Twitter Spaces have become a staple inside the Web3 community. Every single day there are NFT creators, developers, and collectors get together in hundreds of Spaces to talk about their passion projects or have meaningful conversations. Sometimes these spaces are very informative and interesting, yet Spaces can often come off as a waste of time.
We chatted with Victoria West, a very talented and prolific NFT photographer, who has been running a series of successful Spaces within the Tezos community for several months now, about what makes a space interesting or worth attending.
Set the tone đź“Ł
First and foremost, you want your audience to understand what the room is about. What's being discussed? In what manner? Is this an easy going and fun chill space, an informative space, or something else serious? Are these speakers developers, artists, Â or collectors? Figuring out the vibe is important.
A good rule of thumb is to try to avoid “shilling”, which is when you to try to pitch a business or project. For example, rather than making a space about a new NFT drop and trying to sell items, they will aim the discussion to revolve around the art, the vision, how it relates to the efforts seen in the community. When we asked Victoria pointed out that her spaces are about building a community connection.
I run my rooms as more of a way to connect with the community and making connections with people, that's much more valuable than using it as a place to shill your art. -Victoria West
Interesting spaces involve discussions, not promotional launchpads. It should be approachable enough to the audience so that they're interested and engaged without needing deep and insider knowledge. Keeping things too technical is a great way for your audience to fall asleep.
A common point between Twitter Spaces that lack substance is that discussions doesn’t give anything back to the audience. Instead, it can feel aimless while speakers come off as insiders. Make sure you have topics ready that will let the speakers shine.
Not a business
Nobody wants to be pitched a business. Many Spaces are run by people affiliated with corporations and NFT projects. This can be fine, but if the topic of the space becomes the project itself, it can easily come off as self-serving. Most people don't enjoy infomercials.
According to Victoria, the best spaces are usually either fun or informative. You’ve got a winning combination if you manage to pull off both! To ensure this, make sure your speakers are diverse. If all the speakers share the same opinion about everything, it's not likely to lead to people finding the discussions engaging.
At the minimum, have a loose agenda for each Space. For example, talk about current events, a new art trend, or new technique. Keep nurturing authentic conversations, and invite people who are subject matter experts. If it feels slightly outside of your comfort zone, that might be a good thing!
Same place, same time ⌚
At any given moment, hundreds of Twitter Spaces can take place, making it difficult to know who to follow. Finding interesting discussions can sometimes feel like searching for a good radio station and landing on a good radio host.
Having recognizable names and faces at a regular time helps with that. This doesn't mean you need rock stars in every space, but you do need interesting speakers. If you can build a repertoire with the regular hosts and know the general tone of the room, you'll have an easier time bringing people back.
Having regular listeners also makes it easier for them to eventually come up and become speakers. This helps with having a regular flow of interesting new angles and points of discussion. Inversely, people who aren’t regulars are easier to identify, which helps with getting a sense of who might be a drive-by troll.
Trolls usually aren't following you or any of your friends, so if someone's requesting to come on stage that I don't recognize, I always check their profile first. -Victoria West
Make sure you're thinking about time zones, too. For North American hosts, make sure you think about Europe and Asia – your morning is their evening. Do you want to cater to them as well? Do you want to fit in their weekday schedule, or the weekend? Whatever your strategy is, make sure you’re accessible to the people you want.
Think about inclusion
While having regular hosts and an overall tone (ex: “Totally Uninformed Web3 Opinions”) on a regular schedule is important, you also want to ensure diversity, otherwise things are likely to get stale very quickly. Think about gender balance,  subject matter expertise, and cultural views. Would your space gain value by making sure someone from another background than yours is heard?
You also want to regularly rotate between your speakers. Make sure everyone gets to talk, rather than letting a single voice dominate the conversation. This also applies to spaces that have a guest star. Imagine having someone like Gary Vee in your space – you could be tempted to run the space and let him monologue for an hour, but it would probably be more interesting to have people pop in and ask questions or have others on stage with contrarian viewpoints.
Try to make the discussions fun and/or interesting. At the end of the day, people will remember the vibes, and maybe one or two other important takeaways. If you can ensure that every discussion has a moment that feels unique and memorable, people will want to join again.
Find your voice 🎤
There is a really low bar to hosting a Twitter Space. It can be a fun way to both have discussions with friends and create a sense of community. The difficult part is fostering the conversation while remaining authentic. Try to find your favorite hosts and your favorite spaces. Find the hosts and spaces you like the most, and think about why. Find your voice and create something that matters to you, and hopefully to others.
We'd like to thank Victoria again for chatting with us! Make sure you're notifications are turned on for her so you can tune into her next space, and definitely check out the community spotlight article we ran on her.