Why does every business on social media offer a webinar these days? Because they are a good way to position yourself as a thought leader, bring in revenue (through selling an additional service or course), connect with your audience, and help provide them with the answers they need. You’ll see all kinds, but tech talk topics seem to dominate. We’ll give you plenty of ideas, but first, let’s discuss why.
Blame COVID, a struggling economy, a loss of hope, or countless other things, but the truth of the matter is that people are looking for answers and they’re turning online to get the much-needed solutions. This is true of your business members as well.
Whether you have decided to create your own chamber course or simply want to host a lunch & learn, and you’re looking for topics, one of the most valued these days is tech. People don’t know where to turn to find the answers they need to tech problems or to learn more about what the future will hold. What tech skills do they need to embrace for a more efficient use of their resources?
You can fill that need by creating learning opportunities and offering tech talk topics to your members. Some chambers have the expertise to put these sessions on using staff knowledge, while others will turn to experts to facilitate the learning.
Whatever you decide works best for your chamber, affordable education can be a strong driver for renewing chamber dues. It’s something that’s hard to do for themselves and is of great value to their employees.
In this article, we’ll get you started with the top tech talk topic (say that three times fast!) ideas that are likely on your members’ minds or should be.
But before we do, let’s talk format.
Ways to Use Learning at Your Chamber
There are many ways to serve the community through learning. Some require a minimal investment of time, creating a one-off session, and others require more planning. Knowing what your audience wants and needs can help you decide what level of investment is best for your chamber.
When looking into educational options you should consider these platform types:
- Courses on specific topics (like Social Media 101).
This requires creating multiple chapters or weeks of content. It is one of the largest time and resource investments but also can provide the largest return and revenue. After the materials are created, the course could be automated and wouldn’t require live sessions unless you wanted to host them. - Webinars.
This learning opportunity could occur as a one-off or as part of a series. Webinars can be pre-recorded or live. You can use them as a free lead magnet in return for contact information or as a platform to sell an additional product or service.
Webinars offer a good way to share your expertise (or that of your presenter) and to connect with your audience. They’re also ideal for helping to accommodate busy schedules because people can sign up and view the recording if they’re unable to attend. You can also add the recording to a video library or YouTube channel. - Live streams.
This learning opportunity is much like a webinar but with the excitement of live streaming. There are no edits or re-dos when you’re live, but these sessions have an energy that is unequaled and allow for interaction and on-the-fly shaping of the content based on the interests of your audience. - Quick-hit videos.
People are busy these days. Many professionals just want some quick learning. A 3-minute or less video that you publish once a week can be a great way to provide educational tips that fit into anyone’s schedule. - Virtual conferences.
Some groups gather top speakers in a variety of areas on a single topic (like Future Proofing Your Business) and offer a day or multi-day learning opportunities. Some conferences are free to attend, while others are a source of revenue. There are hybrid versions as well that offer free basic options and additional paid learning or VIP experiences. This requires a lot of coordination but can have a big impact. - Podcast.
Podcasting has become really popular over the past ten years. But one piece of advice before you take it on–if you can’t commit, quit before you start. A popular podcast must be consistently produced if you want to become part of a listener’s habit. According to Amplifi Media, nearly half of all podcasts (44%) have produced only 3 or fewer episodes. Unless those episodes are evergreen, unique and go viral, your podcast won’t get sustained traffic or listeners.
Luckily, with podcasts there are many ways to generate content. You can post a monologue where you share tips with your audience, interview experts in various fields, read blog posts written by experts (after you get permission, of course), or play audio clips (of popular business leaders, for instance). - Lunch & Learns.
This is one of the most popular with chambers. Bring in an expert on a selected topic, serve lunch, and provide for some networking time.
50 Tech Talk Topics for Chamber Programming
All these learning components require one thing–a hot topic!
As we mentioned earlier, tech is a terrific topic to talk about because a vast majority of your business members probably feel lost and don’t know where to start. They don’t know what they don’t know.
Tech is constantly evolving so topics are endless. You can also customize the topics for different industries you serve like “Top Tech for Restaurants” or “Productivity Apps You Need as a Service Provider.”
Your members are also not all at the same level of knowledge. Just as you might host a Social Media 101 class, you may also get traction out of future prediction/trend seminars or addressing goals with social media like “Leveraging the Power Behind Your First 1,000 Followers.”
Want to immerse yourself in the potential for this topic? Read, or at least find a good summary, of Kevin Kelly’s New York Times best-seller “The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future.”
Here are 50 tech talk topics you can use for your chamber programs.
Some are cutting-edge, while others have been around a while (just like your members). Before launching any of them, it’s important to have a good understanding of the interests and needs of your members and their staff.
- Cybersecurity: What You Need to Know but Didn’t Know to Ask
- How to Create a Podcast for Your Business
- Using AI to Improve Your Productivity (see our article on ChatGPT for chambers for inspiration)
- Understanding Copyright Issues with AI
- The Dark Side of AI
- Must-have Security Measures When You Have Work-from-home Employees
- How to Use AI Technology to Automate Routine Tasks, Analyze Data, and Personalize Customer Interactions
- Cybersecurity on a Shoestring Budget (any tech talk topic ending with “On a Shoestring Budget” is a good idea)
- Cybersecurity Best Practices for Small Businesses: Protecting Your Data and Reputation
- Social Media Marketing Strategies for Small Businesses: Reaching Your Audience Online
- Mobile Optimization: Making Your Website and Online Presence Mobile-Friendly
- Digital Transformation for Small Businesses: Embracing Change and Staying Competitive
- E-Commerce Strategies for Small Businesses: Building an Online Store and Reaching Customers
- Data Analytics for Small Businesses: Using Data to Drive Business Decisions
- Website Design and Development for Small Businesses: Creating an Effective Online Presence
- Video Marketing for Small Businesses: Using Video to Promote Your Brand and Engage Customer.
- Leveraging Tech for Greater Revenue
- Top Tech Tools to Improve Customer Satisfaction
- E-commerce: Best Practices for Selling Online and Reaching More Customers
- How AI is Changing SEO
- SEO Basics to Improve Local Listings
- Creating a Lead Magnet for Your Business (show them how and give examples/ideas)
- Website Design and Development: Tips for Creating a User-Friendly and Effective Website
- Online Advertising: How to Effectively Advertise Your Small Business in a Digital World
- Best Tech Tools for Someone Who Doesn’t Want to Pay for Them
- Best AI Tools to Meet Your Goals (paid and free)
- Acing Email Marketing
- # Things You Should Be Doing in Your Business by 2025
- Cloud Computing: why the industry has grown $168 billion in 2 years
- Work Management Tools Your Team Needs
- Engagement Tools for Remote Workers
- Stop Managing Everything in Excel (there are more efficient options)
- Small Businesses: Cybercriminals New Favorite Thing
- # Ways Automation Will Transform Your Business
- Leveraging the Influencers
- Measuring Productivity of Work-from-home Teams
- Everything You Need to Know About PPC Advertising
- Tools to Help You Run a Better Online Contest
- Engagement Tools for Your Business
- # Tech Improvements You May Have Missed Post-COVID
- Pulling Your Online Life Together (We use a lot of disparate tools. This topic would show you how to tie them all in for greater efficiency.)
- The Hottest Tech Jobs in the Next Five Years That Aren’t Really a Thing Now
- Using AI in Design
- Mastering Canva to Look Like a Pro Designer
- Online Sources for Business Help (where to find designers, writers, admins, tax help, etc.)
- Develop Soft Skills (course)
- Project Management Software for Small Operations
- Tools to Become a Better Business Writer
- Using Tech for Better Audience Insights
- Tech Tools for People Who Hate Tech
Keep in mind with all these tech talk topics, the title sells it. People will decide to take your course or join your webinar largely based on your title and bullet points. Make them as effective as possible by getting to the heart of the problem and solution and explaining what’s in it for them in a concise way. A little humor can grab attention as well.
Need some help creating attention-grabbing titles? Ask ChatGPT or other AI tool such as TubeRanker.com YouTube title generator.
Creating Additional Value
Once you’ve started generating your tech talks, you can start repurposing the content to create blog posts, infographics and other materials to market your tech learning opportunities as well. Plus, you can offer different levels of knowledge and learning opportunities based on free or paid options. Each of these can be customized to fit the needs of your audience.
Taking on the education of your members is not a quick win. It requires a lot of resource investment but it also opens up opportunities to work with subject matter experts in your area who could help the chamber grow and bring in new members, while also giving the speaker the opportunity to gain greater exposure to the chamber audience. A win for everyone.
