It seems like all the cool kids today are hosting or listening to Twitter Spaces. It's like a podcast, but you have the opportunity to listen live with your friends and maybe even ask questions or contribute. It's not exactly straight forward to have guests on your space and I find myself sharing directions repeatedly. Hopefully, this post will save you and me both time as we organize future spaces.

Provide Clear Directions for Your Guest(s)

Here are some of the details I provide:

We plan on recording this. If you're not comfortable with that, please let me know.

• Please join from a mobile device and, if you can, with headphones. You cannot speak if you join from a non-mobile device.
• I'll start the space from {X} account, and I'll join separately as a cohost.
• If you are willing to, please share with your communities.
• When you join the space, I'll send you a request to join as a speaker after you join the space. Please accept that request. A best practice is usually to stay muted unless you've been asked a question or want to share.
• I try to add notes and resources from our conversation as a thread as we talk. Feel free to share any resources you'd like me to include.
• I'll keep my Twitter DMs open. If you have any questions from now until then, please feel free to ask.

Send Screenshots with Directions for First-Time Speakers

Joining a Twitter Space as a speaker can be confusing. There's definitely work to be done on the user experience aspect of things. Sharing clear screenshots can help clarify the process.

Additional Considerations

• I always recommend sending a google calendar invite. It ensures that folks block off the time in the schedule and you can include the link to the space.

• Touch base with your guests shortly before the Space to verify you're on the same page.

• Ask your guests if they are ok with the title of the space and the topic progression. Because it's a virtual space without video, it can be hard to tell when a guest is uncomfortable. Clearing this information beforehand will help to ensure a more positive experience for everyone.

• If you have multiple guests, clear communication becomes even more important.

• If you invite audience members up to speak, make the directions clear. Are they there to ask questions? Are they there to share their experiences? Are they there to come on up and answer the questions of other audience members? Will you un-invite them after they've asked there question?

Tips on External Questions that go too Far

It's almost inevitable if you open up the conversation to the audience that someone will go further than you're comfortable. I'm not going to define this because comfort zone depends on each person and what they're willing to be a part of. But, it's worth noting that you should define your limits before hand and be prepared to draw the line when things go past your comfort level.

As the host, you're in control. It's ok to draw the line if things are becoming uncomfortable. It's worth noting that this can be really hard since you don't necessarily know the people you're inviting up to speak. It's also ok to apologize if things don't go the way you anticipate. It doesn't always go right. But you can always apologize.

Feel free to share this with your Twitter guests or to rework and provide attribution as it works for you! In my mind, it makes sense to share the work that goes into these spaces to provide great benefit to the industry. If you have details on Twitter Spaces that I missed, feel free to drop them in the comments.