(Originally published at Greater Democracy.)

Over on Full Circle Online Interaction Blog, Nancy White asks, “How should we select our Keynote speakers?” She points to this blog post where Andrew observes, “Sitting in conferences I have often looked around at the audience and thought about the incredible opportunity for discovery which lies within”.

When I first read these posts, I thought of conferences I’ve been to where the keynote speaker or the panelists are sitting in front of a large screen with an online chat behind them. There have been great discussions that have taken place in such chats. Take a look at the Personal Democracy Forum Backchat for a good example.

My thought is that the best Keynote speakers, and for that matter the best leaders of any sort are likely to be those that can work well with a public backchat going on.