Ok, so here goes! I’m declaring it right now….I’m sick to the back teeth of the countless poor quality social media presentations and seminars out there!
Why? Well, before you read on, I know I’m going to ‘rattle a few cages’. Let me first state that this is not deliberate nor some sort of game. After all it’s about you and your business and should never be about the presenter nor event itself.
Social Media seems to be all the rage at the moment and many networking and business organisations are keen to get in on the act by inviting Speakers to present. Ever wondered why? Something to do with footfall perhaps? 
I get many requests to present and it may surprise you that I actually turn many down – even some quite lucrative offers from certain organisations to do so. The primary reason is because many organisers are simply jumping on the bandwagon. They fail to tell me what they themselves are trying to achieve. I’ve seen this happen in the dotcom boom (and bust!) first hand and this “jumping” thing ain’t for me! Frankly, I have better things to do – serve my customers.
Now here’s the ‘kicker’ – I recently attended a seminar where a well known Social Media presenter, well, “presented”. No names mentioned as there’s nothing personal in this – we all have our own style and levels of knowledge. However, for me, it was the ‘straw that broke the camel’s back’.
What I can tell you is, he should have known better and, quite frankly, I was astounded! The fact that he claims to present 15 times a month concerns me…especially if the quality of his presentation was anything like what I endured first hand!
So, in my opinion, these are the key points as to why his and so many totally miss the mark:
They “talk” to the audience. What I mean by this is, social media is about engagement. Many don’t engage their audience and simply ‘present’ to them. (Mostly one way traffic!)
Lack of originality. Most are simply regurgitating what they heard elsewhere and what they read from ‘experts’ via mediums like blogs, twitter, other seminars, etc. It was so apparent to me that the last guy I heard was blatantly rehashing stats and comments that may be easily found elsewhere if you care to look. (Like many other presenters, the credits as to where he obtained his stats and news from are missed off!) I know, as I’m in the industry and can quickly spot where many are derived from. Now, there’s nothing wrong with replication, however, come on presenters, where’s your original input? Definite bandwagon jumping there….and from a guy who claims to have extensive e-business experience! Perhaps he (and others) are simply “too busy” to prepare for their audience?
Confusing messages. Some presenters have cobbled together their slides, they even contradict themselves during their presentations without even noticing!! One or two have been publicly caught out, however, sadly, most have gotten away with it!
Too much content!! Why oh why do the majority cram so much content that they lose the audience? Well, perhaps you’d better ask them but I have a theory! Maybe they’re trying to look clever in your eyes? The one I recently attended even tried to cover Klout and ”Empire Avenue” to an audience he didn’t properly qualify. For goodness sake, the vast majority of the audience were trying to get to grips with the main social networks like LinkedIn! In my opinion, social networks like Klout and Empire Avenue are for social networking nerds who have nothing better to do than stroke their own egos!! I know because, as a Social Networking Professional, I have given them a go to ensure I’m qualified to share my opinions to my network.
These are simply my main reasons. Do share if you have any you wish to add.
What I tell my network when I present, coach and carry out strategic Workshops, is think of the old expressions and apply them to your thinking when strategising your social networking for business. For example: “Less is more.” That’s probably one of the best known but true marketing phrases around. Apply it and you’re well on your way!
Before you consider embarking or even continuing your social networking activity, strategise first! Ask yourself what you wish to achieve and by when. Learn not just from those in the social networking profession, however also from your peers. Yes, your peers! This is because you can learn from the mistakes they have made and, as a result, they will have some fabulous down-to-earth tips and not bombard you with endless stats and figures to try to impress you. Believe-you-me, I too have a number of mistakes a long the way, however, the key thing is to pick oneself up, re-strategise and move on! 
I hope you’ve found this useful. Yes, I did want to get my deep concerns about what’s going on out there off my chest. Not to gloat, but to try to protect the industry I so love and enjoy that’s, sadly, being tarnished by some who should know better!
A final tip for now: If you hear these so called social media ‘experts’ (or even ‘Gurus!’) preach that you should be on A, B or C social network, what I advise here is you should ask them one thing. >> “Why?” << If their answer does not include any mention of your business and your customers….run, and ŗųŋ ƒąşţ!!
John Coupland is the owner of @networkerplus Social Media Please hit the share buttons so others may be weary of ’those’ presentations! Thanks in advance! ツ
http://www.twitter.com/networkerplus If you feel it high time you attend a 121 coaching session or even Workshop that WILL “Do!” feel free to follow me on twitter or simply get in touch. I’d be happy to help you make a ḋḭḟḟḕṙḕṅḉḕ! ツ
Gloat, John? I’m not sure you are so much better than those you criticise: where’s your originality?
Of course, there are snake oil salesmen out there — as there are with any goldrush or time of change.
Give SMEs and marketing teams some credit: they can spot social media imposters a distance away. Just check these people’s own social media presence and activity.
The challenge is content, not technical knowledge. And that’s another ball game. Most social media ‘experts’ are playing softball when they should be playing test cricket.
I design and hold training seminars on internet safety and I have to agree. I work WITH my audience to facilitate learning, as opposed to “talking at them” and find that retention rates are far higher than on “wordy” courses.
” If you hear these so called social media ‘experts’ (or even ‘Gurus!’) preach that you should be on A, B or C social network, what I advise here is you should ask them one thing. >> “Why?” << If their answer does not include any mention of your business and your customers….run, and ŗųŋ ƒąşţ!!"
Completely agree.
Backed up with "If they tell you that your Klout score is going to be the be all and end all of social media (or that you'll never be employed or taken on as a freelancer without a Klout score over X" ask for your money back, THEN run
Thanks for your comments so far.
Jeremy – Always happy to keep a happy ‘balance’ as these are merely my views and I don’t expect everyone to agree with me which is why I have, of course, displayed your comments. It’s interesting you chose to question my own originality though as I don’t recall having ever met you!
I have an “online stalking guru” the majority of my blog content ends up on her presentations passed off as her own work,which of course is charged at a high rate. Any person that Googled her would see she has never built a blog with any degree of success. Yet here she is selling someone else’s experience without acknowledgement and passing it off as her own. It’s interesting to observe.
Any medium for marketing has to follow the basic marketing concepts whether online and in a blog or offline and at an event, or they fail. The key failure as you rightly mention is the lack of regard for the customer / blog audience and the failure to recognise that they are part of the relationship.
I have some observations for you John, I’ll pop you an email.
Hi John
Is this proliferation of wishful-thinking-experts/ gurus that you refer to so different from their counterparts in the more traditional sales, marketing, personal &/or business development arenas?
I’ve seen one recently who blatantly falls into that category in his chosen subject
Any chance at all that the required 10,000 or so hours of apprenticeship to start mastering the art has been invested? Maybe somewhere between 10 and a 100 gathering information with only the most superficial understanding of it.
But I think/ hope audiences are getting much sharper judging by the comments that have been feeding through to me about this particular culprit, so maybe it’ll ‘all come out in the wash’ sooner rather than later…