I’m a fan of Slideshare. I upload all of my presentations there. Well, at least those that I feel are of value to the masses.
When asked for a copy of my presentation after a speaking engagement, I always provide the URL to my personal slideshare space or e-mail a direct link to that particular slide.
But, I’ve learned that Slideshare provides so much more opportunity and value and we should all view it as a social network that allows us to connect with others, much like our other favorites.
Here are a few ways you can connect and build community through Slideshare.
- Check to see who has “favorited” and/or “embedded” your slides. This is the ultimate lead. Once you do this you will have a list of people who are genuinely interested in your content.If someone has embedded your slide, click through to the actual post and comment. Thank them for sharing your content.
- Visit their profile and view their slides. You may find something you like since you clearly have similar interests. Learning more about their content is a perfect way to decide if you want to connect.
- Send a personal message asking to connect. You now have enough info to compliment their work, ask to use their presentation or maybe even get them to guest blog for you.
- Search keywords for your topics of interest. Once you do this, repeat steps 2 and 3.
- Share your slides on LinkedIn and Facebook. This is very easy to do, and it exposes your Facebook and LinkedIn contacts to your presentations. A win-win.
- Post thoughtful comments and offer feedback on presentations. Not everyone will appreciate this, but some will. It’s worth a shot.
- Share presentations with others and be sure to let the creator of the slide know about it.
- Embed slides (yours and others) in blogposts and on your website. This will bring your current audience to Slideshare and you could be providing new opportunities for your readers as well.
- Consider sharing more than just slides. I recently shared the media kit for my book on Slideshare. It accommodates many types of files, so think outside the box and get creative.
The point of this post is to encourage you to do more with this great tool. I was able to connect with @MeriWalker on Twitter after noticing her interest in one of my presentations, and it’s largely because I live and breathe “community.”
You don’t have to live and breathe it, but be mindful of new opportunities and try to look at every tool as more than what it seems. It usually is.
What other platforms are you using to build community?
17 comments
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May 19, 2009 at 12:21 pm
How to build community through SlideShare? | SlideShare Blog
[…] Connor is an online community strategist and she has written an excellent article about how you can build your own community using SlideShare. Here’s a quick summary of her […]
May 19, 2009 at 6:38 pm
Liara Covert
Thanks for sharing this strategy. Increasing numbers of people are shifting their mindsets to realize real possibilities exist for positive change in life.
May 19, 2009 at 8:54 pm
Sonny Gill
Since doing my first presentation and putting it up on Slideshare, I’ve realized the scope of the tool and how beneficial it really is at community building and providing value to Slideshare’s users.
Great pointers here.
May 19, 2009 at 10:39 pm
Angela Connor
You are so right, Liara Thanks for posting a comment.
May 19, 2009 at 10:41 pm
Angela Connor
Sonny:
So cool that you saw the benefits of Slide Share from the beginning. It just occurred to me to post “other” content recently. We need to spend time learning about all of the bells and whistles of the communities we frequent.
May 20, 2009 at 3:07 am
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May 22, 2009 at 11:30 am
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May 22, 2009 at 11:28 pm
Elaine Talbert
It is great that SlideShare picked up your post. I ♥ SlideShare too and use its functionality almost every day.
I have a search on various terms running through Google Reader, so I get an ongoing feed of shows that match my learning needs (education, technology, social media and …) and I find many others that are of peripheral interest too.
I started groups that I post other people’s slide shows to and I follow those who post decks that match my topics of interest.
I join other groups that match my interests and I post useful decks I find to those groups as well.
I always tag shows using my top search terms, when I favourite and when I check them out through google reader.
I comment very briefly on great decks as often as I can.
Now, I also post the best ones to Twitter and I try to add the creator’s Twitter name, in the tweet.
I always look at my home page to see if there are shows that I have missed,since SlideShare throws up the shows of those that you follow as they are posted.
May 26, 2009 at 12:04 pm
Massimo Burgio
Very good article, I am going to retweet it! =)
May 26, 2009 at 2:50 pm
Doug Wolfgram
But you can do so much more with Presenternet. Support audio, video, interactivity, collect data and store it back to salesforce, etc. Why use static slides when you can do so much more?
May 26, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Angela Connor
Massimio: Thanks. Glad you enjoyed it. I appreciate the RT.
May 26, 2009 at 2:56 pm
Angela Connor
Doug Wolfgram: I must admit that I am not familiar with Presenternet. I will be sure to check it out and e-mail you about my experience. Thanks for the information.
May 26, 2009 at 2:58 pm
Angela Connor
Elaine: So YOU’RE the one who’s always posting slides to various groups! You are clearly a regular and very active on SlideShare. Have you ever used any of the slides you favorite in your own presentations?
May 30, 2009 at 4:41 pm
Roger C. Parker
Dear Angela:
Thank you for bring this aspect of Slideshare and community building to my attention.
I had never before considered the slide format for a media kit.
Your concisely-stated ideas open up numerous opportunities for authors to develop their platform and promote their books.
Roger
May 30, 2009 at 6:05 pm
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May 30, 2009 at 6:40 pm
Angela Connor
Roger: I am happy to share any new ideas I come up with. I’m glad you found value in the tips. As a new author, I am open to trying all kinds of methods to market my book and I believe that social media has opened up so many opportunities…(many that have yet to be discovered) for authors. Thanks for taking the time to post a comment.
June 23, 2009 at 6:13 pm
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