This presentation was used for the OU Social Media Summit on Saturday, February 4. This presentation was created to teach students how to appropriately connect with professionals online.

1. Truth or Dare? How to Connect
with Pros
THE APPROPRIATE WAY TO CONNECT
ONLINE
Erin Pope & Hanna Balla

2. truth
Hanna and Erin
graduated within the
last five years.

3. dare
What was the most
effective means of
communication when
we were students?

4. When did social media take off?
 Between 2004 to 2006
 Social networking now
accounts for 22% of all time
spent online in the US
Countless communication
channels
Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook,
texting, email, blogs, Google+

5. truth
In August 2011, the Pew
Internet Survey showed
65% of online adults
use social networking
sites.

7. Users like social media
Positive reinforcement!

8. dare
What is the most
popular online activity
among Internet users?
61% of survey respondents say they use
email every day

9. Connecting via email
Before you send…
- Introduce yourself
- Ask yourself, what‟s the
point of this email?
- Keep it short
- Grammar. Refrain from txt
abbreviations

10. truth
According to the Pew
Research Center, 13% of
online adults use
Twitter, and half of
Twitter users access the
service on a cell phone
Number of tweets per second

11. Connecting on Twitter
- Appropriate Twitter handle
- Utilize the profile
- „New York Times‟ rule
- In the end, humans want to
interact with other humans

12. truth
Roughly 50% of the
users on LinkedIn have
titles such as managers,
principals, owners,
CEOs or vice presidents

13. Connecting on LinkedIn
- Utilize the Professional “Headline”
- Write your own introductory
message
- How do I know you?
- Don‟t request a recommendation if
you haven‟t worked directly with
the contact
- Do not stretch the truth
- Don‟t beg for connections

14. truth
At the end of 2011,
Facebook had 845
million monthly active
users. 485 million are
daily active users. This
is a 39% and 48%
increase respectively,
from the end of 2010.

15. Connecting on Facebook
- Lines are blurring between
personal and professional
lives on social media
- Think about who you want
to friend on Facebook
- Check your privacy settings
- Create different lists
- Find groups/organizations
with your professional
aspirations

16. truth
According to Reppler,
90% of recruiters and
hiring managers view a
candidate‟s profile on a
social network as part
of their screening
process.

17. Other communication channels
 Blogs
 Have a voice – comment!
 Google+
 Form circles and stay
connected
 Similar to how to connect
on Facebook

18. Helpful Tips
 Don‟t forget your manners – thank you!
 Hand-written notes are never looked down upon
 Proofread. More than once.
 Think before you blog, tweet, Facebook, etc.
 Do not use connections to get their contacts
 Stay in touch

19. dare
• BE YOURSELF
• CONNECT WITH PROFESSIONALS
ONLINE
• TAKE RISKS. DON’T BE AFRAID TO
GO OUT AND JOIN THE
CONVERSATION
• LISTEN, ENGAGE AND LEARN

20. Connect with us!
Erin Pope
Nationwide Children‟s Hospital
Columbus, Ohio
@epope
linkedin.com/in/erinpope
Erin.Pope@NationwideChildrens.org
Hanna Balla
Nationwide Children‟s Hospital
Columbus, Ohio
@hannaballa
linkedin.com/in/hannaballa
Hanna.Balla@NationwideChildrens.org