A short job-aid for people wanting to participate in discussions in LinkedIn Groups. (You are welcome to use it, with appropriate attribution.) ...Geoff Higgins www.performancepeople.com.au

1. USING LINKEDIN GROUPS
Some General Stuff
When you go into a group, your main view is the discussion list. (To get here if you stray,
click on Discussion on the sub-menu bar).
Participating in Discussions
Reading Discussions
When you want to read or participate in a discussion, click on discussion title in blue.
When you want to go back to the list of discussions, click on Discussions in black text in the
sub-menu bar.
If you click on a link that someone has posted (by clicking the name in blue in the middle of
their entry), it should open in a new Tab.
Starting a Discussion
To start a discussion:
1. Click on “Start a discussion or share something with the group…” near the top of the
page. This is where you put a title.
2. Then click in the “Add more details…” section and type your message.
3. To add a link, click on “Attach a link”, paste the link into the box, then press the Attach
button. (The link must be a URL. To attach a file, you can use SlideShare or DropBox –
see below for SlideShare instructions.)
4. When you are finished, press the Share button.
Commenting
When you add a comment, you can choose whether to receive an email for each new
comment by ticking the checkbox below your comment before you press the Add Comment
button.
You can do the same thing without commenting by pressing the Follow/Unfollow button
immediately below the original post. That’s also where you Unfollow if you subsequently
lose interest in the thread.
Although there is no “Attach a link” when you comment, you can just paste a URL into the
body of your comment, and it will be turned into a link.
© Performance People Pty Ltd, 2012 1. Prepared by:
2/08/2012 Geoff Higgins

2. LinkedIn & Outlook
Change Settings for Emails from the Group
1. Hover the mouse pointer over Groups in the menu bar and you will see a mini-menu.
2. If the group is listed in the mini-menu, choose it. Otherwise, click on Groups to see a
page listing your groups, then select the relevant group.
3. Click on More… in the sub-menu bar, and select Your Settings.
4. Here you can change the settings for emails from the group, and choose to get an email
every time a discussion is started (“Send me an email for each new discussion”) or a
digest of group activity (daily or weekly).
5. Check out the other options available on this page.
6. Click the Save Changes button at the bottom of the page.
Automatically Put Stuff in a LinkedIn Folder in Outlook
In Outlook, you might want to create a LinkedIn folder and create a Rule that puts all
messages from LinkedIn into the folder. (The quickest way to do this is to find a message
from LinkedIn, right click it and follow your nose.)
Attaching Files Using SlideShare
(You will need a SlideShare account – this is free if your files are smaller than 100Mb and
you do not upload videos – which is what YouTube is for.)
Upload Your File to SlideShare
1. Make sure your document is ready. (You can update it later if you make changes.)
Note: Save the file as a PDF if you want to retain the formatting and/or make it harder
for someone to steal your IP.
2. Log into SlideShare at www.slideshare.com.
3. Click the orange Upload button at the top of the page.
4. Click the next orange Upload button. (The blue Upload+ button is for paid accounts.)
5. Locate the file in the Open box, and click Open.
6. Add details while the file is uploaded or converted. Or add details after it is published by
clicking on ‘Edit’ below the file name on the right.
Link the File in LinkedIn
1. In the top right corner of the screen there is a picture of a head. Hover the mouse
pointer over the head, and choose “My Uploads”.
2. Click on the title of the document to see the document as others will see it.
3. To link to LinkedIn, click on “in” (the LinkedIn logo) to the left of your document.
© Performance People Pty Ltd, 2012 2. Prepared by:
2/08/2012 Geoff Higgins

3. 4. In the window, click the “Post to group(s)” checkbox.
5. Start typing (eg, type “Centr”) and you should see the group name.
6. Select the group. (Add more if you are posting to multiple groups.)
7. Add a title (Subject) for your Discussion, and add some Details to tell people why they
might want to look at your file.
8. Click the Share button. (Then go to LinkedIn to check that it is there. You might need to
press F5 to refresh your browser window.)
Notes:
 When you come into SlideShare, to see your files, hover the mouse pointer over the
black head picture in the top right corner, and choose “My Uploads”.
 To update a file: Go to the “My Uploads” page; click on Edit / Delete to the right of the
thumbnail; scroll to the top of the page; select the “Replace document” tab; then follow
the prompts.
© Performance People Pty Ltd, 2012 3. Prepared by:
2/08/2012 Geoff Higgins