Apprentice to Business Ace your inside-out guide to personal branding is a guide to business success through self-branding, image and personal public relations. Looking good is important for you and your business and this stand-out communication and presentation guide by experts and leaders in their fields, will help you to present a confident, trustworthy, consistent and professional personal brand. It is currently available in all good book stores and throughout Officeworks in Australia. Available also on Amazon.

You can purchase your copy online here.  

Shine Communications assists you in investing in your team by providing guidance, education and training. We teach valuable skills for career growth. Our seminar and keynote topics include personal branding, public relations and media skills, image and business etiquette. This unique approach to combining personal image and branding with brand visibility helps you to shine for success.

Visit this link to learn more about our complete range of professional development programs.

One program Business Shine, business etiquette to boost your career, can be delivered as a keynote during a luncheon or as workshop for your team. Learn more here.

Coming to a town near you…I will be presenting a series of seminars and workshops for the Women in Business program for the NSW Department of State and Regional Development.

One of the guest stars on the Oprah show I watched about civility was PM Forni the author of a book called, Choosing Civility: The 25 Rules of Considerate Conduct. Inspired by his 25 points, here I reveal a number of civil behaviours that can have an effect on your personal brand particularly in a workplace or career environment.

Respect other Peoples time. This was number one complaint on Oprah and many of her audience members admitted to being guilty of being late all the time. We’re all busy. It’s not all about you. Being constantly late for meetings or even social occasions is disrespectful.

Listen and pay attention. People like to be heard and have their opinion considered. People are peeved when they are interrupted mid sentence. If you really listen and let the other person do most of the talking they’ll think you are a wonderful conversationalist.

Keep it down and rediscover silence. In this instance I’m going to refer to the mobile phone. Common complaints are talking too loud, novelty/annoying ring tones, interrupting meetings, lunches etc by talking to the caller. Doesn’t hurt to turn it off occasionally.

Respect other people’s space. Particularly in an open office environment. Are you the one eating smelly food at your desk? Hot desk left neat and tidy? What’s the state of the fridge or kitchen area? Does your desk or place of work say organised professional?

Speak kindly. Good manners are simply kindness and care. It is a bit like the word thank you. I am sure you always do say thank you, but many others don’t. According to one of my readers, she was surprised to receive no acknowledgement from students when she wrote glowing references for them and one which helped a girl get the job of her dreams. Not a word. Do send thank you notes often.

Accept and give praise. A reader said, “I have just come away from my local Woolies where I encountered a really courteous and charming young man. I complimented him on his manners and told his boss too. I left several smiling faces.”  Often we readily complain rather than compliment.

Some of these points have been compiled using comments from a number of Communiqué readers. There are of course many more points to consider. Please keep your comments going. I encourage you to share your thoughts by posting a message on my blog.

Sue Currie blog.