In this tough economy everybody should consider themselves as a free agent and brand effectively to sell themselves. As a job seeker recently out of job, I had some hard lessons on that. One of the most important things I learned recently as a free agent is the value of self introduction and the importance of branding.
In business school my Marketing Professor talked at length on the art of positioning and why it important for products and people alike and I have to agree with him 100% on that based on my recent experiences. The idea of positioning is to provide a powerful proposition and give us a chance to stand out.
One of the great read on personal branding is an article by Tom Peters in fastcompany.com titled "The Brand Called You" which provides a powerful argument on why we should be thinking about branding ourselves.
All of us would have encountered the need to introduce ourselves effectively at one or other times. Entrepreneurs are mandated to do this for their product and it is called an elevator pitch and we need the same pitch abiut us as individuals to promote ourselves. Some call it "tell me about you".
I found the need for a proper self introduction becomes all the more important when you are a free agent either looking for a job or starting your own company. This is especially true in these times where you are doing both at the same time.
In my quest for looking for help on my elevator pitch for my business and self introduction for myself , One of my favorite is the method given by Frank Furness which is short and to the point.
I found a great self pitch needs to couple with a great delivery to make an impact. Similarly I also found the need to adjust the pitch according to the medium of delivery.
Pitch for direct contact:
You are really in the Mythical Elevator with your next big opportunity in front of you. In that situation the following are to be done.
Recital - How you deliver:
You are really in the Mythical Elevator with your next big opportunity in front of you. In that situation the following are to be done.
- Make good Eye contact.
- Exhibit Correct Body language -No stiffness, No fidgeting, No folding of hands, No adjusting Lapel Pins etc.
- Be relaxed, Be Excited, Convey Confidence and Articulate with your Hands and Eyes.
Recital - How you deliver:
- No pausing for long time: If you pause too much you sound hesitant.
- No staccato bursts: if you go non stop you may sound nervous.
- One of the thing I observed in numerous videos out on the web on elevator pitch is they have an initial bold recital of their name and company …. Followed by a subdued recital of the main points ….then ending with a rapid fire delivery of remaining stuff to maintain the 60 second time limit and some sounded just flat.
- I suggest the delivery should be level with correct emphasis on points that you want the listener to take away after the pitch.One way to achieve this is by limiting passive statements in your pitch and use action verbs. Practice by highlighting those zones of emphasis you have in your positioning statement and reciting them with different intonations until you get what you want.
- Limit to 60 seconds - This is the most important rule of the pitch. The average attention span we have is around 6 seconds so we have the impossible task of stretching 6 seconds to 60 seconds anything beyond that should be approached very cautiously.
- Recital - The same rule as direct contact applies here and the pause management becomes much more important. If you pause too much the listener at the other end is left wondering about your message. Sometimes they respond to the pause with their own questions that cuts short the much practiced pitch..
- Clarity of tone:Human ears are tuned to hear signals in the frequency range 20 HZ to 20,000Hz. A telephone converts sound waves into electromagnetic waves of the same frequency. A filter in the telephone system, accepts frequency in the range 200Hz to 3500 Hz. The other frequencies are filtered out. What this means is, In telephone conversations your voice sounds flat to your listener. We need to keep this in mind when we pitch over the telephone.
- Limit to 45 seconds.The other thing I found is the pitch needs to be shorter than the direct contact pitch. Since there is no eye contact in a telephone conversation you lose the ability to grab the attention of the listener for a longer time. So the pitch needs to be short and to the point.
- This is basically a self introduction through writing. I could not find much information on this on the web, but recently I attended a professional networking event and in that they gave a form to fill out for self introduction. I found it very helpful to use as a template for self introduction through email. The basic format is ,
- My Name is _______________ and I have _______ years of experience in _________ (industry). Most Recently I was ___________ (position) with ___________ entity, where I was _____________________ (significant accomplishments)
- After doing the above you need to tweak the following based on whom your corresponding and for what reason.
- At present I am _____________________ (what you do now) with ______________ entity (doing, managing, leading, making) ______________________ (hook statement to get the reader's attention).
- A small self description of interests and skill sets that is specific to the email respondent no more than two lines. Adding Hyperlinks to this to showcase any achievements is a great advantage of pitching through email.
