What a night! As some of you know, I've been teaching social media workshops with my pals at General Assembly in Sydney and I was super excited to host my very first Social Media Masterclass for them at the awesome WeWork space in Martin Place. I think we saw about 80+ attendees that evening, and I'm always grateful for every single person that shows up, because let's be honest - after a long day of work in winter, all you really want to do is go home, get into your PJs and order a pizza and eat from bed! But no, all of these grinners showed up for a 6-8pm masterclass session with me. Now that's dedication!
Now, my masterclass sessions are a little bit different. They're never going to be as 1:1 like the smaller-scale workshop, which gives me more time to work with each and every person, using examples that they bring themselves. But I still want to make sure that I'm always sharing insights, tips and approaches whenever I have the chance to speak, and if I offer none of those, then I at least hope I've inspired someone to go chase whatever it is they want to do.
Even though I've spoken in front of large crowds before, the nerves will always be there beforehand - it's all in your head though. To be honest, an event like this one is much harder than a workshop because I swear it's 40% sharing what I know about social media, 30% feeling it's a TED talk and 30% feeling like I'm at a open-mic stand-up comedy show. Let's just say I did end sharing some stories...that were more embarrassing things than actually related to social media. But hey, that's how I package things up!
As a speaker, we all hope that people engage with us and we encourage them to ask questions. After all, no one wants to listen to one person go on and on! But there's also that fear of someone asking a really, really, REALLY hard question that might put you on the spot and maybe make you second guess your credibility. But the thing to remember is that we are ALWAYS learning something new each day, we all have expertise areas and particular skills that shine a little more than others, which is why I'm always upfront about the areas I offer the most in.
I work in social media in strategy, execution, content strategy, customer experience, campaign management, copywriting, and light paid social media activity. So I have a holistic view which helps me to manage a team, tailor a top-line strategy based on objectives like engagement, or streamline processes for a client. If you ask me about A/B testing in ads, then I'd only be able to give you a few pointers. If you asked me to create your next content bank, I'm only an amateur photographer and not even a designer and this is where I outsource to trusted creatives in my digital network because being a one-man band eventually becomes a jack of all trades and master of none, not to mention there is simply not enough hours in a day to complete the content side of things, then strategy, then execution, day-to-day community management and reporting... That's A LOT! It's always good to understand the basics of all the areas, but claim your strengths and stick to them.
I really want to thank everyone who came to the General Assembly Social Media Masterclass, it was great to also see some familiar faces of those who have already attended a previous workshop of mine! I'm looking forward to seeing more of you at the next workshops - we'll be introducing a Beginner's and Advanced level at the Sydney campus and I'm super stoked to also be bringing my first workshop to the Melbourne campus on 21 September.
Till then, I'll be working from the hot tropics in South East Asia for a much needed escape from this winter!