In today’s ever-changing and increasingly-competitive business landscape, it’s no longer enough to define your company’s brand, you’ve got to also develop your own personal brand.
Beyond staying ahead of the pack, there are other reasons you should work on your personal brand:
Establish Your Credibility
Your personal brand is your own unique value proposition. What value are you consistently giving your followers? The more genuine value you give, the more trust and credibility you gain. And, as any industry leader will tell you, trust is often your best and most cost-effective form of advertising. Word travels fast when followers become your personal brand ambassadors.
Grow Your Network
Growing your network is how you open up avenues of new possibilities. A strong personal brand is like a powerful magnet; it will attract the right people who can help you along your career path.
Attract More Opportunities
And as your network grows, so do your chances of running into opportunities. These opportunities could be a joint venture, an investment, new job opportunity or a customer referral. The stronger your personal brand, the more successful you become, and others will want to tap into that success.
Always Be “In Demand”
Developing a magnetic personal brand is one of the surest ways to stay busy. You and your services will always be in demand, and that type of security can offer peace of mind in an age when downsizing and financial collapse is a common occurence.
The bottom line is, your personal brand is your greatest business asset and can mean the difference between failure and long-term success. The stronger your personal brand, the bigger your network, the more opportunities come your way, the more credibility you have and the more in demand you and your services will be.
Public Speaking: The Most Powerful Way to Enhance Your Personal Brand
There are few better ways to enhance your personal brand than through a public speaking engagement. Sharing your expertise in front of an audience is a terrific way to establish yourself as a thought leader and expand your industry influence.
But what if you are new to public speaking and haven’t really developed a speaking style yet? The following tips can help you develop a speaking style that will enhance your personal brand.
Highlight Your Personal Values
When drilling down to determine what your expertise is, avoid generalities. Be specific and, more importantly, make sure you highlight your personal values. For instance, instead of saying, “I’m good at sales and marketing” (anyone can say that), brainstorm to come up with the unique value you offer within your expertise. “I help entrepreneurs develop marketing strategies that leverage their passion and insight.”
Be a Visual Presenter
Your audience has come to listen to you speak and learn from you. They don’t feel like reading a PowerPoint presentation heavy with text. Be sure to rely more on images and video to support your message. For those slides that do contain text, try and limit it to no more than 10 words per slide. Keep it clean and easy to read.
Make Sure Takeaways are Clear
Your audience won’t remember everything you say, and they’re not supposed to anyway. They are supposed to remember the most important bits, and those bits are your takeaways. It’s important to clearly identify your takeaways. A good idea is to end each section of your speech with the key points, and then end your entire speech with a wrap-up of these key points.
Tell Stories
It’s important to remember that the people sitting in those seats are real people with hopes, dreams and emotions. The best way to connect with them is by sharing stories that speak deeply to them. When you can evoke an emotional response in your audience, you capture their attention and become memorable.
Be Yourself
One of the biggest mistakes new speakers make is to try and be a “perfect” presenter. Those don’t exist, so don’t waste your time or energy. Remember, you’re really trying to enhance your personal brand. To do that, you must be yourself – and to do THAT – you must be human. Be candid, go “off script” and don’t be afraid to “mess up.” Your audience doesn’t want perfection, they want a person they can connect with and learn from.
In an age where consumers demand to be engaged and no longer tolerate blatant selling, personal branding has become the key to building trust and making personal connections with your audience. If you would like to enhance your personal brand, public speaking is one of the most powerful and effective ways to do it. By following these public speaking guidelines you’ll be able to develop a unique speaking style that establishes you as an industry leader.
