Ever wonder about the etiquette you should follow with new social media platforms and features popping up every day?
This post will cover Twitter Spaces etiquette for hosts, attendees, and speakers.
Etiquette for Attendees: Twitter Spaces
1. You must listen more than you speak.
On Twitter Spaces, everyone has a part to play. The host is there to set the tone and pilot the conversation. Speakers are selected to share their knowledge. Moderators are there to safeguard the Space for them to remain safe.
As an attendee, your part is to listen and participate when requested.
Too often, attendees will enter in a Twitter Space, ask to speak, then monopolize the whole conversation. This is considered incorrect and can be deemed impolite to the speakers already designated in the Space.
A good rule of thumb is to listen at least 80% of the time while you are in the Twitter space and speak 20% of the time. However, that can differ depending on the topic, the host, and the Space.
With this in mind, let the Space host determine the expectations for that particular session.
Related: Why people are leaving Twitter for Mastodon?
2. Say what is relevant
If you are chosen to contribute your thoughts, make sure your comments are relevant to the case.
Whenever you share something during a Space, you can move the conversation forward or crash it. One method to ensure you stay on the case is to write notes for the crucial points you want to put forward.
When you deviate off-topic, it diminishes your chances of being chosen again to speak and can also baffle incoming listeners.
On that same note, Twitter Spaces generally run for one hour or less. Keeping this in mind, attendees must keep their comments precise and to the point.
3. Interrupting others can be a bad idea
If you’re approached as a speaker on a Twitter Space, it’s vital that you are considerate of others.
Just as you wouldn’t disturb a colleague during a Zoom presentation, you must not interrupt another speaker during a Twitter Space affair.
The only time you should dive in is if something’s going wrong — For example, if someone forgets to mute or unmute themselves, loud noises, etc. In such cases, you can quickly alert the involved party and reset the conversation.
Etiquettes For Hosts and Moderators: Twitter Spaces
1. Make sure you have a quiet background
While hosting a Twitter Spaces event, it’s essential that your listeners hear you clearly and you’re capable enough to guide the conversation. This will require you to arrange your environment.
Before you kickoff, off the event, make sure you are in a quiet room. This will ensure that loud noises don’t come through the microphone as you involve your listeners.
Secondly, curb distractions by turning off your phones and notifying your roommates.
2. You should welcome listeners.
While hosting, you must set the tone for the entire event, and welcoming your listeners to the event should be your first step.
Start with introducing yourself and telling them the plan for the event. You can also acknowledge the users by thanking them for joining and shouting them out by username.
As people drop in, you can repeat these important points until you’re ready to kick off officially.
3. Introduce speakers
If you were in a webinar, you would want to see who the presenters are. The same approach applies to Twitter Spaces.
Once you are ready to begin the event, share a 30-second brief on each speaker.
While some listeners may recognize your speakers, others may not. Short bios will guide listeners to determine the speaker’s value in the conversation.
4. Stick to the topic
This tip applies to attendees but even more to hosts and speakers.
When attendees connect with your event, they expect you to cover a particular topic. While it’s natural for conversations to cover impromptu topics, as a host, you must bring it back around.
Let’s say your event is on digital marketing tips, and you spend half of the time covering email marketing. Even if the advice is helpful, it’s not what listeners signed up for. It’s not relevant information.
You must stick to the topic to ensure your audience’s trust and keep them coming back for more. Now that you have these important tips, you are ready to take on Twitter Spaces.
