YOUR PERSONAL BRAND –
I’m excited to share 5 insights to help you improve your PERSONAL BRAND!
Recently my friend Sharon Mah-Gin and I have been coaching female executives all over the world on Personal Branding and Networking. Do you remember Sharon? She’s the energetic executive recruiter who shared her Networking tips with us in two popular Talk About Talk episodes:
- 🎧 Ep.45: NETWORKING – the ideal mindset, small talk, & more
- 🎧 Ep.67: ONLINE NETWORKING – how to approach people online, LinkedIn, & more
Sharon & Andrea (pre-Covid)
We’ve enjoyed coaching executives in 🇨🇳China, 🇦🇺Australia, 🇮🇳 India, 🇸🇪Sweden, 🇬🇧the U.K., 🇳🇬Nigeria, 🇺🇸the U.S., and 🇨🇦Canada… (yes, ONLINE!)
As a coach, the most satisfying thing for me is witnessing the epiphanies experienced by these executives when they articulate their unique personal brand. Wow.
Based on these workshops, I thought I’d share with you five of the insights that resonate with these global workshop participants:
- Filter your Personal Brand
- Focus on outlier traits
- The significance of LinkedIn
- Optimize your online meeting presence
- How to introduce yourself
Let’s do this!
1️⃣ FILTER YOUR PERSONAL BRAND
How much of our personal lives should we share at work? We all have multiple roles with multiple stakeholders. We are professionals, leaders, team-mates, friends, parents, neighbors,… How can we be AUTHENTIC in each of these roles, but also professional? One word:
FILTER
image: Unsplash @ natedumlao
Instead of changing who we are, we can FILTER what elements of our identity to share, based on the context and the audience.
Thanks to messaging strategist Tom Megginson for sharing this insight with us in Talk About Talk podcast episode #62 Personal Branding & Authenticity.
Tom also highlighted
that we can mend our filter
when we mess up!
2️⃣ FOCUS ON OUTLIER TRAITS
Your “personality profile” is NOT what matters. What matters is where you’re an outlier or where you’re off the charts.
What makes you unique?
I mentioned this a few weeks ago in the newsletter focused on PERSONALITY TESTS.
My Myers-Briggs profile is ESTJ. But the truth is I’m somewhere in the middle on 3 of the 4 traits. I’m really just an “E,” an “off-the-charts extrovert.”
Considering a few other personality tests, I know I’m also an outlier in terms of conscientiousness (Big-5 personality test) and a fact-finder who’s motivated to simplify (Kolbe).
Here’s your LINK to the newsletter that lists several personality tests. My suggestion is that you skim the traits in each of these personality tests to identify where you’re an outlier. You don’t have to actually take the test! Just ask yourself:
Where are you “off the charts”?
3️⃣ THE SIGNIFICANCE OF LINKEDIN
Many of the workshop participants didn’t have an updated LinkedIn profile. Everyone in the workshop agreed we need to optimize our profiles based on these 3 insights:
- LinkedIn is the largest transparent professional network in the world. According to these statistics, there are > 722million users on LinkedIn and LinkedIn’s goal is to increase that number to 3 billion.
- Assuming that LinkedIn is just for job searching is old school! Individuals and firms are using LinkedIn to network, to sell, and to demonstrate their thought-leadership.
- When it comes to Personal Branding, think of LinkedIn as a media-rich resume that you control! You can include website links, white papers, videos, podcast episodes, and more to your profile.
Is your LinkedIn profile updated?
For more on optimizing your LinkedIn profile, check out episode #62 Optimizing your LinkedIn Profile with Andrew Jenkins.
4️⃣ OPTIMIZE YOUR ONLINE MEETING PRESENCE
Online meetings aren’t going away. It’s worth the effort to create an online meeting presence that is professional and that reinforces your personal brand. Three tips:
- Camera: Have your camera at eye level. (We don’t want to look up your nose or down on your shiny forehead!)
- Lighting: Your face should be well-lit. Make sure the light source is in front of you, not behind you. (This flexible ring-light has been a life-saver for me!)
- Background: Ensure your background looks professional. We don’t want to see your dirty dishes. We also don’t want to see your bed! (Bonus points if you add “props” that reinforce your personal brand – books, artwork, a plant, etc.)
image: Unsplash @ visuals
Have you optimized your online meeting presence?
5️⃣ HOW TO INTRODUCE YOURSELF
Several workshop participants shared their angst about formally introducing themselves, be it in an online meeting, going around a boardroom table, or at a networking event. They also shared mistakes they’ve experienced or witnessed others making when they introduce themselves, such as taking up too much airtime, sharing inappropriate information, etc.
image Unsplash @ campaign creators
Here’s a simple script to help you effectively introduce yourself:
“Present-Past-Future”
Note – it’s not chronological! But that’s why it’s effective. Here’s an example:
- PRESENT: Hi everyone. My name is ____ and I’m a senior partner at ____ where I focus primarily on ____.
- PAST: Recently I finished an engagement with ____ where we successfully ____.
- FUTURE: I’m really excited to turn my attention to this project, where we’ll leverage these insights to ____.
Present. Past. Future.
Got it?
5 INSIGHTS TO IMPROVE YOUR PERSONAL BRAND
That’s it! I hope these 5 insights help you strengthen your personal brand:
- Filter your Personal Brand
- Focus on outlier traits
- The significance of LinkedIn
- Optimize your online meeting presence
- How to introduce yourself
THANK YOU to my amazing and talented friend Sharon for partnering with me in these workshops!
Please forward this email to anyone who might appreciate insights on strengthening their personal brand. Thank you!
Have a great week.
Talk soon,
Dr. Andrea Wojnicki
Chief Talker & Communication Coach
Most Recent 🎧Podcast Episodes:
#74 – Practicing Communication Skills: BEING MINDFUL with Anne Muhlethaler
#73 – Practicing Communication Skills WITH TECHNOLOGY with Robson Beaudry
#72 – Practicing Communication Skills: WHAT IS PRACTICE? with Nadine Kelly
#71 – PERSONAL BRANDING, AUTHENTICITY & TMI with Tom Megginson
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