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“Creating Successful Leaders”

Tag Archives: Personal Branding

May 1, 2013 Telling A Story With Your Presentation

Exciting new technologies are now available which turn a droll presentation into something truly captivating. Let’s face it: Power Point has been with us since Pagers. It’s probably fair to say that sitting through meetings full of pie charts, bar graphs and poorly-cropped clip art is getting kind of old.

Great Presentations Tell A Story

Data is vitally important to business. We all know it, but it’s tough to get interested in plain old numbers. To understand data, we need to apply it, put it in terms that make sense. A good presentation therefore rests upon your ability to explain the hows and whys of the data you’re sharing.

New interactive applications allow for you to do this in a manner that tells the story behind the data, gives it context, and clearly shows how it relates to each and every member of the team.

Prezi is a website which provides interactive templates that lead the viewer through a story. Here’s an example:

Their basic templates and services are free, and you can upgrade to even more extravagant applications with a fee. Here’s their website: http://prezi.com/

But remember, tools like Prezi are only as good as you make them. There’s quite a bit of potential in interactive presentations, but with said potential is also the risk of going overboard. Here are three tips to keep in mind when drafting your presentation.

Use Less Than You Think

Less motion, fewer pictures, fewer flashy effects. You want to keep your viewers tuned in the entire time, and overstimulating them will turn them off to your message. The effect of any attention-grabbing techniques should always be intentional, which leads me to point two…

Highlight The Data With Attention-grabbers

Bring attention to the data you’re presenting with motion, images and other dynamic visual techniques. Do this intentionally and sparingly to highten the overall impact of the data. Finally…

Keep The Story In The Viewer’s Mind Throughout

Weave the data into a larger narrative. Lead the viewer from one point of data to the next in logical, incremental steps. Wrap the presentation up with a larger application of said data and your own conclusions. Perhaps open it up for discussion so others have a chance to verbalize their thoughts. I make these suggestions–keeping the data within a narrative, applying it, and relinquishing the floor–for one simple reason: doing these things will help the audience remember your presentation long after you’ve finished. This is the goal of any presentation. You want to make an impact on your audience past the 20 minutes or so of the time they give you. 

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March 7, 2012 5 Minute Personal Branding Pep Talk

By Margaret Smith, UXL:
SPEAKER | CAREER COACH | CERTIFIED INSIGHTS DISCOVERY PRACTITIONER

 

Recently, I led a couple of workshops at the St. Kate’s Leadership Conference, where I had the great opportunity to speak to large groups of dynamic women of all ages and professions about the importance of personal branding.

The workshops went really well, and I think that everyone had an “ah-ha moment” that day, little or large, that helped them to improve their brand and the way they promote their skills and goals.

At the end of the workshop, most of the women were generous enough to jot down some of their key takeaways. As I read through the attendee responses, I realized that they would make a really great abbreviated personal branding pep talk.

So, without wasting any more time, here are some of the most important pointers:

>> Be consistent in your actions in order to be seen in a way that aligns to your brand.

>> You are remembered more for the  questions you ask than the answers you give.

>> Personal brands evolve, but a deeper understanding of your goals keeps you grounded.

>> Your personal brand supports your leadership brand and in turn supports your company brand.

>> Realize your own personal branding potential and use this energy to build your brand the way you envision it.

>> Nothing is more important than reviewing your daily activities and questioning whether they support your personal brand.

>> Tasks that seem cumbersome or tedious can be transformed into opportunities to showcase my skills and brand.

Remember, no empire is built overnight, just as no brand is transformed in a day—baby steps, baby steps!

Perhaps today will be the day that you take five minutes to write down those daily tasks and question their place in your brand or finally create a plan of attack.

I find that many of us already know most of the things we need to do. Sometimes all that is missing is a specific plan to finally do it. The great news? I can help you with that.  Contact me today to learn how I can help you develop a strategy to start showcasing your skills and receiving the projects you do best.

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November 30, 2011 How to DO LESS and Improve Your Career

By Margaret Smith
SPEAKER | CAREER COACH | CERTIFIED INSIGHTS DISCOVERY PRACTITIONER
Contrary to what you may expect, promoting the talents of others can actually help to showcase your own skills and strengthen your brand. This magical habit is called delegation, and it’s an essential tool to propelling your own career, improving results, developing your personal brand, and keeping your workload under control.

Let’s all start by taking a moment to acknowledge the often-ignored fact: There is only a limited amount you can do, no matter how hard you work. Because we are not super-humans, it’s essential that we learn to let go sometimes.

This having been said, there is a way to get it all done, and done well: delegation. Often, delegation gets overlooked as a viable tool because it is a lot of work upfront. Instead of doing the task yourself, delegation requires you to share your insights, know-how, and expectations with others.

To Delegate, or Not to Delegate: That is the Question

When faced with a new task, don’t just jump into it right away. Instead, ask yourself, “Would this task be a worthy use of my time?” If you continue to accept projects that don’t align to, or properly utilize, your skills, you’re diluting your brand. Perhaps there is someone else who has the skills to do the task better, or who would be eager to develop skills that the task would involve?

Strategically delegating tasks to others allows you to focus on the tasks that reinforce your real skills—those you want to be known for as part of your personal brand. (If you haven’t yet considered what your personal brand is, now is the time to start!)

How to Handle the “Who?”

When considering who to delegate to, take into account the following questions:

  • What are this person’s skills and knowledge?
  • Does this person currently have space in their workload?
  • What is this person’s preferred work style?

Once you have decided on the best candidate, don’t forget to document the process. When practicing delegation, it’s extremely important to keep track of your processes to save time in the future and develop best practices that promote clarity and efficiency. Just as you, say, develop practices that keep your house clean—washing dishes after meals, placing laundry in a hamper, etc—creating processes for sharing tasks at work will cut down on confusion and clutter, not to mention saving time and preventing mistakes.

Your Challenge:

Next time you’re feeling overwhelmed by your workload, fight the urge to dive headfirst into your pile of tasks. Instead, assess these projects and consider whether or not some of them can be delegated to another member of your team instead.

Do you have any helpful tips about delegating effectively? Please share!

Interested in having a helping hand effecting change in your life, finding success in your job hunt or your career? Contact UXL Today!

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