I’m back in the office after a wonderful trip, first to Manila for the Association of Image Consultants International (AICI) global conference and then on to Vietnam, sightseeing, sampling the wonderful food and swimming in the South China Sea.
I loved the opportunity to “dress up” for the conference gala dinner, with the theme of timeless elegance.
To see more pics – follow my Instagram page.
Normally at a conference or out networking or socialising the inevitable question, “so what do you do?” always comes up.
With a room full of image consultants, we didn’t really ask that question. Yet just this week while online with my HerBusiness network group, one woman said, “It is hard to summarise what I do without waffling on.”
Sounding reasonably coherent and not waffling on can sometimes be a bit of a challenge. It also takes a bit of practise to be able to speak a short, succinct sentence about you.
However, being able to explain what you do and how you help your target audience – in a single statement is very grounding. Not only from a face-to-face communication point of view but it can be a very clear base from which to build and communicate your brand further.
When I coach personal branding clients, we work through a formula, I call it the Personal Branding Statement to clearly define who you are and what you do.
Whether you are in business large or small or work for someone, it is essential to have clarity on your role and to be able to express that. How can a business professional promote their services and brand if they can’t succinctly say what they do?
When you’re in the spotlight can you articulate what your small business brand or personal brand stands for?
Try this formula and take a look at a video I made some time ago on how to determine your Nook – or niche.
• YOU. Describe everything you can about your personal or business brand plus your personal brand attributes and passions. Take all those adjectives and put them into a list titled – YOU.
• DO. Write down your skills and talents that you use in your role. Your action or verb words such as organise, negotiate, counsel, communicate, increase and write these words under the heading of – DO. We’ll call these two sets our input words.
• THEM. Now look at how those elements have an impact on or help your target audience to achieve their needs. This set of words is our outputs. We’ll put under the heading of – THEM. You also need to have a clear understanding of who they (your target) really are.
Start to condense these words down into a single sentence. You might have lots of similar sounding words so a Thesaurus may come in handy. Choose words that really resonate with you or perhaps you’d like to build on. Not false words or unauthentic words. We’re after a statement that really is the summary of you and what you do.
(Who) John/Jane Smith & Co is a…. (What you do) who helps …. (Them...target market) with … (what is the issue or problem I help with) ….to achieve (the final outcome).
This is an example of how I would use the above formula.
Sue Currie is a leading light, inspiring, professional (adjectives that have been used to describe me) who uses her bright, energy (more adjectives) to transform and elevate confidence through style and speaking skills, (do words) business leaders and entrepreneurs (them) to develop a stand out personal brand and professional presence. (the outcome for them)
Now that is a very long-winded sentence so to condense it down I would say:
Sue Currie helps and empowers business leaders and entrepreneurs to create a captivating personal brand that has impact and influence.
If I was out networking I might say, “I’m Sue Currie, I work with business people to develop an impactful personal brand presence.”
The tag line on my business card is … Elevating your style and speaking confidence for a captivating personal brand.
What you’re after is a clear brand statement that communicates what you in your business or career stand for and what you are bringing to world.
Do you have a clear brand statement that communicates what you stand for?
Read more about developing your personal brand, in The Secret to Your Personal Brand Revolution. Get Your Free eBook Now!
Sue Currie is an image entrepreneur who guides and empowers business leaders and entrepreneurs to have “Spotlight Confidence”. She is passionate about helping professionals elevate their personal and professional brand through her speaking, coaching and training programs on Self Brand, Style and Speaking Skills, providing a multi-faceted approach to gain high transformation for her clients.
