Brain Vibe

marketing muses to stay engaged

Social Media Truth: You Are Who You Are

I frequently read, as I’m sure you have, all the blog posts on the various social media personalities.  In most cases they are how-to-not guides in interaction; a witty, snarky, and way to insightful magnifying glass on how we behave, and behave badly in our online world.  I’ve actually been a bit of a party to this in early posts of social media ettiquette, I mean it is so easy to, right?

It is, of course, our nature to read these personality descriptions and say, “No way.  That isn’t me.  Not even close.  I never do that.  And, even if I do I have very good reason to!”  Well, unfortunately, it is exactly you, me, them.  Even the best, the leaders in social media (you and they know who they are), are navel gazers, voyeurs, and self promoters.  At the end of the day, social media is a  bit creepy.  It is creating new personality disorders.  Feeling a bit like Sybil?

Rather than getting too serious about whether I fit a personality and if I am “doing it right”, I tend to take these lists for what they are, self deprecating humor.

Here is a list of those that I like:

There is really only one rule – there are no rules.  Bring your authentic self to the table.  It makes things so much more interesting.  If people don’t like it, they’ll ignore you.

What lists do you like?  Who are you?

Filed under: personal brand, social media

A Word on Communicating

You been building up your personal brand through your career experience and now through social media.  It’s time to take that on the road.  Are you ready?

Public Speaking Personal Brand

I’ve been listening to a lot of webinars, watching YouTube clips of seminars, and attending seminars of late.  Speakers and topics are across a wide range from highly technical to media gurus.  What never fails to surprise me is how very few people that speak publicly, can do it well.  

Today when personal branding is getting all the buzz and it is more important than ever to promote yourself, it isn’t enough to stay behind a blog, comment, a tweet, or online network.  You still have to get out there and speak whether it is in front of event attendees, a meeting, or a job interview.    You can be the smartest one in the room, you can have the best information, but if you can’t deliver it without boring your audience, who cares?

Like it or not, in public speaking, image matters.  Poor delivery ruins your credibility.

20 Ways to Improve your Public Speaking

  1. Know what your audience should walk away with
  2. Tell a story
  3. Powerpoint decks are not your note cards or speech, they are your props
  4. Talk to your audience, not at them
  5. For large groups, pick a few people to focus on
  6. Be passionate about your topic
  7. Include stories and humor
  8. Interact with audience by asking them questions
  9. Get out from behind the podium
  10. Don’t read your slides, this is not a bedtime story
  11. Inject personality into your speaking, ditch the monotone
  12. Speak up
  13. 75% presentation, 25% Q&A/discussion
  14. Know your audience, research who is attending
  15. It is about the topic, not the sales pitch
  16. Enjoy yourself, smile
  17. Wear comfortable, but appropriate, clothes and shoes
  18. Be concise
  19. Tell people something they don’t already know
  20. Be prepared for the questions, anticipate what will be asked

Filed under: b2b, communication, personal brand, , , , , , , , , , ,

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