"How do you get executives involved in using social media themselves? How do I make it relevant for them and their business initiatives? And how do I show them value for participating right away? " Our social media training team is approached regularly with questions like these in hopes that there is a simple formula to include each executive into the social stream and as quickly as possible.

Are you finding yourself in the same situation? Know that you are not alone. Much of the research I continue to read indicates that there is a growing interest among executives to use social media, but we still have a ways to go.

To help make it easier, we would like to invite you to a special "Let's Chat! Social Media Training Program Series" Cisco executive social media panel USTREAM broadcast we are hosting on April 3^rd, from 9-9:45am PT. Cisco executives, with social participation ranging from starting out to seasoned, will share their insights. They will share the reasons they decided to start using social media, what they've experienced, and advice for peers and teams.

In addition to the questions we will ask the executive panelists, we want to open it up to you as well! Do you have questions related to this topic you would like to ask these executives? And are there other areas regarding executives and their social media participation you are interested in learning more about?

Join in the conversation using the#ciscosmt hashtag starting now and during this live broadcast. We'll do our best to pose your questions to the executive panelists. And follow the#ciscosmt hashtag for more details.

In the meantime, here are some tips to get executives involved in social media. Are there other best practices you find helpful when encouraging executives' participation in social media?

Getting Buy-In Tips

• Identify with the executive's mindset
• Show the executive the money or bandwidth savings
• Outline ways to capture metrics
• Set realistic expectations
• Develop short- and long-term strategies

Involvement Tips

• Take small steps, starting out with listening to keywords to get a feel for the conversation
• Encourage executives to participate in existing social channels to get started, even practicing in internal platforms first
• Look for ways to make social media use relevant to their business needs and areas of interest
• Show them examples of other peers that are using social media and its value as well as ways they can incorporate participation into their regular routine
• Expand awareness around building personal reputations and integrating with business initiatives
• Help executives participate directly rather than participating for them
• Provide executive supporting teams with the proper training and resources
• Monitor participation and offer helpful tips and coaching along the way

If you have any questions or are interested in other types of social media training, check out our new complimentary Cisco Social Media Training Program and follow the#ciscosmt hashtag.  To request  customized one-on-one team training sessions, email [email protected].