This is the script that accompanies this slide presentation: http://www.slideshare.net/Bovee/teaching-social-media-and-electronic-communication-classroom-edition. Be sure to download it! Go to Bovee & Thill's Business Communication Blog at http://boveeandthillbusinesscommunicationblog.com.

1. This script is the narration for the video, “Teaching Social Media and
Electronic Communication—Classroom Edition.”
Slide 1
This presentation focuses on social media and electronic
communication.
Slide 2
In this presentation, you’ll learn the answers to these questions:
 What’s the difference between social media and electronic
communication?
 How is social media changing how we communicate?
 How, specifically, might a new business use social media?
 What additional resources are recommended for learning about
social media and electronic communication?
Slide 3
Electronic communication is any communication done electronically. All
social media are part of electronic communication, but not all
electronic communication is social media. For example, an Adobe PFD
document, a Word document, a PowerPoint presentation, or an RSS
newsfeed are all examples of electronic communication, but none are
considered part of social media, although there are many ways in which
you could use these tools in social media efforts.
Slide 4
Brian Solis, social media guru, answers the question in this chart: What I
is social media?
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2. As you can see from this chart, there are many different types of social
media. For example, it can be sites where pictures are shared, such as
Flickr, or microblogging sites, such as Twitter, or social networking sites
such as Facebook, or wiki sites such as Twiki, or platforms for creating a
blog such as WordPress.
There are about two dozen different types of social media, and within
those types, there are hundreds of specific media.
Slide 5
In Bovee and Thill’s texts, this is how they` describe social media:
Social media are electronic media that transform passive audiences into
active participants in the communication process by allowing them to
share content, revise content, respond to content, or contribute new
content.
Slide 6
In short, social media is a conversation supported by online tools.
Slide 7
Tools like these:
Facebook
YouTube
Twitter
LinkedIn
Flickr
Digg, and
Delicious
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3. Slide 8
Facebook, a social networking site, is the #1 website worldwide with
more page views than Google. If Facebook was a country, it would be
#3 – after China and India. Facebook is a site where users can build a
profile, add friends, send messages, become fans of pages, indicate
they “Like” something at the click of a button, find out about events,
and join groups.
Users can also interact with businesses. More than 30,000 retailers and
thousands of companies have Facebook pages. For example, people can
order tickets for Delta Airlines right on Facebook.
Slide 9
On YouTube, the average user spends 15 minutes a day on the site.
36 hours of video is loaded onto YouTube every minute. More video is
uploaded to YouTube in 60 days than all 3 major U.S. networks created
in 60 years.
YouTube is translated into 51 languages by Google’s automatic speech
recognition technology.
Slide 10
A recent survey suggested that video company profiles on YouTube
have more measurable impact than company profiles on Facebook,
LinkedIn, and other prominent sites.
Slide 11
There are a number of microblogging tools. All require short messages.
The most popular microblog is Twitter.
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4. On Twitter, messages must be 140 characters or less.
Twitter has over 100 million registered users.
It’s getting 300,000 new users a day.
Users submit 600,000 million search queries a day to Twitter search
engines.
37% of users update their status on a mobile phone.
Twitter has many business uses, including
research
collaboration
company updates
coupons and notice of sales
tips on product usage
information from experts
backchannel in meetings and presentations, and
customer service with individuals
Slide 12
Social networking and blogging sites are now the 4th most popular
activity online, even ahead of personal e-mail.
Slide 13
75% of Americans and 66% of the global Internet population visit social
networks.
Slide 14
93% of Americans believe that a company should have a presence on
social media sites.
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5. 85% believe that these companies should use these services to interact
with consumers.
Slide 15
Social media is not a fad.
It’s a fundamental shift in the way all of us communicate.
Companies are no longer in control of their messages and must adapt
to a world in which customers and other stakeholders demand to
participate in and influence the conversation.
Slide 16
The old communication model was a monologue.
“We talk. You listen.”
Slide 17
The average person is exposed to an average of 3,000 advertising
messages a day.
But consumers aren’t listening anymore. Interruptive marketing has
seen its day.
Slide 18
The new communication model is a dialogue.
It should be transparent, authentic, vibrant, and consumer-driven.
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6. Slide 19
In a social media environment, effective communication is no longer
about broadcasting a tightly controlled message but rather about
initiating conversations and participating in conversations started by
customers and other stakeholders.
Slide 20
This year Millenials/Gen Y-ers now outnumber Baby Boomers.
Slide 21
Millenials spend 16 hours a week online.
96% have joined a social network.
They have an average of 53 online friends.
Slide 22
70% of them trust recommendations of consumers they don’t know.
90% of them trust recommendations by people they do know.
Slide 23
In short, they don’t care about ads or sales presentations.
They care about what their friends think.
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7. Slide 24
Millenials/Gen Y-ers also expect to be able to use social media on the
job.
Slide 25
In applying what we’ve talked about so far, let’s take a look at the
Artisan Flavors Ice Cream Shop, a recently opened and independently
owned ice cream store with the ice cream made on the premises.
Here is an example of how a new business is using social media tools.
Using YouTube and Vimeo, which are known as user-generated content
sites, the owner has posted videos of him making his unique flavors of
ice cream, including Cherry Pepper Chocolate Truffle, Mint Licorice
Delight, and Peach Mango Apricot.
Using iTunes, he’s posted podcasts describing how to make specialty
deserts with his ice cream, including using his peach/mango/apricot
layered with white cake and whipped cream.
Using PRNewswire to make announcements, such as the grand opening
of his store, the start of his new blog, and a donation of ice cream to
support a local charity.
Using Google Maps in conjunction with the store’s website, so people
can find their way to the store.
Using Flickr, another user-generated content site, to post photos of the
grand opening, including pictures of the store owner with local elected
city officials and many local residents.
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8. Using Twitter to post status updates about events occurring in the
owner’s daily life that other people might find interesting, including
when a local grade school class made a field trip visit to see how ice
cream is made, when the mayor stopped by for a scoop, and when he
sold his 10,000th scoop of ice cream.
Using Facebook, on which he’s set up both a personal page and a page
for his business. More than 400 people have “Liked” his business page.
Numerous comments have been made on its wall, including requests
for new flavors. He’s also posted videos to his Facebook page taken in
the kitchen, and a list of upcoming events, such as a Summer
Celebration Week for which people can download a coupon (buy one
scoop, get one free).
Using a blog, he’s listed it in major blog directories to get attention, got
a mention in his local online newspaper, and writes something in it at
least once a day that he thinks his readers will find interesting, such as
the workshop he attended at the National Ice Cream Association about
how to determine and cater to local tastes.
Using Yelp, his business is listed and he watches it regularly for
customer comments. Someone recently posted a negative comment
about his closing the store early one evening, and he responded by
explaining he needed some plumbing work done when the business
was closed, so he closed a little early one evening so the work could be
completed.
Slide 26
Other tools he’s considering using in the future include
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9.  online presentations, such as SlideShare, where you can create a
PowerPoint presentation for anyone to see on how he makes his
ice cream;
 a customer service site, such as Crowdsound, where he could
easily gather customer feedback. Users can comment,
collaborate, and vote on his website;
 collaboration software, once he opens additional stores, he may
need a platform for capitalizing on his employees’ creativity, and
they could be part of a discussion. This could be especially helpful
in streamlining ideas from employees from how to improve store
operations to developing new flavors;
 for livecasting special events from his store, he could use
ustream.tv;
 for store events, Zvents, which is an online service for promoting
local events;
 for communicating with employees and customers with texting,
instant messaging, and videoconferencing for free, there’s Yahoo
Messenger, Google Talk & Video Chat, or Skype.
Keep in mind that this owner has never spent any money on traditional
advertising, and has no plans to do so. He gets all of his business
through the use of social media, which is a demonstration of the power
of the new communication model we discussed earlier.
Slide 27
But not only is the communication model changing, but what students
are learning in a typical business communication course is changing,
too.
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10. Slide 28
Memos and letters still have a role, to be sure, but they are being
replaced in many instances by a growing variety of electronic media.
Slide 29
These disruptive forces never stop, either. Some first-generation
electronic media are already be supplaned by new social media tools.
For example, in many instances microblogs, blogs, newsfeeds, and
social networking sites are replacing e-mail.
Slide 30
Here are two fallacies about social media and electronic
communication
Slide 31
Fallacy #1: Instant messaging (IM), blogs, social networks, microblogs,
wikis, and other new media are social toys, not business tools.
Slide 32
A year or two ago, one might have asked, “Who is using these new
media?” Today, the question is more like, “Who isn’t.”
But large companies aren’t the only ones using social media. Here are
just a few examples of small companies using social media as well.
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11. Slide 33
Chaz Day has a Facebook page for her company, Flame Promotions.
And Laurel Delaney is on Twitter promoting her global trade company,
GlobalTrade.com.
Slide 34
Fallacy #2: Students already know how to use all these new media, so
instructors don’t need to cover them in class.
Slide 35
Most students may know how to use these media, but only those with
significant work experience are likely to know how to use them in a
professional context. Students need to get practical advice on using all
of these media in ways that meet the expectations of the employers.
Slide 36
Emphasizing the tools students will be expected to use on the job is
critical, but even that is only part of the story. Even more important
than the tools themselves is the profound shift that these tools have
enabled, which students need to learn.
Slide 37
Businesses that stick with the old “we talk, you listen” mode of
unilateral communication increasingly find that nobody is willing to
listen anymore. So, to succeed in this new business environment,
business communicators must approach their tasks with a new
mindset, in addition to these new tools.
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12. Slide 38
Echoing the shift from the Web’s 1.0’s unidirectional model to Web
2.0’s interactive, conversational model, Bovee & Thill call this new
approach Business Communication 2.0.
Slide 39
Students can succeed with written communication in social media by
using one of eight compositional modes when they write:
Conversations. IM in a great example of a written medium that mimics
spoken conversation. The ability to think, compose, and type relatively
quickly is important to maintaining the flow of an electronic
conversation.
Comments and critiques. One of the most powerful aspects of social
media is the opportunity for interested parties to express opinions and
provide feedback, whether it’s leaving comments on a blog post or
reviewing products on an e-commerce site. Sharing helpful tips and
insightful commentary is also a great way to build a personal brand. To
be an effective commenter, teach students to focus on short chunks of
information that a broad spectrum of other site visitors will find helpful.
Orientations. With vast amounts of information presented in so many
different formats, the Internet can be an extremely confusing place,
even for knowledgeable professionals. The ability to help people find
their way through an unfamiliar system or subject is a valuable writing
skill, and a talent that readers greatly appreciate. Unlike summaries,
orientations don’t give away the key points in the collection of
information but rather tell readers where to find those points. Writing
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13. effective orientations can be a delicate balancing act because you need
to know the material well enough to guide others through it while
being able to step back and view it from the inexperienced perspective
of a “newbie.”
Summaries. We teach students that summaries can serve several
purposes: At the beginning of an article or webpage, it serves as a
miniature version of the document. In other instances, the up-front
summary helps a reader decide whether to invest the time needed to
read the full document. At the end of an article or webpage, a summary
functions as a review.
Reference materials. One of the greatest benefits of the Internet is the
access is can provide to vast quantities of reference materials—
numerical or textual information that people typically don’t read in a
linear sense but rather search through to find particular data points,
trends, or other specific elements. One of the challenges of writing
reference material is you can’t always know how readers will want to
access it. Making the information accessible via search engine is an
important step. However, readers don’t always know which search
terms will yield the best results, so we teach students to include an
orientation and organize the material in logical ways with clear
headings that promote skimming.
Narratives. The storytelling techniques we cover can be effective in a
wide variety of situations, from company histories to product reviews
and demonstrations. We teach students that narratives work best when
they have an intriguing beginning that piques a reader’s curiosity, a
middle section that moves quickly through the challenges that an
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14. individual or company faced, and an inspiring or instructive ending that
gives readers information they can apply in their own lives and jobs.
Teasers. Teasers intentionally withhold key pieces of information as a
way to pull readers or listeners into a story or other document. Teasers
are widely used in marketing and sales messages, such as a bit of copy
on the outside of an envelope that promises important information on
the inside. In electronic media, the space limitations and URL linking
capabilities of Twitter and other microblogging systems make them a
natural tool for the teaser approach. While they can certainly be
effective, teasers need to be used sparely and with respect for readers’
time and intelligence. We teach students that the payoff, the
information a teaser links to, should be valuable and legitimate and
that they’ll quickly lose credibility if readers think they are being tricked
into clicking through to information they don’t really want.
Status updates and announcements. If a person uses social media
frequently, much of the writing will involve status updates and
announcements. We tell students that being mindful of a criticism
frequently leveled at personal users of social media will help them be a
more effective business user of these media—namely, don’t post trivial
information that only they are likely to find interesting. Post only those
updates that readers will find useful, and include only the information
they need.
Tutorials. Given the community nature of social media, the purpose of
many messages is to share how-to advice. One of the biggest challenges
with tutorials is gauging the level of understanding the target readers
have about the subject so the writing can be at the appropriate level.
Are the readers beginners, experts, or somewhere in between? In
addition, the writer needs to make assumptions clear so readers can
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15. tell if the information is right for them. A good place to do this is in the
titles, using phrases such as “getting started with” or “advanced
techniques for” to alert readers about the level of the tutorial.
Whatever level of information is provided, the advice needs to be clear,
complete, and logically organized.
Slide 40
For a rich array of resources for teaching social media and electronic
communication, go to Business Communication Headline News, look
under “Categories” in the left-hand column, and select the topics in
which you’re interested.
www.businesscommunicationheadlinenews.com
Slide 41
For more than 175 PowerPoint programs, many dealing with social
media and electronic communication, go to Real-Time Updates and
select “Instructor Media.” www.real-timeupdates.com
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