel discussions are even more engaging than interviews because multiple experts or guests are questioned at the same time. If the panelists have different viewpoints about your topic, it provides the audience with the opportunity to think about both sides of an issue. For a panel discussion, the main presenter takes on a moderator role and facilitates the discussion. The moderator will ask questions and then direct the panelists when it is their turn to answer. The moderator must be able to keep the discussions civil and to reign in a conversation if it is getting out of hand. One difficulty with panel discussions is making sure that all the panelists have approximately equal time to answer questions directed at them. Also, it is important that all of the questions are not directed at a single panelist.

Sophie is coaching her team on how to present. She warns them about anxiety and suggests that the anxiousness can be managed. Which strategy could she share that would help with feeling nervous before a presentation?

• Prepare and rehearse your presentation.

• Keep your presentation spontaneous.

• Watch others give presentations and copy them.

• Practice relaxation exercises.

Answer explanation

It is natural to feel anxious or nervous before making a presentation. Many people who have given hundreds of presentations still feel nervous before a presentation. Being nervous is not a weakness. It is just something you need to manage. The most important thing you can do is prepare and rehearse your presentation. Rehearse by yourself and in front of colleagues or friends. The better you know your topic, what you are going to say, and how you are going to say it, the more it will lift your confidence and help reduce your anxiety. Also, by rehearsing in front of other people, you can get a feel for the types of questions your audience might ask and prepare your responses.

Edith got an urgent text from her manager. Some negative comments spiraled out of control on the company blog. Edith knows the moderator was out sick for two days. What should Edith have done to prevent this issue?

• Turned off the comments for the duration of the time the moderator was out sick.

• Had a backup moderator ready to step in so that comments were monitored every day.

• Posted a statement that the moderator is not available so please post only kind content.

• Taken the blog down for the rest of the week and brought it back up the following Monday.

Answer explanation

A blog that has comments enabled should be monitored every day for comments and feedback by the blog readers. A blog that is not monitored is often easy to spot because the comments will be overrun by spammers.

Elise attended a webinar where four experts talked and answered questions. A moderator kept the webinar on topic and ensured all experts had the chance to respond. She really liked this approach because different viewpoints were shared. What type of format is she referring to?

• Question and answer

• Demonstrations

• Interviews

• Panel discussion

Answer explanation

Panel discussions are even more engaging than interviews because multiple experts or guests are questioned at the same time. If the panelists have different viewpoints about your topic, it provides the audience with the opportunity to think about both sides of an issue.

For a panel discussion, the main presenter takes on a moderator role and facilitates the discussion. The moderator will ask questions and then direct the panelists when it is their turn to answer. The moderator must be able to keep the discussions civil and to reign in a conversation if it is getting out of hand. One difficulty with panel discussions is making sure that all the panelists have approximately equal time to answer questions directed at them. Also, it is important that all of the questions are not directed at a single panelist.

The Marketing Team is preparing a webcast to announce the company’s new software that will be released in nine months. The team wants the audience to provide feedback after the webcast through a survey. Which of the following is a clear objective for this goal?

• Ask the audience if they want 30-day access to the beta version.

• Offer an attendee 30-day access to the beta version when the survey is submitted.

• Post a link to the follow-up survey on social media and give access to the beta version.

• Email a link to the company’s customers with a link to the webcast follow-up survey.

Answer explanation

Once you know the general purpose of your presentation, you can start to set your objective. To do so, you need to answer three questions:

• Who is the person who needs to take action based on your presentation? This person could be a decision-maker or the person with the least knowledge about your topic. Be as specific as possible when you describe this person. As you create your presentation, you need to consider if this person will understand the content, whether your presentation will convince this person and whether this person will be motivated to act?

• What do you want the person to do? Clearly spell out the action you want the person to perform. The more specific you are about what you want, the easier it will be to write your presentation.

• Why will the person benefit by performing the action? Different people have different motivations, interests, and values that they consider when deciding what they get out of your presentation. If your presentation does not answer what benefit the audience will get, they will tune out.

In this scenario, your presentation needs to meet the expectations of the current customer with a mid-sized portfolio. You need to justify why the recurring set fees will benefit the customer and why the reduced time spent on the account will not impact the portfolio's growth. If you can do both and your current customers flock to sign up for the new service bundle, then your presentation was a success. If the customer does not understand the value of the service to them, then your presentation did not meet its objective.

Sherry plans to ask questions of her audience during her presentation. The chat room will allow audience members to respond to Sherry’s questions, ask questions back and respond to other audience questions. If done well, which of the following will be the best outcome of this approach?

• The audience will not check out or leave the presentation partway through.

• The audience will have a deeper and clearer understanding of the presentation topic.

• The audience will be willing to fill out a feedback survey and win a prize.

• The audience will not become distracted and get on social media or email.

Answer explanation

Question-and-answer sessions are interactive presentations. The presenter will often deliver some content and then ask questions about the content. The audience members participate fully by asking questions and sometimes providing their own solutions to questions other audience members ask. If done well, your audience members will gain a better understanding of the topic, because they will be fully engaged in the conversation. Also, allowing audience members to ask questions can be a great source of information for your company. You can find out what the audience thinks and feels is important or what their limits are. Question-and-answer presentations can be a very difficult format to do well. You must have a good understanding of your audience so that you can be prepared for a wide variety of questions. Also, if the audience does not ask questions, it can be awkward. Be prepared to start the conversation by flipping the format and questioning the audience.

Wayne has been asked to present to a large international audience through live streaming. The audience will have access to a chat feature where they will be able to comment, ask questions and respond to prompts. What type of presentation will this be?

• Webcast

• 
  

  Webinar

• Podcast

• Slide presentation

Answer explanation

The word webcast is a combination of the words "web" and "broadcast." A webcast is a live broadcast of a media file, such as a presentation or a video, to a large audience over the Internet. The media file is not saved to the audience member's computer or device. The content of a webcast is created by the producer and does not contain any user-generated content. But if social features are added to a webcast platform, the audience members can chat with each other and ask the broadcaster questions.

A Webcast may be distributed in either of two ways:

• Live streaming — The video is sent in real-time to the computer or device that the audience member is using to watch the broadcast. Live streams are often only available one time, but screen or stream recording software allows recording of the stream so the audience can re-watch it. Live streaming is similar to a news broadcast on television and does not include any media files.

• On demand — The media files are progressively streamed in segments to a computer or device when the audience member requests to view it. On-demand webcasts are often saved to a Web server where the audience can stream the files to their computer or device for extended periods of time.

Iris asked her coworker for some tips to consider when writing blog posts. Which of the following would be a good tip to share?

• Only write about topics that are not related to your business.

• Write content that will provide your audiences with value.

• Focus on several topics in each blog entry.

• Use general, predictable headlines for each blog.

Answer explanation

Here are some tips to consider when you are writing your blog posts:

• Create a profile for each blogger who will be writing blog posts.

• Focus on one topic per blog entry.

• Create attention-grabbing headlines.

• Write content that you think will provide value to your audiences.

• Write about topics that are relevant to your business.

• Write as if you are someone in your target audience.

• Use short and concise sentences.

• Do not use clipart or poor-quality imagery.

• Check your blog entry for spelling and grammar mistakes and correct them before posting it.

• Post blogs on a regular basis.

• Employ referential writing — include links to other sites and blogs.