Today it is important to have an opening statement about yourself that distinguishes you from your competitors. Successful pitches provide the audience an insight about you, your values, your achievements and why you are the person they should hire.
These are the three critical questions to consider:
• At the end of the interview will they want to have a cup of coffee with you?
• Have your achievements made a significant difference in any organization?
• How many folks know about you and respect your reputation?
The folks who are successful in obtaining the next position and continue to move forward include these three elements in their opening piece about themselves.
They are the executives who are memorable and highly sought after in any organization.
The biggest challenge most folks face in the business world is protecting their professional brand. The most significant mistakes begin with being careless with their image. Here are the seven most common areas of neglect:
1. Lack of impact- Appearing nondescript because of poor facial expressions (lack of a warm smile)
2. Weak body language- Slouching which shows lack of confidence
3. Inappropriate clothing choices – Business casual does not mean beach wear.
4. Old fashion style shoes- Tips too round or square
5. Ragged cuticles and nails
6. Chipped nail polish for women
7. Dated hair style
Your professional brand must always appear current and appropriate for your industry. You never know whom you will meet at any given moment.
One of the biggest fashion challenges for women is selecting the right pair of shoes to complete a polished look to an ensemble.
Here are some tips:
• Wear a ballet flat with slim, hugging pants that end above the ankle
• Wear classic loafer pumps or smooth leather flats with trouser cuffed pants
• Wear boots or platforms with wide leg, loose pants.
When you pair the right shoe with these different style slacks, you will always look smart and fashionable. Check out zappos.com or Nordstrom.com to find the right shoe for you.
A presentation uniform is a set of clothing you wear only when speaking to a group.
This outfit must be in the best condition. It must also be able to relate to your audience. Here are a few tips to help guide you to make the appropriate clothing choices:
• Color- Check the color of the room so that the color you choose you will stand out and not blend into the background.
• Fit-Never too big, Not too tight
• Reveal-Never wear anything too revealing. That means no cleavage for women.
• Boldness- A tie should be distinctive but not so bold it becomes distracting.
• Appropriateness- Know what is appropriate for your group. Is a suit necessary if it is a formal presentation? Or will it be a jacket with a companion pair of slacks or skirt for an informational one?
Remember these simple tips and be remembered for your talk instead a fashion faux pas!
A personal introduction is a good way to get people to know you. Some call it the elevator speech. It is a good idea to have more than one. For example, you might have an intro prepared for business meetings, networking and one just for social situations.
The key points are:
• A business meeting: Your name, title and what you bring to the meeting
• A business networking event: Your name and what you do (no title)
• A social event: Your name and where you are from
Talking points to add to your personal introduction for:
• Networking events: A business situation you have been involved in that will get the audience to understand what you do and the impact you make
• Social events: A fun and interesting thing you are involved with; it could be a vacation or book you have read
The main purpose of your personal introduction and talking points is to get folks to get to know you in an inclusive way. When you are able to do this, it will widen your circle of influence.
Whether it is your appearance, communications or behavior, dependability is a critical factor in how you are perceived. People begin to trust you when they can count on your consistency. This does not mean you cannot change they way you look or sound but the difference must be not too far astray from your core.
For example, many times people will comment when you change your appearance, whether it is an update or a complete hair style change. Usually the comments are positive. What gets us in trouble is when the alterations are not seamless to your brand, the industry culture or the environment.
In fact, there are many folks who have been successful in business because their image has not changed or become dated. An example of this is Apple’s, Steve Jobs. His black turtleneck or T has been the same for 20 plus years.
Do not become one of the bad examples of misguided brand or image changes. Dependable, image conscious communication and behavior is the strongest example of true professionalism and in developing personal relationships.
We know all cotton fabrics wrinkle. Some, like linen, wrinkle more than others. So, we know when wearing linen our clothing will look wrinkled. However, there is no excuse for wearing wrinkled clothing that got that way because of carelessness in taking of it.
Here are some easy tips for keeping clothing wrinkle free:
• Keep items on an hanger.
• Allow clothing to hang loosely in your closet.
• Buy a wrinkle free fabric spray such as Travel Wrinkle Remover and Fabric Refresher by Austin House.
• Hang clothing in bathroom during a shower. Steam removes wrinkles.
These tips will help you remain at least 80% wrinkle free.
Wrinkled clothing shows lack of polish which is not the image we want to present.
How many of us ever see our back? Today I rode up an escalator and looked at several backs. This is what I saw:
Pants too tight
Skirts too short
Shirts half tucked in
Worn heels on both men and women
Cracked heels of folks wearing backless shoes
Bra straps showing
Matted hair
Half-dyed heads of hair (mostly around the crown of the head)
To ensure you are not one of these folks, keep the following in mind: Always look behind yourself in a full length mirror. If you don’t have one, consider purchasing one. Or have someone in your household give you a quick look over.
Looking good includes a good looking back.
The Wall Street Journal, July 7th “Keeping Your Foot Away From Your Mouth” piece,is about recent gaffes by the CEO of BP and Michelle Obama. Mishaps like these have a viral shelf life that never fades especially if they come from a notable person. “Miss-speaks” always seem to make for a press worthy situation.
Some words of caution. When you’re in a very volatile situation work from a script you can share among colleagues or a communication coach. Practice hearing yourself verbalize it at least three times. If there is a policy involved, get your statement approved by the appropriate personnel. I really believe that 90% of time gaffes are an innocent mistake.
So, get in the mental habit of practicing your talking points. It will help prevent you from using a poor choice of words at the worst possible time.
It is a challenge to remain upbeat after constantly reading about the unemployment rate and other negative news about the job market. Keeping a positive attitude is critical.
Four approaches may help you with this:
• Surround yourself with positive people.
• Maintain a balance between bad and good news.
• Keep current with your job skills (Stephen Covey’s habit about always sharpening one’s saw is critical; never become complacent in your professional development).
• Be grateful for what you do have.
A great story was recently in the New York Times
(http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/04/nyregion/04soldier.html) about Brendan Marrocco. He recovered from losing both his arms and legs.
This article highlights the four approaches above in a real life situation. One amazing aspect of Brendan’s recovery is his strong mental attitude while he worked on preparing his body for prosthetics and an arm transplant. Brendan’s positive attitude sets an example of why we all need to do the same.
