It may appear that it is difficult to develop meaningful conversations, especially around a specific topic, in only 140 characters . . . until you learn how to Master Twitter Chats.

Over the years a number of applications have surfaced to expand short interactions into orderly conversations.  These Tweet Chats can be a one-time event, scheduled weekly or monthly, or special occasions, like my upcoming Twitter Party on Sept 7^th #GaryLoperTwitterParty .  Hope you can join us – we’ll be trending!

Twitter Chats are based on the use of #Hashtags .  If there is a topic you are interested in, do a Twitter search for that topic and you’ll discover other people having that conversation.  While searching topics it would be helpful to browse your followers and your lists to see what topics are popular amongst your friends.

Another great resource recently shared with me by Brain Groves @BGDTCoaching is a massive list of Tweet Chats by day & time – be sure to check to seeif chat is operating > http://www.gnosisarts.com/home/Tweetchat_Wiki/By_Day

All right, we have our topic and several chats we’d like to participate in, now how can we have the best experience possible while we chat?

I have discovered a couple of tools that will enhance your Twitter Chats experience.

Twubs

Twubs has a lot of great features, including a register of hashtags and ability to create a community for your own chat.

Simply sign in with Twitter to create your account, enter the hashtag of the chat you want to join and you’re in the conversation.  Twubs has a couple of tools that will help enhance your chat experience.  The Enable Chat Mode creates a full screen view of the chat moving the side banners away.  The Hide New Retweets tab, removes retweeted messages showing only the original messages. This is very helpful when the chat is incredibly active.  This next tool separates Twubs from other applications – on the same line as the two tools already mentioned here, on the far right of the page is Feed Speed, a drop menu of speeds to adjust the flow of the tweets you see.  On @KateNassers  #PeopleSkills chat, I use this in Slower setting to make sure I can keep up with all the tweets.  Another helpful button on Twubs is the Pause button.  During chats I’ll use the pause button to stop the flow of tweets while I formulate my answer to the questions being asked, or to browse thru previous tweets scanning for something to ReTweet (RT).

TweetChat

The unique aspect of Tweet Chat is the ability to Highlight and Block people.  I’ve used this to highlight the chat host to be sure I’ll see the questions and comments they are making to the group, and to RT the questions to help spread the conversation not only to the chat but to anyone in my Twitter audience. Blocking allows you not to see the tweets of a specific user who’s comment may be off topic or abusive in some manner.  Tweet Chat does have a Pause button – they call it Start – select this to start or stop the flow of the chat.

Other options to take part in Twitter Chats are to create a column in Hootsuite, TweetDeck or search results on Twitter based on the Keyword of the chat. Ex: #GaryLoperTwitterParty .

A challenge in using these last suggestions is that the hashtag is not automatically entered into the tweet and you have to refresh the stream to stay current in the chat.  Including the hashtag is vital in your tweets to stay in the conversations and it allows others in the chat to see your message.  Without the hashtag your message will be posted as any other tweet in your stream, dramatically reducing the effectiveness of the chat for you.

Both Twubs and TweetChat auto-inputs the hashtag and provide a character count remaining for you to compose your message.

Taking part in Twitter Chats is a tremendous way to meet new people, gather new ideas, create new relationships or partnerships with people who share your interests and passions.

Check out the list of Twitter Chats, http://www.gnosisarts.com/home/Tweetchat_Wiki/By_Day  and schedule time to introduce yourself to a different level of Twitter and boldly go where you’d never thought Twitter could take you.

An incredible way to practice your Twitter Chat skills is to come to my #GaryLoperTwitterParty on September 7^th, 2013 starting at 12 pm ET.  There will be a number of activities designed to help you expand your audience, connect with others, hear some incredible Twitter Stories, win prizes and more.  Be sure to follow me on Twitter @GaryLoper for updates.

Need help determining your best Twitter strategy to attract new followers or generating traffic to your site?  Schedule a 30-minute Strategy call with me to help you Build Better Relationship & Business on Twitter.  A $100 value for only $25. 

Happy Tweeting!