It used to be the purview of media companies to record your thoughts.

There are still many benefits to validation by a third party — like trade media, professional associations and award bodies, a jury of your peers, and let's not forget client/customer reviews.

Today, in many cases, the conversation is the media pitch, and you never know who you're talking with on Twitter — they may have few followers or activity there, yet, they have earned the respect of your customers in their analyst capacity, for example.

Ongoing conversations and participation are the reason why you need to work with your subject matter experts to get them up to speed on interviews in the stream.

You're always on record

If you take anything away from this post, this is it — you're always on record with your promises. It's bigger than digital footprint, although that is a good place to start. Do you listen to yourself rehearse before a talk? Do you play back your own messages in social networks? 

That is a good place to start — auditing your own presence and outposts.

Setting the tone

Connie Reece said it best: Are you conversationally tone-deaf?

It's worth reminding ourselves that a screen is just a piece of material and on the other side of tweets, posts, and messages there are still people. Even as the collection of "friends" far exceeds our ability to get to know the people behind the avatars.

Whenever I attend or speak at events, I meet people who are respectful, wide-eyed, and fiercely passionate about their work.

However, online and especially on Twitter, a very poor tool for conversation (as is email, by the
way), one often encounters examples of ego-gratifying behavior at best
and personal attacks at worst.

Even as the tweet may seem lost in the
stream and may not matter to a person, it is on record as an impression
— the wake one leaves behind — to the individual who was targeted.

It makes me very sad that interaction would be so charged, because it
is when technology and humanism meet that opportunity escalates.

Here's a scenario that paints a vivid picture for another kind of record.

It's influence. Up to you to decide who's under it.

 

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Valeria is an experienced listener. She is also frequent speaker at
conferences and companies on a variety of topics. To book her for a
speaking engagement click here.