In Part I, I asked the question whether posting to social media during a formal presentation had murdered the art of good listening.
In Part II, I explored whether that question missed the point about why people attend business presentations: it’s about self-promotion as much as learning.
The final question, then, is this: what’s so urgent about the listener’s reaction to the unfolding presentation that it has to be immediately communicated to the wilder world?
This is not a breaking news story where we hang on every word of the journalist as the event unfolds, desperate for the latest titbit of information. (Well, not the business presentations I attend, anyway). And as we know, that minute-by-minute journalistic account often gets the details right but the overall picture wrong. That’s why we talk about foxholes and helicopter views.
The answer depends on whether the real-time posting is about taking notes or giving an opinion. The former is a time-saving talent: if your thumbs are nimble enough to keep up with proceedings, I envy you. The latter risks making you look rather foolish if your rush to opine means you miss the point of the presenter’s proposition.
So, I propose a personal protocol for such events: gather your notes in real-time on your smartphone if your thumbs are nimble enough – post opinions at the end of proceedings. Your postings will be more succinct, relevant and accurate and thus, more likely to be read.
Otherwise, yes: if you are busy tweeting your opinion, you are probably not really listening.
