How to Clubhouse

Clubhouse hatched in 2020 with profound relevance due to the lockdowns implemented worldwide due to Covid-19. In January 2021 I got invited. Yes, Clubhouse was invitation-only, a clever move that made everyone feel like standing in the queue for an exclusive membership club. You know, one of those, where you got to know someone who is already cool, to then eventually get invited to join the crowd.

Also, there has been a buzz about the fact that there was a chance to listen in to conversations of celebrities, and a wavering opportunity to even speak to them. I think there was a lot of interest in the news about Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg being active in rooms.

Here the basics:

How to sign up

Since Clubhouse is an invitation-based application, you need an invitation from someone who already is in the crowd. The invitation must be from a person whose phone number has been exchanged with you. The invitation message is sent via text message. You can follow the link, download the app and sign up using your phone number.

Pitfall phone number: many people have more than one phone number or you have their old phone number. So make sure, you use the correct number of the person you would like to invite.

You are on the waiting list: If you sign up without an invitation and go up on the waiting list, an alarm message appears to your friends who are already memes. If you have been a good friend, they might let you in.

Name

You can only change your name once. So be aware. A little side note: I did download the app and reserved my name (alexplesner — alexandraplesner was too long) months before I got the invitation. When I did get the invitation, I could not claim my already reserved name and had to choose a new one. Bugger, because I like keeping user names the same. so I then went for plesneralex

After you signed up

When you first enter, you can choose your interests, follow people and join conversations in open rooms.

You can upload a profile image and just like LinkedIn, your bio plays a significant role in letting people know who you are and what it is you do. Unlike other social platforms, you can’t add links. You can and should add your Twitter and Instagram accounts, making it easy for people to connect with you outside of Clubhouse, especially since there is no way to leave direct messages just yet.

As you sign up, you will receive 2 invitations that you can send out to invite friends. The more active you are on Clubhouse, the more invitations you receive to give away to people.

The lingo

The Hallway: It is the main page and a lot like being in a big club with many different rooms to choose from. Imagine walking down the hallway looking for a room that piques your interest.

Rooms: If you scroll through the Hallway you can tap on a room that you think you would enjoy listening to or contributing to the conversation and it drops you into the back of the room, in the audience, listening to the speakers. Your microphone is turned off but if you are invited to speak — after raising your hand — it automatically turns on. So keep in mind that you mute yourself if you don’t want to speak right away.

Moderator: At the top of the room you just joined, you will see any number of people’s pictures and names. The ones with a green star ✳️ next to their name are what are called moderators. A moderator on Clubhouse is just like a moderator at any event. The moderators can promote others as co-moderators, invite people on the “stage” to speak, can move people back to the “audience” in the room, can close the room, and turn the raise hands function on and off.

Pinging: 10–0 minutes before a talk and also during, we would “ping” friends who might be interested in the topics to join the room. This basically means to invite people into the room, to join the conversation.

Resetting the Room: Resetting the room when moderating a room on Clubhouse means that you pause and welcome people in. Tell them what’s happening. How nice is it when you walk into a room and a person welcomes you to join the conversation and gives a brief summary of what just has been talked about?

Clap your hands: if you press the microphone several times, so it turns on and off quickly, this is the Clubhouse equivalent to clapping your hands.

Exit: you can leave quietly by pressing the “leave quietly” button ;)

Create a room/club

At the bottom of the screen, there is a green “start a room” button. Anyone can create a room. You can also schedule a meet-up in a room in the future, by clicking the calendar button on the top.

If you created a room at the same time for 3 consecutive weeks — so we found — you are eligible to open a club.

Collaboration 1:1

I connected with Christine Lozada over a shared love to travel the world freely as a woman. She empowered me, by making me moderate my first talk with her, only on day 3 of my introvert Clubhouse life. (Thank you, Christine!)

I soon got hooked on Clubhouse and started to host a casual room on a weekly basis, inviting friends from the industry. I soon started the club Modern Women Living with my friends on a project and we invited Christine to co-moderate with us on one of our talks. It was so much fun!

Can you see how things align and connect?

Some tips and findings

• Creating meaningful content and putting in the time to build an audience is key, and it requires time and thought investment.
• Ask questions to the people in the audience.
• Find people to moderate with you.
• Summarising what people said — also summarising their questions when moderating.
• Take note of who comes into the room.
• Reset the room and welcome the newbies.
• Remind people to not fall into each other’s words.
• Ask “any other thoughts” before moving on with the conversation.
• Remember: when you get on stage — please mute yourself you are not automatically muted.
• Think about time zones.
• Go into the smaller rooms — raise your hand and say hi.
• Pull down to refresh — so the algorithm brings the room back to the top.

Ask yourself, why are you on Clubhouse.

Here some thoughts:

1. We miss hanging out with fellow creatives until we can do that again in the real world — hellooo Clubhouse!
2. Building a community.
3. Making new connections.
4. Make an impact and share knowledge (that people are leaving with “I learned something today.’”).
5. Becoming an experienced moderator.
6. Practice public speaking.
7. Positioning ourselves as experts in a certain field.

Successful moderator practice/duties /responsibilities

A week + day before the talk: Share with the upcoming room with friends who might be interested in the topics + promote via your social networks

10–0 minutes before the talk: Ping friends who might be interested in the topics

Intro: Short summary of who you are and what you are going to share, talk schedule

During the talk:
– Explain the rules and how this works.
– Give some tips for newbies.
– Remind people to follow you and the speakers for the upcoming talks.

During Q&A:
– Ask listeners if they have any questions — you can ask them to write down the questions in their bio before allowed to be invited as a speaker
– Bring up the listeners (check their profiles).
– After their questions are answered, move them off the stage eventually.
– If they get on to a different journey, navigate them back to the core of the conversation
– Summarise their question if necessary

Process

1. Message the potential guest candidates
2. Request accepted
3. Research about the candidate
4. Make a list of questions so you are prepared and able to keep the conversation flowing
5. Schedule the talk
6. Promote the talks on social media and on Clubhouse
7. Note-taking during the talk
8. Sharing summary on social media

👋 Enjoy!