Kit Prendergast, PCC
Kit brings you a wealth of expertise and experience as well as a wonderful spirit, energy, and a gift for inspiring you to create the life you truly want for yourself.Kit's Tips & Books
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Tag Archives: Networking
Talk Like Ted
Talk Like Ted: The 9 Public-Speaking Secrets of the World’s Top Minds, by Carmine Gallo, St. Martin’s Press, New York, N.Y., 2014.
I’m an experienced public speaker, but when I was asked recently to give a “TED-like talk,” I was understandably a bit intimated. As luck would have it, I had picked up Gallo’s newest book in the Dallas airport just days before.
Gallo has written an excellent “how to” book on designing and delivering a powerful, engaging but succinct message in just 18 minutes. Gallo’s guidelines are based on his extensive research of the most popular TED presenters as well as studies of recent developments in neuroscience and communications. So with Gallo as my guide, I’m already working up my presentation to give at the Career Center at the Association of Talent Development (ATD) ICE annual conference to be held in Orlando, Florida in May. I’ll let you know how it goes!
Posted in Kit's Resources & Book Reviews
Tagged communication, motivation, Networking
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LinkedIn Tip: Start With A Powerful Headline
The headline at the top of each LinkedIn profile is my favorite part. Along with your picture, the headline tells me a lot. In a glance, I can see what your areas of expertise are and therefore how we might connect or even work together.
Take your time in developing a powerful, effective headline. Don’t just use your current job title which is the default from LinkedIn. It’s so boring! Instead, identify your skill sets (what you want to be known for) and then list them with a straight vertical line between them. Look at my own LinkedIn profile for an example http://www.linkedin.com/in/kitprendergast.
You can also use a “benefit statement” approach which allows you to put the benefit you bring to others into one sentence. This works particularly well if you are promoting one highly specialized skill like website design, real estate sales etc.
Either way, make sure that your headline is concise, engaging and value-driven. This first impression can make all the difference in opportunities arriving at your door!
Maximum Success with LinkedIn
Maximum Success with LinkedIn: Dominate Your Market, Build a Global Brand, and Create the Career of Your Dreams, by Dan Sherman, The McGraw-Hill Companies, New York, New York, 2013.
If you are a professional at any stage of your career journey you will find this book invaluable. LinkedIn has become the indisputable leader in connecting professionals together to maximize business and career success.
Sherman has a delightful way of writing this easy-to-read book. Each chapter (starting with “Love at First Click”) takes us through how to design our profile so that others can find us easily, know what services we offer, how to contact us and what the final benefits will be in working with us. Pick up this book and read it over the weekend. And then send me an invitation to connect. I always enjoy learning what my colleagues are doing and LinkedIn is the ideal way to do that. It’s easy, free and powerful!
Posted in Kit's Resources & Book Reviews
Tagged communication, Networking, Relationships, social media
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Remembering Names the Easy Way
Remembering people as individuals is the cornerstone to building powerful personal and professional relationships. Start with remembering their name with a word picture. Our minds usually think in pictures. And it helps to exaggerate your picture so you will remember it quickly. Remember this picture is just for you – don’t share it.
Now that you remember someone’s name, let’s have a meaningful conversation with this person. Pretend you are at a business event and you are talking to someone new. Practice on them. Stop any distractions by maintaining good eye content with the person. Listen closely and really hear what they are saying. Be curious and focus, focus, focus!
- Listen for information about these six general areas: where they live, family and friends, paid and community work, travel adventures, unique interest and finally their ideas.
- Ask about any other areas that you are curious about – be interested in them as an individual.
Now create a word picture in your mind to remember what you just heard. Dale Carnegie calls this “conversation links”. Create a picture – the more exaggerated the better- that links together these pieces of information. Dale Carnegie trainers give hysterical examples in the live training. It works! You don’t forget the picture or the individual and their unique story.
Innovative Thinking: Stand In the Middle of the Intersection
Yes, you heard me right. If you’re ready to learn to be more creative, go stand in the middle of an intersection – preferably one that has a crosswalk through the middle as well as from corner to corner. At this crossroads, watch and feel the energy from people from all walks of life using all different kinds of transportation as they merge and pass each other. Give yourself permission to just observe and allow yourself to be curious about the stories that you are seeing.
Sounds simple but this is what true innovators do all the time. They actively seek out opportunities to stand in the intersection and open their minds to the wealth and depth of cultures, ideas and diverse experiences they are seeing. They ask “Why” and “What If?” They question and challenge themselves and others to connect the dots in unique ways. This isn’t new. Look at our world history and see how the birth of the greatest renaissance periods came the intersection of the arts, culture, business and human curiosity.
So here are my favorite three ways to start standing in the middle of the intersection.
- Say “Yes” more often when people ask you to do something new and different.
- Actively seek out people who are different from you (age, culture etc.) for conversation.
- Expand your reading to include books, blogs, magazines that cover subjects new to you.
And finally, allow yourself to simply be in the moment so that you can quiet the chatter in your head to better observe, learn and appreciate the wealth of life in our crossroads of life.