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I'll never forget the first time I had someone take pictures of my slides. The conversation had come up at couple speakers' groups, but it had not yet happened to me. My gut instinct was to get super protective and defensive… “That is my IP!” and “You need to pay for that if you’re going to use it.”
But I quickly came to invite the cameras. Because that means that they liked what I was saying and they wanted to remember it later.
A couple weeks ago, I was speaking in Orlando, and I actually saw someone pull out a Plaud device and start recording. Ironically, I was talking about how AI is everywhere and how it's being used constantly—sometimes we know it, ther times, it's being used to surveil us, record us, or even clone us.
Because I couldn’t help myself, in the room, I was talking about AI surveillnace and Flock cameras. Then I said, "And even right now in this room, I saw some AI Plaud recorders out, which is totally fine, by the way."
The reality is we live in a world where everything's being listened to and everything's being recorded. To stop worrying about who's recording it and what they're doing with your information, there's always going to be copycats. There's always going to be people that are trying to steal your information.
Where I draw the line
So the question is, what do we do as speakers and thought leaders when our content is being sliced, repurposed, reused, recorded, transcribed, and summarized by AI?
Here are a few common scenarios I am asked about, so I figured I would go through them one-by-one.
Photos. I don't mind photos. I love when people take photos, especially when they post them on social media. It's social proof. A photo is fine because that's my slide or a single idea. My slides have my branding on them, and often it drives people to my website.
Transcripts and AI summaries. I think the transcript is fine. I know some speakers that give out their transcripts as resources. AI does allow more robust summaries, but usually AI will always include the speaker name in the summary. So now your name's at the top of a paper about what you talked about. It actually adds value in that sense.
Video. Video is something I protect just a little bit more because that is part of the experience. My slides are one thing, and even the audio or the transcript's another thing, but my full onstage delivery including slide animations, the way I deliver the message, and so on, It's something I ask that people do not replay. In fact, my speaker agreement has a max of a 60-second segment ever being able to be shared.
Your whole product. Is it truly unique? The chances are it's not. As King Solomon once said, "There's nothing new under the sun," and I tend to believe that. I was at a presentation where someone had actually stolen a chart that I use, but I update annually. I had no problem because I knew that research inside and out; it was my original IP. I didn't even call her out for using that slide, but I shared my own story. I shared the more recent data.
What to do
Brand every slide. All my slides have my logo on them, so it's a great way for them to remember me and stay in contact with me.
Make capture work for you. When an audience member is signed into my session via Zunolo, they can take any photo of my slides and it then gets the full resolution slide along with any resources, links or notes on the slide if I have attached them.
Decide the terms before the talk. I think a speaker needs to decide if their content can be used for internal corporate training. If so, can it be used to train internal AI models or not? And where is that going to be distributed? How long is it going to live there?
Put a time limit on it. I don't want it to be used for more than a year because it gets outdated so fast, and I don't want someone to watch something a year later and make it seem like I don't know what I'm talking about because it's outdated. Usually if a company is using my work from a keynote internally, whether slides or videos, I limit all of it to a year because things change so much.
Put it in the contract. If they have video, I usually have it in my contract that I get the right to that footage. I do specifically say that AI may not be used in my sessions by the company. They cannot use any sort of AI recording device or my content to train their models internally or distribute it elsewhere. I do make that agreement with the meeting itself.
Record yourself. I do use my own Plaud on many of mine for a record, a transcript, etc. I'm always recording.
Know what you'll say when you see video. Usually what I'll say is, "I'm happy to give you any slides from this presentation if you reach out to me." But the way I deliver it via video, I prefer you don't use.
Name your ideas. If you Google "what is the generational pendulum" or if you ask your favorite LLM, chances are it's going to link that back to me. There are certain phrases that I use in my presentations that are unique to me. When someone tries to search for that, I often come up. They're still finding me. It anchors them to me.
Keep your material alive. I'm researching daily, I'm writing daily, I'm interviewing daily, I'm reading daily. Every time I speak, you can hear me give the same presentation twice, and it's not the same presentation, not because I am inconsistent, but because the world changes.
There's some information that you don't disclose on a main stage, and you say that for consulting.
BOTTOM LINE: I have found the more you give, the more you get. The thought leaders ultimately triumph.
Until next time,
P.S. What do you do when you see someone recording your session? I'll go first: I no longer say anything. Hit reply and tell me yours.
HONEST ADVICE FROM RYAN, SPONSORED BY HIGHLEVEL
Lessons in Action
Follow Up With the People Who Remember You
When someone takes a photo of your slide, they're telling you they want to remember what you said. The question is what happens next.
HighLevel gives you one place to keep track of the people who reach out and to follow up with them, so a photo in the audience can turn into a conversation after the event.
This is my own advice. HighLevel just sponsors me to share it, and I may earn a commission if you sign up through my link. The editorial's all mine.
