Speaking 101: Event Photography Tips for Cell Phones

Did it really happen if you didn’t post about it? 

Taking photos at events is nothing short of difficult. Between the packed audiences, dark rooms, and speakers in motion, it can be hard to get the perfect shot. 

Here are a few tips to take your cell phone photos to the next level, so you can stop worrying about how good your photos look, and focus on the content you want to share.

1. The early bird sits up front: Don’t be afraid to get there early to scope out the stage and find the best place to take a photo. If you arrive before the other guests, you can position yourself to get the shot without worrying about stepping over people. 

2. Plan your shots ahead: Prep a shot list before you arrive so you know exactly what you want to capture. Events can be overwhelming and exciting. It’s easy to get caught up in the moment and end up leaving the event without any photos. Brainstorming what scenes you want to capture ahead of time can ensure you leave with a variety of thoughtful images to document your experience.

3. Light it up: Lighting can make or break a photograph. It can be tricky to find good lighting—especially during conferences that are often dimly lit or have colored uplighting. In these situations, try tapping on different areas of the image on your screen and see how this affects the light in the photo. If this doesn’t work, consider using your phone’s flash. This is helpful when you’re capturing close-up subjects, such as people at the event or table displays. 

4. Lights, camera, ACTION: A great way to remember the event is to get action shots of the other attendees. Snapping pictures of crowds in the room and people you meet with help you capture the experience and network with others. Sharing these photos will also give your followers a great idea of the overall energy at the event. 

5.  Enjoy the content: At the end of the day, you are there to ENJOY the content and leave feeling inspired and motivated. Take the time to snap a few photos, but don’t forget to unplug and focus on learning something new.

Speaking 101: How to Be So Engaging, Even a Goldfish Will Remember You

Let's be honest: introducing yourself to a total stranger and having a memorable, fulfilling conversation right away seems far-fetched—but what if it doesn’t have to be? Imagine being able to not only overcome the awkward small talk of a first-time interaction, but also turn it into a moment that is valuable and worthwhile for both parties.

We’ve put together some key tips on how to better prepare yourself for the next time somebody strikes you with the question, “So, what do you do?” 

1. Switch it up: In most settings where you’re meeting new people, it’s common practice to talk about work right away. Knowing this, come prepared with something, anything, better than, “So, what do you do?” Ask them why they do what they do or what their favorite project is currently. Create the opportunity to see a side of somebody that goes beyond a general field of work.

2. Be human: Maybe you’re at an event and found the perfect person to network with. Do a little background research by quickly checking their LinkedIn profile or listen carefully to them speak. You’re bound to find something you have in common. All of a sudden you’re the closest thing they have to a new friend at this event.

3. Make big talk, not small talk: Introduce your line of work in a way that leads to a question prompting an even bigger idea. For example, I could say something like, “I connect clients with speaking opportunities to grow their thought leadership. If you had to give a Ted Talk, what would your topic be?” People love to talk about themselves, just give them the chance.

4. Add more depth to your role: Your title alone is the least interesting thing about your job. Next time you’re prompted to talk about work, mention what you love about your job or a project you’re working on. Energy is contagious. If you’re excited, they’ll get excited not only because what you’re working on is awesome, but because you’re not talking about the weather.

5. Keep in touch: Did you pay attention to what your new friend said? Great! Now follow up. People love to be remembered. Similar to when you write a thank you note after an interview, leave the conversation remembering something that stood out to you and include it in your follow-up note. People are used to forgetting the details of their interactions the moment they’re over. You’ll stand out by showing you were paying attention.

Speaking 101: 5 Ways to Promote Your Event on LinkedIn

With more than 500 million users on LinkedIn, it’s no wonder why the professional network platform is a powerful tool for promoting events. LinkedIn’s user base consists of 40 million decision-makers, 61 million senior level influencers, 40 million recent graduates and students, and more. If this sounds like the audience you’d like to attract, here are five ways to promote your event on LinkedIn:

1. Keep your audience engaged: Posting a status on your page is an easy way to promote your event within your network. Use this as a tool to announce event updates on venue, speakers, sponsors, and more.

   • Pro-tip: The best time to publish a post is on Tuesdays through Thursdays between 10am and 11am when LinkedIn users are most active. Also, don’t forget to use hashtags! #eventtips

2. Leverage your company profile: Use your company profile to keep your audience updated on event productions, while simultaneously building up your network of followers. Make posts announcing call for speakers, ticket sales date, topics to be discussed, and such.

3. Join LinkedIn groups: A great way to reach people outside of your network is to join groups that are relevant to your event’s focus. You’ll be able to post to this new set of audience, but keep in mind that these posts should always be tailored to attract the pool of professionals you’d like to see at your event.

4. Become a publisher: Go beyond a typical status update and write an article to share on LinkedIn. Keep your article engaging and relevant, and use this opportunity to share the nitty gritty about your event, such as a recap of the previous event.

   • Pro-tip: Keep in mind that your article can be made public to increase viewership on and off LinkedIn!

5. Create boosted content: Choose from many of LinkedIn’s offerings, including Sponsored Content, Sponsored InMail, and Ads. Promote your event in people’s newsfeed with Sponsored Content, in people’s inbox with Sponsored InMail, and across the platform with Ads.

Interested in learning about how cred can promote and plan your next event? Connect with us at events@credpr.com.

Speaking 101: Anatomy of a Speaking Opp

Here at cred, we pride ourselves on securing the best speaking opportunities to meet the goals of our clients. To accomplish this with success, we’ve built an extensive process to make sure these goals are clearly defined, set, and reached.

The Planning

It all begins with the client kickoff. This is where we start our on-boarding process by diving into the company and speaker(s) to understand where speaking fits into their overall communication strategy. We've created our own process that asks the right questions to help us become successful.

Once we have an idea of the speaker’s high-level topics, we develop our speaking platform, which serves as the roadmap for our work.

The Day-to-Day

The bulk of our day-to-day work consists of content curation. We create numerous topics and speaking angles aligning our speaker’s expertise and background with key themes relevant to their industry and target audience.

Additionally, event research and outreach are the bread of butter of our speaker management. We’ve built a database of more than 10,000 events (and counting!) from scratch broken down by industry, deadline, past client feedback, and more, as one of our key research tools. It also helps us stay on top of any key deadlines, which we easily track on a weekly basis. We target high-value events that align with a client’s program goals, from conferences to webinars to meetups. We’ll even do opposition research to track where competitors or key partners are speaking.

Lastly, we’re constantly connecting with organizers early to understand what types of speakers they’re seeking, and fostering those relationships so we ensure we’re adding value to their agenda.

Our work isn’t only limited to engaging with our speakers and event organizers. We understand speaking is just one component of a company’s marketing/PR strategy, and are accustomed to collaborating with PR firms and marketing teams to ensure we maximize the impact of an opportunity. For highly competitive events, such as Cannes Lions and SXSW, we’ll work directly with our clients to develop a more curated session.

The Impact

Communication and planning are key. All event updates are updated in real time in our shared events trackers, so clients can see progress and a full picture of speaking activity.

Once a speaking opportunity is secured, we manage all event logistics—from confirming the session date, time, and topic, to managing prep calls, deadlines, and on-site details. We ensure speakers feel prepared and know what to expect before hitting the stage.

When an event is complete, we take feedback into consideration so we can iterate on future speaking opportunities. This allows us to refine and optimize future activity to build an impactful program. We’ll also gather feedback from the event organizer to help understand the audience’s take on our speaker’s session and how to make the next presentation stronger for future events.

Successful thought leadership comes from not one, but multiple successful speaking arrangements to target audiences, and we are passionate in helping speakers get to them.

Interested in working with us to help expand your speaking program? Connect with us at speak@credpr.com!

(Infographic: Gina King)

Speaking 101: 5 Helpful Tools to Stay Organized

We all come from different professional backgrounds. We hold different positions, work in different industries, have different titles and responsibilities, but one thing is the same: we all strive to stay organized.

Staying organized is an art form many of us struggle with. To kickoff the New Year, getting organized is essential. There are hundreds of fantastic tools to help you meet your organizational needs. Not sure where to start? Here is a breakdown of our top five favorites.

1. MixMax: MixMax is here to make your email life easier. If you are like us here at cred, then you live in your inbox. This gmail extension has great features to enhance and customize your inbox, including setting reminders, scheduling emails, and creating templates. It helps us keep our constant client communications in order, so important tasks don’t slip through the cracks.

2. Quip: When your to-do list needs a makeover, try Quip. This list can be used as an app for your phone and/or desktop, and can also be used in your browser. You can collaborate with other colleagues by sharing lists or tagging them in tasks, and you can add trackers, calendars, and spreadsheets to keep you ahead of your long list of to-dos (if that is even possible). We use Quip for some of our personal to do lists and for our team meeting agendas.

3. Zoom: If you haven’t heard yet, we started an office down in Sacramento! A huge part of our everyday schedules is utilizing video-calling tools like Zoom to stay connected to our long-distance friends. We use Zoom during one-on-one, team, and company-wide meetings and even use it for having virtual coffee dates to better get to know each other outside of work.

4. Slack: Slack is a must-have in our office. Collaboration is a huge part of our values, and we are constantly working together and communicating within our office. Slack allows us to chat individually, or in groups. We also have different channels, or group chats, where we post updates depending on the topic of interest for that channel. We utilize this tool for many reasons, especially for asking quick questions to those in and out of the office, and for updating each other on industry or personal news.

5. Google Calendar: Don’t we all love Google applications? We take advantage of all things Google, but a personal favorite is Google Calendar. Calendars are meant to keep track of important dates, calls, meetings, events, etc., but that’s nothing new. The great thing about Google Calendar is being able to share co-worker’s calendars, so we are always on the same page. We are always moving and shaking, and having a calendar that we can sync with other coworkers is a must.

The best part about organizational tools is there are a bunch to try and see how they work for you. We’ve listed a few of our many favorites, now what are yours?