How to approach the job market with confidence

Warning: This is a longish post. It is long because there are specific steps you can follow.

Recently, some of my clients in certain industries, overseas and in Australia, have told me that they have been made redundant or that they are fearful they might become redundant.

If you have been made redundant or are fearful of being made redundant here are some ideas and techniques to approach the contemporary job market with confidence.

In your search for a role, contact people from companies you may want to work for, for an ‘advice coffee’.  Below is information on the advice coffee process and on a job interview process:

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Want an engaging conversation? Make sure to ask these two questions

In this 41:26 minute episode from the podcast Clear + Vivid – John and Julie Gottman: Welcome to the Love Lab hosted by Alan Alda, I learned the first question and a follow- up question to ask a person you don’t know or don’t know that well – after you’ve discovered their field of endeavour or job role.

You can use these deceptively powerful questions, when for example, you’re seated next to a person at a dinner party, or at pre-dinner drinks event or at a networking function et al.

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Passion sells – How to engage and excite your listeners

My perennial message – that I repeatedly remind my clients of, is – Perceived genuine passion ‘sells’.

That is, if your audience perceives you to be passionate about your message, they will want to ‘buy’ the message. They will want to ‘buy’ you.

I include the ‘perceived’ word, because there are many communicators who are genuinely passionate about their messages, but the audience can not perceive that passion through their senses. The audience can’t see the passion and/or hear the passion and/or feel the passion.

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Learn from one of the greatest U.S. speeches of the last 40 years

At the Democratic National Convention on 16 July 1984, in a speech of 7:49 minutes, New York state Governor Mario Cuomo delivered one of the greatest, United States, political speeches of the last 40 years.  Cuomo’s affect throughout the speech was akin to a volcano, boiling under the surface, erupting intermittently. There were crescendos followed by a decrescendos, and punctuated, forceful gesturing.

Here is my analysis of Cuomo’s speech:

If you time pressed I suggest you just read the +++ segments below and then watch the clip aligned to the respective segment.
  • In the opening 60 seconds of the speech Cuomo has a still, calm torso, a determined countenance and a measured cadence paired with an energetic vocal tone. There is a hint of ‘winding up’ to a culmination.
  • 1:00 – 2:20 minute segment: Cuomo inserts a passage, with a quicker cadence and increased voice volume, that ends with enthusiastic audience applause.
  • 2:44 – 3:34 segment: Cuomo raises his voice volume and energy to high intensity and uses the rhetorical device of anaphora. That is; “Maybe… Maybe … Maybe …” (this string of sentences starting with “maybe” continues in the next segment).
  • +++ 3:06 – 3:52 segment: A powerful section. Cuomo’s delivery starts deliberately with extended pauses, with these words: “Maybe Mr. President if you stopped into a shelter in Chicago”. He utilises a brisk cadence, a loud voice tone and employs a karate chop gesture, finishing with these words “for a missile we couldn’t afford to use”.
  • +++ 4:59 – 5:05 segment: Cuomo’s uses a poignant metaphor “Those wagon trains won’t make it to the frontier”, and delivers another use of anaphora “some of the old, some of the young, some of the weak are left behind the side of the trail”.
  • 5:24-5:30 segment:

Note how Cuomo doesn’t rush, as he calmly takes a sip of water.

Not rushing, not being afraid to pause and feeling deserving of the time you’re taking, is senior behaviour.
  • 5:36 – 6:12 segment: Note the measured cadence as he punctuates individual words, and then builds – with a rapid tempo with increased voice energy and loudness – to a crescendo.
  • +++ 6:12 – end of speech segment: Cuomo uses alliteration “the lucky and the left-out, the royalty and the rabble”: He well uses a high to low, arm and hand, ‘slicing’ gesture paired with “cut this nation in half”. To wrap up the speech Cuomo finishes with a flourish, using the literary device of ellipsis “… are our problems, … is our future … is our struggle . . . is our hunger . . . is our failure…” and … for the good of all of us … for the love of this great nation … for the family of America . . . . for the love of God…”
Here is the LINK FOR THE CLIP

Own the Conversation

Implementation suggestion:
  • Note one aspect of the speech that resonated with you.
  • In the next seven days, in a safe interaction, intentionally use the aspect in how you present yourself and communicate your ideas.

How slowing down your speech can communicate power and confidence

How do you act with power?

Below ** is one mindset that you can use, to act with power. I have mentioned the mindset in prior posts.

I repeat it again because, my recent reflection of the mindset, and acting in accordance with the mindset – has notched up the impact of how I present myself and communicate my ideas.

I also repeat it, because in our time-poor world, the pressure to speed up your speaking cadence, to be afraid to pause and to not, feel deserving of the time you’re taking when you speak, is relentless.

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Always tell your audience how long you’ll be speaking for – and stick to it!

I was at a presentation a few weeks back. I was invited to attend by a client. There was no agenda for the function.

The first speaker opened her presentation. The speaker said, a few minutes into the presentation rather casually, as if she wan’t going to present for too long – that she would talk for about 20 minutes.

At the 20 minute mark I was expecting her wrap up. But that didn’t happen. The presentation went for about 40 minutes.

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Q&A is not the time to make a speech

A few weeks ago I went to Stanton Library in North Sydney to hear author Alexandra Smith give a presentation about her recently published book, The Secret

Smith fielded questions after the presentation.

One questioner rose from his chair with a A4 pad of paper in hand. (Always a worrying sign). The man rambled for over 60 seconds repeating his question three to four times interspersed with free association commentary.

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Sunak’s statesmanlike performance in PM speech

On 25 October, Rishi Sunak delivered a pitch-perfect, statesmanlike speech in assuming the role of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

In times of crisis citizens want – above all else – a leader, to be a ‘beacon of hope’. Sunak was that beacon of hope, through how he presented himself and communicated his messages.

Tellingly, the last words of the speech were “. . . and fill tomorrow and everyday there after with hope.”

With the benchmark of a credible, believable, inspiring leader of state, giving a first speech as Prime Minister, in a time of turmoil, I scored Sunak: 9/10.

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