Twitter chatter during presentations can be very distracting to the speaker as well as the audience.

During a recent conference, I was fascinated with how many folks in the audience were engaged in conversations on various mobile devices.   The conversation was among the attendees, as well as, with followers and contacts throughout the world.

As a speaker, it got me thinking about the impact this will continue to have on future speaking opportunities.

Distracting?  Unsettling?  Maybe, maybe not.  It depends on how you insert yourself into the conversation.  And, how you include the conversation in your presentation.

Without question, speakers must work to engage the audience.  But add the ability for everyone in the audience to comment and critique via social media, speakers face a more difficult challenge.

However, with a bit of planning, you can use twitter to enhance your presentations rather than to compete with you.

Speaking tips and tactics to consider:

Before the talk - deciding on hash marks for the audience to use during the talk.  Announce those tags when you begin your presentation.   Invite participants to comment and report on the talk.

During the talk - Have an assistant monitor the conversation for you, contribute on your behalf and clarify points as you speak.  It helps for them to have bullet points from your presentation to drop into the conversation.

After the talk - read what was said during your talk.  Followup with any issues, suggestions or misunderstandings.

With enough energy, your talk could become a trending topic - always a good thing.

Jim Edwards, one of my favorite and most trusted online trainers is conducting a free webinar this Wednesday called:  The Ultimate Mini-Site Formula.

Jim will share his proven system for cashing in on simple, little mini-sites that you can build in an afternoon.

So, mark your calendar for this Wednesday, June 27, 2009 at 7:00pm (ET).

Jim limits access to his webinars so they fill up fast.  However, if you act now, you can reserve a spot.  To register and to get more details - just click Jim Edwards' Free Webinar.

I can tell you from personal experience, Jim is the King of Webinars and you do not want to miss this one.

After the webinar, I would love to hear what you think about Jim's Minisites.  So come on back to leave a comment, OK?

Today, anyone with a telephone, a computer and internet connection can build a media business.  The result:  hundreds of independent media producers who are conducting interviews with colleagues and experts. And, there is no limit to potential interviewees.

This media scape presents two main challenges for the interviewee.

1. To be interesting enough to hold the audience's attention.
2. To get the listener or watcher to take a desired action.

Being interviewed is an opportunity for the interviewee to showcase their business, interest, or cause.  However, to make the interview memorable and successful takes preparation.

Here are a few tips that you can use when preparing for every  interview including virtual book tours, blog radio interviews, live  teleseminars, recorded interviews and traditional media interviews:

• Understand what goals and expectations the interviewer has for the interview.
• Familiarize yourself with the interviewer and their audience.
• Determine your goals for the interview.
• Develop your key message points.  Then, practice delivering them with a coach or buddy.
• Develop a list of possible questions and prepare answers - even those questions that you would rather avoid.  Again, practice.
• Determine your call to action. Make sure the interviewer understands your call to action and that they agree to let you mention it.
• Provide the interviewer with a suggested list of bullet points or questions that you would like to discuss.
• Stay focused and relaxed during the interview.
• Have your notes with you if the interview is being conducted by phone.
• Be prepared for, and expect, surprises during the interview.
• Provide your bio, photo and other information to the interviewer to help promote the interview.
• Promote the interview to your tribe, followers or community.
• Speak to the interviewer before the interview to clear up any questions you may have or they may have.

Know what you want to accomplish with the interview - never just show up to be interviewed.   Approach every interview with clear goals so that you can prepare the interviewer and yourself for a successful interview.

Now, go get famous one interview at a time.

But first, I invite you to find out more about developing your personal media platform and positioning yourself as a sought-after media interviewee and leading expert by grabbing a copy of my free report–> ExpertPreneuring: 6 Steps to Turn Your Expertise Into Income at: http://ExpertisetoIncome.com

Or you can grab the report by clicking on the button in the right hand column of this blog.

Branding by association is a powerful strategy that can quickly increase awareness and credibility for your brand. There are many tactics and tools that can be used to implement this strategy including blogging.

As blogging continues to increase in popularity as a core component of many entrepreneurial businesses, it is helpful to take a look at how blogging can be used to build associations with other experts who can bring credibility to your business brand.

Following are four blogging techniques for creating a marketable association with select branded experts who you admire but with whom you have not established a personal relationship:

• Showcase credible experts and brands by writing posts on your blog focusing on their products. This technique works best if you have tried the product and can provide an honest, first-hand opinion about your experience with the product. Include the good and the not so good aspects of the product - that makes your comments more believable. And, if you are an affiliate for the product, this can be a money maker as well if you include your affiliate link.

• Set up automatic feeds to your email box from the blogs of your target experts so that you can quickly review what they are talking about on a daily basis. Select at least one or two blogs on which to post response comments a couple of times each week. The more content-rich and helpful the comments are, the more attention it will attract among prospects and readers. And, by posting on other blogs, you have the opportunity to provide a link back to your blog.

• When you find a blog post by a leading expert that would interest your prospects and clients, write a short commentary on your blog about the original post along with a link to the original blog post. Your clients will not only appreciate the information but will associate you with the other expert.

• Select articles from article directories to publish to your blog which have been written by your targeted branded experts. Make sure that you use the entire article and resource box. Readers seldom think about where the article originate from but do make the link between the expert and you.

Each of these branding by association tactics can be implemented without having an existing relationship with the branded expert. They are designed to showcase you by providing helpful information to your prospects while also supporting the brands with which you wish to be associated.

Branding by association strategies can provide credibility and visibility for your business by connecting and building virtual relationships with other successful experts.

This article is one of a series of articles on branding by association.

Working with entrepreneurial CEOs, I often hear them express common themes about why they started their businesses as well as the challenges they face as the business grows.

Conceiving, building, and growing a business are the reasons most entrepreneurs strike out on their own. They want financial freedom. They want control over their time. They want independence.

The lucky ones build enterprises that far exceed their expectations. However, it is at that point that they begin to face some of the challenges they left behind in the corporate world.

The three challenges that surface most often are:

• Leadership challenges - in their industry as well as in their organization. Many entrepreneurs have not had the opportunity to learn leadership skills before building their companies. However, leadership is a required skill even if you are a one-person company. Or, I should say it is most important in a one-person company.

• Communication challenges - When an entrepreneurial organization grows beyond one or two people, communication challenges begin to surface between individuals, between departments and often with clients. These challenges must be addressed quickly to keep the company moving forward.

• Immersion challenges - Most entrepreneurs find they are working all the time just to keep up. Being immersed in the business means there very little time dedicated to working on the business.

Burn-out and overwhelm are the results of these challenges not being addressed.

When you find yourself in this situation, it is a good idea to get an outside, objective opinion. Then, realign parts of the business to function better and allocate time to work on the business from a strategic perspective. My company, Strategy Source, Inc., provides consulting and coaching services for entrepreneurs who are facing these types of challenges.

Before you go, leave a comment.