How to introduce yourself

This week I’m pleased to share a guest article from a top performer – my friend, Duff Watkins. I urge you to read the article.   How to Introduce Yourself Anytime, Anywhere, to Anybody in the Right Way. Duff has been mentoring people in their careers for 25+ years– from onboarding to outplacement, from public blue-chip companies to professional sport teams.  His Accelerate Performance program guides new leaders to achieve in 90 days instead of 9 months. Please check out Duff’s work at ExecSearch International.

Own the Conversation

This statement from Duff’s post is worth repeating. ‘It’s your responsibility to introduce yourself effectively. If you can’t be bothered to communicate clearly what you do, why should your listener be bothered to remember you.’  Aim in the next seven days to be more articulate in introducing yourself.
p.s. Check out this post entitled: Networking techniques- ‘how to’. #You might want to trial my Confident Personal Communication video learning programme because it will give you practical techniques to ‘Own the Conversation’.

Video of Russell Crowe – the voice that grips you

Of all the voices of male motion picture actors, Russell Crowe’s earthy, unpretentious voice is the one that grips you, viscerally – and doesn’t let you go until he stops speaking. You’ll experience that grip in a 53:30 minute interview of Crowe by Charlie Rose. Here are other thoughts about, and what resonated with me about, the interview: -I’ve shared this thought before but it’s worth repeating. Like many other great communicators, Crowe is all of one piece. His inner evaluation fits his outer evaluation. That’s why he comes across as genuine. This is no artifice. -Watch the 20:19 > 21:56 segment as Crowe (the director) talks about how he takes a cast through his preparation regimen and platform for creating a film. The regimen is a ten day physical, emotional and intellectual ‘boot camp’. What struck me about the boot camp was its depth and breadth, and how Crowe in the camp created a standard of performance to rise to. Consider your last major pitch for business. How did your preparation with your pitch team compare with Crowe’s boot camp? Did you create a standard for the pitch team to rise to? Now I’m not suggesting that you have your team do gun shooting practice for every pitch. But considering that many pitches are ‘winged’, the extra effort you put in could mean the difference between winning the pitch and placing second. A good mantra to repeat during your pitch preparation is:

‘What else could we do, that our competitors won’t do?’

-Crowe uses a turn of phrase when comparing directing a movie to gazing at the night sky. Namely, ‘The more you look at it, the more you can see.’ -For South Sydney National Rugby League supporters, as well as for vignettes about media tycoon Kerry Packer watch at the 36:48 > 44:00 minute segment. -Crowe tears up when discussing his body of work. Watch the 51:37 > 52:00 minute segment which ends with ‘I do my very best everyday’.

Here is the LINK to the clip.

Own the Conversation

I think we all can agree that there is a degree of pretension in corporate life. Executives who take themselves too seriously. Executives who couch their real thoughts behind a veneer. Who, in effect, watch themselves as they speak to make sure they’re making the ‘right’ impression. Obviously you need to be aware of the politics in your organisation and know what behaviours get rewarded and what behaviours get punished. Still, with Crowe as an exemplar, for the next seven days, aim to lighten-up in one of your interactions. Speak with out pretension. Reflect on the impact of doing that on the other person- and on how it made you feel.
p.s Check out this post Learning from John Wayne’s body language. #You might want to trial my Confident Personal Communication video learning programme because it will give you practical techniques to ‘Own the Conversation’.

Here’s how to worksmith an important message

‘These are the times that try men’s souls’. Thomas Paine This month’s theme is ‘Gandhi month’. Last week I shared a Gandhi’s quotation about choosing his written words, very carefully. Here is the quotation. ‘To be true to my faith therefore, I may not write in anger or malice. I may not write idly. I may not write merely to excite passion. The reader can have no idea of the restraint I have to exercise from week to week in the choice of topics and my vocabulary. It is training for me. It enables me to peep into myself and to make discoveries of my weaknesses. Often my vanity dictates a smart expression or my anger a harsh adjective. It is a terrible ordeal but a fine exercise to remove these weeds.’  (from Mahatma Gandhi – The Great Communicator). Why do I bring this up? I’d suggest that Thomas Paine, in constructing the words and syntax of his above famous quotation, would have also had an ordeal. Perhaps he had to show restraint in his choice of topic and vocabulary. Perhaps he had to avoid a smart expression or remove a harsh adjective. Paine’s quotation could be expressed in many ways. For example: ‘Men’s souls are tried by these times. These are trying times for the souls of men. Times like these try men’s souls. These times try men’s souls. Trying times for men’s souls are these.’ However, none of these variations expresses the thought better than Paine’s version. Why do I bring this up? To encourage you to exercise more restraint in your choice of spoken (and written) words. To take a moment to consider what words, voice tone and body language would have the best influence with a person. One definition of effective communication is saying the right thing, to the right person, at the right time, at the right place, in the right manner, for the right reason. Now it may not be possible to get all those aspects in alignment. But by taking a moment to stop and think . . . . before you speak you’ll improve the odds of achieving the influence and/or outcome that you want.

Own the Conversation

Here’s a recommended task for the next seven days.
  1. Consider a simple message that you need to deliver to a person. Consider the best time, place, manner and words to best convey the message.
  2. Take time to wordsmith the sentence(s) – the words and the syntax.
  3. Practice your delivery to capture the right tone.
  4. Then deliver the message.
  5. Reflect on the impact of the message and the worth of taking some extra time in crafting it.
p.s Check out this post entitled: Be Bold. No one honours the timid.

Gandhi’s example of what it takes to be a great communicator

As Mahatma Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born in the month of October ( 2 October 1869) this month’s theme will be Gandhi month. The focus will be aligned with Gandhi’s tenets of simplicity and congruency of communication. To warm you up for the month, here are quotations and ideas to wash over you. ‘He (Gandhi) recognized that communication is the most effective tool to shape opinion and mobilize popular support.’ (reference)Continue reading