Working with E-Learning SMEs #474: Challenge | Recap
When it comes to building courses, your Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) hold the keys to your success—you can’t do much without them.
Th...
Published 5 months ago
Version 1.0
Blog Post
Hello!
Sometimes SMEs find it difficult to share their expertise in a pithy way. Back in the day, I used to set SMEs a 'Twitter Challenge' to give their advice in under 140 characters. Twitter may be functionally dead now, but character limits are still a great way to get SMEs to focus on what's important.
TWITTER CHALLENGE
https://bit.ly/elhc474
Sometimes SMEs find it difficult to share their expertise in a pithy way. Back in the day, I used to set SMEs a 'Twitter Challenge' to give their advice in under 140 characters. Twitter may be functionally dead now, but character limits are still a great way to get SMEs to focus on what's important.
TWITTER CHALLENGE
https://bit.ly/elhc474
- Sounds like a good trick to get feedback in a concise form, Jonathan. I should apply it to myself. I like the way you display the date and time of day, just like on the real device. (And sorry, I didn't leave a message in the demo. Rather catch the plague than use X. Totally personal opinion)
- Oh, that's a shame Thierry. There's some pretty cool stuff going on in the background that disables the 'Tweet' button if you go over 140 characters. And once you hit 'Tweet', you'll see I share your feelings about the platform formerly known as Twitter.
- I didn't see my Tweet shared. I'll try it again.
- A tweet challenge is a wonderful way to frame an expectation! I imagine you have light-hearted and effective email interactions with your clients and teams. What challenge do you pose to SMEs now that Twitter / X is a different medium?
Also, what is a posted message called in X now, if Tweet : Twitter?Hey Yvonne, nice to hear from you. When I use this approach now, I say 'social media' challenge and set a character limit. Most people still refer to it as a 'tweet', though. I remain certain that one day Twitter will come back.
Great thought, Jonathon. It reminds me of one of the questions we have in our arsenal. "If this topic is a story, what's the moral of the story?"
That's a great way to drill down. Would love to hear any other SME questions you have in your arsenal Ron!
There's a writing technique that does something similar: Tell us about the topic in one page (short enough to be readable/usable, long enough for detail). This focuses them on everything they know to an executive summary.
Then, tell us about the topic in one paragraph no more than a quarter of a page (need both qualifiers because otherwise they'll make a page long paragraph). They now have the one pager to think about the topic to then chop away any clarifiers, etc.NOW, tell us about it in one sentence (or 140 characters) or less.
Scott, thanks for offering that up. I recall a similar technique from advertising. Circle all the prepositions in your text and try eliminating half of them. It helps you get to the essential information.
- I responded by throwing shade on Jim Carrey fans. :)
- He's the GIF that keeps on GIFing
Oh wow! I love this idea so much! Please tell us how you did it :D
Sidenote: We call is Xitter in our house, lol.Brilliant!
