 Good evening everybody and welcome to our final Marketing Club webinar of the series for this academic year Make an impact with a standout personal brand with our guest speaker Deborah Ogden The Marketing Club was created primarily to help students get the most from their CIM accredited degree and prepare them for a career in marketing Although the Marketing Club is designed for students, CIM members and other marketing practitioners are also welcome to attend the sessions For the uninitiated the CIM accredited degree program Enabled students to gain a professional marketing qualification by taking advantage of the exemptions the accredited degree provides If you are a student you can sign up now to receive the Marketing Club newsletter Simply take a photo of the QR code you see on screen Each edition will provide you with content designed to support your studies and Actively manage your professional development by keeping you up to date the latest trends innovations and concepts in the marketing industry So what I'd like to hand over to Deborah Ogden who is our guest speaker today over to you Deborah Good afternoon everybody. Thank you Phil really great to be with you all this afternoon I'm really interesting topic impact and personal branding so I've been doing this for 11 years and in the last 11 months due to the Pandemic through working hybrid working from home Lockdown I have been contacted more in the 11 months than I have in the previous 11 11 years Around personal branding and when I set out 11 years ago, I didn't call it personal branding I called it impact, but and I talked about profile and building reputation But of course personal branding over the last two years has become very much a business buzzword along with pivots and some of those words that we will never forget and It has become something that people have a much greater understanding of now of course as marketing Professionals marketing students you will have an understanding of brand and What I would like you to think about as we go through this evening It's really think about the parallels between your personal brand and a business brand or an Organisations brand and see how those parallels fit and challenge them So as Phil has said there is a Q&A at the end and I would love your questions So put them in the question box and we'll pick up on those at the end and any thoughts that you may have So I'm going to start off by telling you a story, which for me Absolutely sums up personal branding Now then I don't know if of any football fans on the call today But even if I've got football fans I'm thinking I probably won't have that many Huddersfield town fans and that that will leave that one to me So I am a Huddersfield town season ticket holder and a few years ago When we were before we were in the Premier League So we were playing Blackburn Rovers and it was New Year's Day and We went along to the match my son and I and that's my son the little red head at the front of the photograph And my husband is a sports commentator and he said because it's New Year's Day And it's a lunchtime kickoff as a treat. I will let you why don't you wait for me in the stadium and Oscar my our son might be able to see some of the players some of his heroes and You can wait for me and we'll all travel home together. So this sounded a great idea So Huddersfield town Went on to the field and they played the match along with Blackburn Rovers and it was a one all draw So they did their day job. They did what they're paid to do They did what they're technically good at they scored one goal And they conceded a goal and it was a one all draw So after the match their job was done and Oscar and I were sat down by the dugout Waiting for the players to leave and as they were coming out They all walked past us without making any eye contact whatsoever They all had their big Bose headphones on and their Louis Vuitton Wash bags under their arm and not one of them made eye contact and I thought oh my goodness This isn't going well our son who's desperate to have a selfie with one of his heroes His face was getting his chin was getting lower and lower and he was looking more and more despondent And then these two came out now neither of these plays play for town anymore One of them is Eliza Kachunga and one is Casey Palmer and they turn to Oscar and they smiled at him and said hello And asked him what he thought of the game and Oscar looked at me and said very quietly under his breath Mummy will you ask for a photograph now? You can see I'm of an age that selfies are fairly new to me And they're not something I do on a regular basis, but I asked for the photograph and this is what? This is the photograph that I took and they said thanks to Oscar and they shook his hand and off They went and I turned to Oscar and I said wow that was cool Wasn't it and he said no mummy that wasn't cool And I just thought my goodness what do you have to do these days? And he said mummy that might be the greatest moment of my life Now you can see from his face the impact that those players had on my son He said this is the greatest moment. I've ever lived and we still talk about that day Now every single one of us has the opportunity to make the same type of impact on every single person that we meet That's what personal branding is about. It's about a promise. It's about an experience It's not about having a beautifully curated Instagram feed. It's not just about what you wear It's not just about the photographs in the same way that a business brand is not its logo It's about the experience. I will get when I am in your world What do you promise that experience will be? Now what these players didn't know is that I'd been working with Huddersfield Town and their Academy So I know the commercial director I knew the chairman and after they'd left I emailed them and said what great ambassadors These players are for your club Now of course when it comes to our careers our profile and our reputation is Incredibly important and we'll come on to this more as we go through the presentation But what happens is of course, I know we all know that football is a play paid obscene amounts of money But a lot of that money comes from lucrative sponsorship deals and of course by me saying what great advocates They are for the club straight away. They go up in the pecking order when it comes to sponsorship deals And the other thing is that I went to Twitter and said what a great experience So externally their profile is raising and of course, I have told this story Up and down the country globally over the pandemic because you know the wonderful thing about zoom is we can we can Deliver from up from home and and much further afield So the reputation of Huddersfield Town is also going far and wide and that's the power of personal branding So just think about that. It's the impact you can have on the individual It's the impact you can have on your personal reputation and your career We're going to look at audiences as we go through and it's the impact that your personal brand has on the Organization that you are associated with So you really are a brand and I just want you to think about for a moment What are your favorite brands? So it might be that you absolutely love apple It might be that you wouldn't touch an apple phone with a barge pole It might be that you are a huge fan of innocent drinks because you love their quirky Content and the way they talk to their customers Whatever it is, it might be Patagonia. You may be an outdoors person and loves their sustainability So what is it that you buy into into brands? It's their values. It's what they're about It's what their promise is and it's exactly the same when it comes to you. So what do you stand for? What is it that people buy into that lovely cliche people buy people? It's absolutely true But what is it when they're buying into you and they're buying into these different facets of your Personal brand and here's an example of some of them You can see it goes from everything from your non-verbal communication Which we're going to be talking about to your stage presence if you are somebody who presents To how nervous you are or from the flip side of that is how confident you are Do you come across as credible? We're going to be looking at this as we go through But what I would urge you to say is think about each of these areas But always show up as the best you now the reason I say this I know it sounds obvious But you never know when an opportunity arises You never know when you're going to meet that person that can open a door for you You never know when somebody that you meet is going to be able to introduce you or is going to be asked for a Recommendation and you may be the front of mind person that that is on their mind And that's what we want to be when you were looking for promotion When somebody is looking for the perfect candidate for a role if you decide to go out and run your own business Like I do then I want to be that front of mind person When somebody wants what it is that I offer But of course They need to know what it is that I stand for For me to be the front of mind person So I need to be able to communicate What I am a visible Expert in and we're going to have a look at this as we go through but I suppose my first takeaway from today's presentation would be Intentionally show up as the best you All those footballers that walk past that thought you know what I've done the day job I can't be bothered to talk to that little redhead there in his mother stood there with her iPhone Can't be bothered Well, actually they missed out on a chance to make a real impact on somebody But also a real impact on their future careers You never know and of course when you run a presentation like this, it's easy to think well Yeah, I know this it's not rocket science, but none of this is rocket science. I would say it's simple But it's not easy Because first of all, you need a huge degree of self-awareness You need to know how you come across and we're going to look at that in a minute But also you need to show up consistently because as you know as well as I do For a brand to have any impact it needs to show up Consistently time and time again or people start to question it So what happens if you turn up into the office like this? What happens if it's Friday afternoon? You're up against a deadline You've got a pile of emails to get through and you're under pressure if any of you are working in The real world at the moment you will you will totally recognize this type of situation Or what if you know you're feeling a bit under the weather you feel a bit ropey or You know, you've just come back into getting back into the office and your trains late So you're running and you late for a meeting. There are these things, you know, there's that wonderful Some of you will have seen it. There's a wonderful curb That says this is how we all believe That life should go it should be a smooth upward curve But of course actually life's like this It's up and down and it squiggles and it goes all over the place because things happen And it's in those moments. How do you show up in those moments? How do you show up when you're under pressure? Are you snappy? Many many years ago many years ago when I was a young girl my dad used to be managing director of a Building company building chemicals company and my mum knew all the staff and Sometimes and he's still got a temper now My dad could be a bit of a grump and on those days My mum used to ring his secretary and say sue. I'm just warning you is a misery today Just so you know and they knew and I laugh about this now and say dad What sort of reputation was that to have? But they had to check in with what mood you were in Before they knocked on the door to show you a report or whatever it was So make sure that's not part of your reputation Be the person that is Approachable that people want on the team that want on their project that when somebody once asks about you What's it like to work with James or James great? James is great He was part of the team and he made sure his attention to detail was absolutely superb You might get the flip What's it like to have John on the team or John's great? But you know what sometimes is a bit he misses his deadlines and I think he might be under a bit of pressure So, you know, if it's between John and James, I know which one I'd go for now You can see there that it's not always something huge That is actually undermining your personal brand It might be something that just because of circumstances You need to be aware of and perhaps tweak those behaviors Okay now some of you and I'm hoping that this isn't the case because you are CIM Students or marketeers, but some people say well, you know Personal branding my work should speak for itself. I'm technically good at what I do So actually it doesn't matter about this personal brand business. I'm not that interested in it And it's really interesting actually sometimes, you know I have to shout my corner and I know colleagues that are marketeers people say well What's the return on investment for the marketing? When will I see the returns and people want to see it in black and white but personal branding That is very very difficult to measure and people will say oh, it's soft skills, isn't it? Now I prefer to call them human skills as Simon Sinek some of you will have heard of does and There's been a study by Deloitte's that says in 2030 So not that long off in 2030 two-thirds of jobs two-thirds of roles will be soft skills intensive and it's those jobs that are Growing rapidly two and a half times quicker than the technical skills Because of course AI can deal with so much But it's not going to be able to deal with those human skills those human relationships those human transactions And that's why your personal brand is so so Important and it's important to be able to communicate and build that profile and reputation Now some of you may have come across this study. This is Harvey Coleman and he says that only and you're ready for this only 10% So your performance sorry your performance is only 10% of your career success So when you're looking at your career success as a pie chart Only 10% of that success is down to your performance Now that's incredibly small a Huge 30% is down to your image now. I would use the word Interpreting this I would use personal brand there and then a huge 60% Is down to exposure now the word I use there is capitalized and you'll come on to that in a minute And I'm sure many of you are shocked by that So only 10% of your career success is down to your performance And the reason is let's just unpick this for a moment Because actually you could be the best market here in the world But if you're the world's best kept secret you are not going to impact on Your customers your clients or on your own career people need to know about it So the great area here the 30% that's the communication which I call the Reactive communication, so that's how people experience you on a day-to-day basis That's your non-verbal communication and we're going to come on to that in a minute And then this huge 60% is down to capitalizing on this your exposure who knows about you who knows that your Attention to detail is absolutely off the scale Who knows that you've got a great talent for writing Engaging compelling content Who knows that you are a great leader and one of the leaders of the future? Because unless anybody knows that you're going to get overlooked So if you want to know further on that that's called Harvey Coleman's Pi model and if anybody thinks that's not fair Well, actually the first rule of Harvey Coleman is Nobody said it was going to be fair. It's just how we respond Okay, so I mentioned before about self-awareness because actually we've got two personal brands We've got the personal brand that goes on in our head So that's the one on the left of your screen. So the personal brand is the one in your head So if I was to ask you, how do you come across? That's the personal brand that's in your head. So that's the one that says, oh, I'm incredibly compelling and professional I'm life and soul of the party. I'm the person that they want on the team I'm the great one to be around. I'm ambitious and I'm going places Okay but what about the personal brand that's out there and that's the one that everybody Experiences and that's about perception and of course, it's perception that matters here So you might think your life and soul of the party Everybody else might think you're a bit of a Wally. You might think you're ambitious Everybody else thinks you'll tread on anybody to climb to the top You may think that you're compelling Everybody else may think you're a bit of a bore. So I'm using extreme examples here, of course But let me give you an example of something that happened to a client of mine So I was brought in to work with a chap who was a finance director of an organization a global organization and they were looking to float on the stock exchange and he was a Huge part of this transaction and he was very very good at his job on paper He was technically brilliant So that 10% that we talked about that was where he absolutely nailed it And he was going for the managing director role within one of the groups and when they when they Were looking at his application They went and talked to his team and they said how do you find him as a leader and they said well actually is not that interested in us and We wouldn't say he's the greatest leader. We've had actually we feel a great disconnect from him So he didn't get the role. There was a bit more to it than that He didn't there were other areas of his leadership that you didn't display leadership qualities and I was brought in to work with him And I actually went and talked to his team and I talked to him as well And I asked him and I said, you know your team say that you disengaged your team say that you never asked them about their Families that you never asked them about the personal life That you only talk to them if they're if you need something from them and there's no warmth to the relationship And he was all he was absolutely heartbroken and he said Deborah. I'm just incredibly introverted I'm very very shy and therefore I really struggle to make those connections and Therefore we have this huge disconnect between that cool Disinterested personal brand that was out there and his shyness that was in his own head So you need to be aware and if you don't know you need to find out ask some trusted people How you come across? Think about the questions that you're asking so that you get the answers that you need So, you know you have the feedback on how your personal brand is impacting on those around you Okay, so I mentioned already About the pie model now. This is my version. I suppose of the pie model These are the areas I talk about this is what I call my impact method and this is the key slide So this is the slide that you need to really think about When it comes to what do I need to do to manage my personal brand and I say that there Because you already have a personal brand if we were in a room together now I would ask be asking you to raise your hand if you have a personal brand and Often only half the room. Well, that's more than it used to be but often only half the room will put their hand up But the truth is you have a personal brand It's what people say about you when you're not in the room as Jeff Bezos would say so it's your reputation So the question is are you managing your personal brand? Is it what you want it to be? Don't leave it in the hands of other people So you need to have clarity you need to have clarity of your message and your audience and what you are aiming for You need to communicate that Consistently and then you need to capitalize on that. So you need to become a visible expert So let's have a look at clarity So what do you want to be known for and this is incredibly important and from a marketing perspective You will understand this because we don't want any mixed messages So people will say to me sometimes Deborah you a business coach. No, I'm not a business coach I work with people on their personal brand and their impact and that is it I don't work with people on their business growth I work specifically on these two areas now. Yes, they encompass other things But I would always say those are my areas of specialism and as a result of that When somebody is asking around on LinkedIn who's a personal branding expert My name comes up if they asked who was a business coach There would probably another 50 names or more come up at that point So having that clarity of message is absolutely key. You need to know what your values are What's your purpose in life? What is it that people will buy into when they buy into you? Because we like people like us don't we like people that we feel comfortable with we're tribal animals So when I'm communicating I communicate my values So that people who align to those values think you know what Deborah's the person that I want to work with So you need clarity of your Message, but you also need clarity of your audience now again. I'm talking to marketers here You know that you need to know who your audience are But sometimes we forget that when we're talking about our personal brand And there's that tendency to try and be something to everybody Now it's important to realize that some of the best personal brands in the world are divisive You can't be vanilla because if you're not if you're vanilla, you don't stand for anything So make sure that you stand for something that people know what they are buying into And those will become your audience They're the people that you are talking to think of Donald Trump one of the most divisive Brands out there, but an incredibly powerful Personal brand whether you agree with it or not Now your personal brand is made up of three things it's who you are So that's the you your personality traits It's what you do. So that's the technical side That's your CV and it's how you do it So those are your behaviors and I would encourage you to think about those three areas Because once you know those that sets some boundaries for you and that allows you to show up with real Confidence because you know what you stand for So who you are what you do and how you do it And I'm just going to share this with you because this is something that comes up time and time again when I'm talking about Confidence from your personal brand because to get out there and Capitalise on your brand you need to be sharing content You need to show up and some people might say you know what that Deborah's a bit over the top She's not for me. Well, that's fine They will go and find their personal brand expert, but my people will buy into me So you need to understand and this quote from Dieter Von Ties the burlesque artist who thought I'd be quoting a burlesque artist tonight From Dieter Von Ties says you could be the ripest, juiciest peach in the world And they're still going to be somebody who hates peaches. There'll be people that aren't your people Let them go focus on those that are your people and Then it's about communication So this is about your body language It's about your non-verbal communication. It's about your energy It's about how you walk in the room. Do you smile? Do you light up a room? Do you walk in with confidence or do you skulk in? Are you busy looking at your iPhone rather than making eye contact with people? Are you somebody when you're on zoom that has a presence on zoom? Have you got your screen set up in a way that you can look into the camera? Or are you somebody who looks down here at the camera all the time and loses any eye contact? How are you set up on your camera? How do you dress? What are your clothes like? How's your handshake? What's your first impression like? These are all things that make up your personal brand and they start from an early age Now you can see that I started off very early in life My first day at school Loving tailoring and a snazzy accessory now. I promise you that if we were in person now The chances are I would still be in a blazer Maybe not with the stripes and maybe not with the straw boater But that is very much part of my personal brand how I show up If I don't show up with my lipstick and a necklace or a Blazer or I look a bit casual somebody will say what's going on with Debra today? She doesn't look quite on it Now they'll probably let me get away with it once or twice But three or four times they would start to question my credibility So how do you show up? You know your clothing has a huge impact not just on other people But how you perform on your confidence to use it as another tool in your armory What is unique for you? What is authentic to you? What makes you feel good? And so what if you stand out so what if people comment? What a great way for people to remember you so you don't blend into the background Okay, your communication is everything and I just want to stress that I'm going to come on to how you proactively Capitalise your brand in a second But I want you to think about how you show up on a day-to-day basis. Is it intentional? How's your vocal impact? Do you speak clearly? Are you somebody who swears a lot? I have a client who when she comes on the phone If I'm in the car and my son's with me, I have to say you know what Claire Oscars with me Can we cut the language and Oscar actually calls her sweary Claire? So that is part of her personal brand now she laughs about it. That's who she is She embraces it But just be sure that it is something that you want people to remember you for How often do you return your emails? How do you answer the phone? Do you bother to return people's calls? Are you always late? Do you polish your shoes? Do you make eye contact? How's your handshake? Are we allowed to handshake anymore? All these things are how we communicate our brand And then it's about capitalising. So this is about getting your brand out there We can all be very British and we don't want to blow our own trumpets But you need to be the front of mind person Whether that's when a job opportunity comes up or when there is a project that you know You really want to be part of you need to make sure that those people are in your audience Those people that are making those decisions know exactly who you are and what you stand for So that might be volunteering for Events committees that might be putting yourself forward that might be finding a mentor Whatever works for you and you need to decide what your platform is Now this is me at my happiest I'm one of those bizarre people who loves being on the stage and loves presenting So all my marketing for my business and for myself and my personal brand comes through speaking and presenting Now many people don't enjoy this Now I would always say to you depending on the role that you are going for It may be that you need to develop your presentation skills And that's something I do work with my coaching clients on how to present with impacts So that their personal brand they can be seen as thought leaders they can communicate this to a wide audience But if this is something that's not an important part of your role, then don't worry about it Don't get hung up about it Find other ways find other platforms to communicate and capitalize on your brand Now of course during lockdown there was none of this so I I set up a podcast on brand with and my podcast has become a great way to be able to Bring other people's personal brands into the spotlight But also have a more personable conversation to share my values to share what I'm like So people get to try me out before they come and work with me So podcasts even if you don't run your own are a great opportunity for you to get your message out there There are many ways of course there is social media Now i'm not going to talk about social media here even though it is a huge part of your personal brand But you know what the chances are that you know more about social media and algorithms than I do Because of the demographic that I fit in But you need to be consistent with that message So across your social media platforms Make sure that you've got a brilliant professional photograph that shows you looking into the camera and smiling Not one with your sunglasses on and a glass of wine in your hand I had a wonderful guy who was the recruitment consultant a few years ago who said to me Deborah, I want to change the face of recruitment consultancy Everybody thinks we just spend days in the bar When we're networking and that's where we do all our business And we're a bit flash and a bit untrustworthy And I went on to his LinkedIn profile and he was there with his mirrored sunglasses on and a glass of champagne in his hand What message is that giving out? So think about your platforms. You should all be on LinkedIn. Is your LinkedIn profile compelling? Does it show who you are as a person as a person? So many people Forget their personality when it comes to LinkedIn and it's just a list of their achievements But explain who you are how you go about things add some personality to it So that I feel and getting a flavor of your brand And of course you can use social media to be seen as an expert in your field And by building relationships remember social media So don't just broadcast to the world if you share something hang around to comment and build relationships Okay And then finally in capitalizing I would say to you think about your network Who do you know in your network that can help you build a network? Even if it is in case of going to networking events Make sure that you keep in contact with people Make sure that you Send people if you see an article on LinkedIn that you think oh Phil would be interested in that I'm going to send that to Phil then Phil all of a sudden thinks Oh, I was kind they've remembered me or whatever it may be So I do this on a regular basis once a week I sit down and I have a quick look through LinkedIn. I have a quick look through other emails that I follow And I just send it out to a few people within my network that I want to keep Warm if you like and close to me because for me these people are my cheerleaders They're my sales force. They are the people that are out there Telling the world what I do and how I do it. So build your own cheerleaders Build your own network of people that have and this is really important. Remember that clarity piece Make sure that your network have just as much clarity about what you do as you do So that they recommend you for the right roles. They recommend you for the right jobs They recommend the right clients and customers to you A couple of years ago a very respected business coach in my network Who I really looked up to at the time Still do very influential in the NHS and somebody had approached her and she was a lawyer and she said I keep getting overlooked for roles and it's time for me to step up And this woman said I could coach you but actually the person you need to speak to is Deborah Ogden Because that's exactly what she does and that woman was my perfect client So just be aware that your network know exactly what it is that you stand for and the way you work So that the people they recommend the roles they recommend are a really great fit For your personal brand Okay So we need you to To have clarity. We need you to communicate and we need you to capitalize But most of all I ask you to be yourself This isn't about any fake it till you make it. This is about being authentic. This is about being new But it's remember that slide. It's about being the best you this is you when you're in your flow This is you when you know, you've absolutely knocked it out of the park Well, it's being aware of what that you looks like and then showing up like that intentionally It's about being as as doctor zoo said there is nobody as you we use you or something like that I think I might have misquoted in there But if you are oh if there's only you and you are unique Then you can't begin to start comparing yourself to anybody else You just compare yourself to the best version of you Keep pushing yourself forward Always show up and build on that reputation And then I just want to share with you a chinese proverb So the chinese proverb goes when is the best time to plant an oak tree? And the best time to plant an oak tree was 20 years ago The second best time is now and your personal brand is exactly the same You've got a brand out there. You need to start managing it now I have people that come to me and my biggest frustration is they say Deborah, I've been you've been recommended to me because I've just missed out on a roll I said worked on it six months ago 12 months ago. They might have got that roll Often I have clients that are eschewing for a roll because they've made it clear That that's what they stand for. I have somebody who has just been appointed as Diversity and inclusion manager for a global law firm. It's her dream job but she Volunteered time and time again for events and committees and her name was in the bag as soon as that roll was created So take action now. This does take time. It takes at least six months to Start really seeing some great results from it. But once you do it's a bit like the snowball It gathers it gathers pace and grows and grows So make a start now decide what it is that you are going to do today What one thing do you need to look at? So have a think about is it that I need to look at my How I dress do I need to look at my social media platforms? Do I need to get myself a mentor? Do I need to get some feedback on where I am now and commit to do something tonight? tomorrow And focus on that for a week and then find something new And just keep working on because you'll have heard of marginal gains These small changes we make have a huge impact going forward And if you want to I know some of you have got the download Two things that might help you there is a personal brand action plan there that you can download from the link Which will Is a sort of overview of everything that I've talked about that will give you some prompts And then the impact club is a membership that I run on a weekly basis. It's a monthly membership That is something that holds people accountable and we work through these different areas together I'm not sure the impact club link is actually on your Download, but if you google my name and the impact club you will find it and that might be something of benefit to Some of you So my final thought by before I open to q&a is that how many times have you sat on a presentation like this? How many lectures have you sat in over the well over lockdown but over over the period of your career? Tony Robbins the personal development guru says We talk about knowledge as power, but knowledge is not power Knowledge is only potential power The power is in the action So my plea to you is to take action today Manage your personal brand so that you have the profile and reputation you want Not that of other people Thank you Okay Phil Okay, um To go on to q&a Absolutely, Deborah, that was fabulous. Thank you very much for that. Just so the audience know You actually came highly recommended by one of our mutual connections. It just goes to show the power of personal branding In practice here So, okay, the first question and by the way, you can still submit your questions Throughout the next 10 to 15 minutes. Just simply hit in the question mark on screen So, Deborah, first question is For someone with a disability or a health issue, for example, pain, fatigue, having to attend Regular medical appointments. How can you present yourself as the best you to an employer whilst also being honest about your limitations and challenges? Brilliant question and it is something that I feel very strongly about So you have to be you have to show up as your true self You have to be authentic and you have to own your story So you have to own who you are Now What you have what what I would say is there is a balance here So you have to do everything you can to make sure that people are informed That you communicate in the best way you possibly can so that people can plan in from an employer point of view But always ensure that you are honest and true And for me, there are two things here that way people will treat you with respect So you have your boundaries. You have that clarity But also you are empowering other people and for me that's incredibly important And I know this is slightly different But even as a mother when I had Oscar as a young a baby I wouldn't say that I wanted to do the pickup or he was poorly or I had to go to the nativity I would make excuses Because I felt that people wouldn't take me as seriously and I realized that that wasn't the case at all That we have to own our story own our personal brand And when it comes to a disability or an illness You would hope that in this day and age Most businesses or a number of businesses will understand and have Structure in place To accommodate that and support If it isn't and it's a huge part of your life and they can't accommodate that then maybe they're not the organization for you So my my opinion is to Be open and front about upfront about it own that But do everything you can as well to support your own cause by being organized communicating well Brilliant. Thank you Deborah sort of a supplementary question is um, how can you Win over the cynics in order to to demonstrate that you are being authentic because they think you're not being authentic And is that is that on the back of the first question for a separate question from a different attendee? so, okay, so You can't control What other people think you can only show up as you so let me give you an example next week I'll be careful what I say then I don't make it clear where I'm going But next week I've got a presentation to do and I know because the person who's brought me in It's a big big organization in London that I'm going to be presenting to some cynics Now there is nothing I can do To change their mind all I can do is show up and use my communication skills to engage them Try and bring them on side But all I can do is show up as my best self Be authentic not try and be something else because we've spot a fake don't we so be authentic And deliver in a way that is totally relevant to my audience So I would always say be aware of your audience Connect with your audience know what their pain points are what outcomes they want But never change who you are always show up as the authentic me so Somebody once said to me Debra, you'll never work with the London firms because you have a northern accent Um, you know and you look at the BBC over the years how accents have changed so always show up as yourself first and foremost Well brilliant, okay So two related questions here. How can I subtly ask colleagues and other stakeholders about the impressions and perceptions of me and supplementary You know, how do you how is the best possible this way to handle criticism? okay, so I wouldn't be subtle about it Um, I would ask them ask for feedback And explain if you need to that you're working on your personal brand and you want to make more impact When I'm working one to one with people They give me a list of 10 people and I approach them and I say we're working on this Ask three specific questions Okay, make a note of these What am I really good at? So what shall I continue doing? What do I need to stop doing? And what one thing should I start doing? And that way you get very clear feedback on specific areas that is actionable and when it comes to criticism don't think of it as criticism think of it as feedback and Look at it. Why that person so any piece of feedback is a gift However, good bad ugly. It is it's a gift because it's giving you some awareness Now you want to be looking at so when I when I'm working with people and I do these feedback reports 95% of it is Wonderful, you know, how good they are 3% 5% 2% is what I call the gold dust because by getting that feedback You can do something about it if you're blissfully unaware That people think you're a bit frosty when you walk in a room or you don't return calls or you come across as Ignorant rather than shy Then there's nothing you can do about it So get the feedback and look for trends. So I would always say don't just listen listen to one piece of feedback Listen to maybe five or six people and look for the themes and then they oh, what's going on here? They're all saying that I don't come across as committed. I'd explore a little bit deeper But always take feedback as a gift say, thank you because if you've asked for it Or people have even if people have given you feedback and you've not asked for it Take it grace graciously and gracefully Brilliant. Okay. Thank you How do you build your confidence when you don't like seeing yourself on pictures or have a low esteem? Self esteem of yourself not so much about skills, but about the physical aspects of ourselves Wow, this is another webinar, but um First of all, you're not on your own So whoever's written that question you are not on your own. I've been doing this for 11 years and I think Probably bar two people every single person I have worked with has A lack of confidence in some way now low self esteem is is Is more of a challenge and probably needs a little bit more work, but I would say to you Always remember how good you are to focus on what you're good at Write a list tonight as soon as you get off this call Of 10 things that you are absolutely brilliant at Or 10 things that you have done that you have achieved And keep that with you at all times Another thing that I recommend my clients have is a smile file And in your smile file and I recommend and I know So many of you will be all on your smartphones and your iPads, but I would say get a physical book And writing it when somebody gives you great feedback or if somebody sends A card to you and says great presentation debora. I have a book of them. Nobody else sees them But actually I've got three books of them. I've been doing this for so long Nobody else sees them. But you know, I do this for a living I have a bad day and on those days by reminding myself in black and white how good I am And we're all we've all got these superpowers these skills that we have Remind yourself how good you are You need to be we are negatively biased and you need to be looking at the positives So really build your confidence on what you're good at and then there are other skills Look up Amy Cuddy Amy Cuddy C U D D Y You know, I've not mentioned it tonight. It is something that I often present on You'll see that I've got a Wonder Woman picture behind me Amy Cuddy talks about power posing and power posing is incredibly impactful on your body language So by standing in a power pose for just two minutes Before your next big meeting or before you have a challenging situation You will raise your testosterone Which is the confidence hormone by about 20% and you'll reduce your cortisol by about 20% Her book's called Presence. It's excellent, but she has some great TED talk as well So have a listen to that as well. That might help Actually that leads on quite nicely to this next question I find myself being more expressive in doing research and reports But when it comes to reporting I freeze or just brush over the points I painstaking research on how do I express myself confidently? Okay So it's about slowing down when we're nervous. We tend to speed up I would also say when you are presenting on something and this goes with anything So I with my clients I have this so some of you may network and have to do one minute's presentation Some of you may have to present back feedback or research. Some of you may present like this Have three key points That's all three key points that you need to feedback Because people can only remember three things and if you give them 10 things They'll only remember three and it might not be the three important piece Key points. So today I said to you it's about clarity. It's about communication and it's about capitalizing Now hopefully with those three prompts you will remember more of my presentation So you need to know what your key pieces of research are Don't try and learn it all But if you've got three key messages that you are getting across Then you should be able to talk around those points and then always back it up with a presentation So I say to clients if they're pitching to a board meeting Have you three key points and then back it up with a report which you give to people Afterwards if you give it to them during they will look through it as you're presenting your feedback So if you can get it down to three maybe four, but just so that you know what those key points are Own your space a little bit like the power posing You also want to own your vocal Time so take your time because when you speed up Then people lose you they don't get to hear it But also our adrenaline starts going then and we don't you know our mind we start to panic So just by taking a breath and slowing down And thinking about what it is that you need to communicate It should help you but it takes practice Okay, great. Thanks for that I think we've just got time for one more question. Actually, how do you balance your own personal branding While representing a commercial brand that sounds like there might be some sort of conflict there Yes, um, so always be authentic But a lot of the work I do is going into businesses and working with their business brand and their business values And then how you harness the personal brands of the individuals within an organization So the best cultures the best organizations Employ people on values So if you're employing by the business on the business values and they align with the personal brand values of the Candidates, then that's the sweet spot. But there will be times when you are Asked to present a brand that isn't comfortable for you You either have to go with it Or you have to walk and I know that sounds um, you know harsh but to be truly aligned I would say that, you know, you either have to go with the business brand and represent that business brand Or you have to say Uh, this isn't for me. I had somebody who worked for sky bet Who loved the role but couldn't get over the fact that he was working for a gambling organization He put up with it for six months and then he had to go Yeah, okay, great. Um, well, thank you very much for that Debra. Um, very sadly We have sort of run out of time for questions now But thank you to everybody who submitted questions and some great answers there Debra, what could actually listen to you talking all evening actually Um, but we have come to the end of our webinar, sadly Um, I'd like to say, of course, I thank a big thank you to Debbie for an excellent presentation And we do hope that you've found it interesting and worthwhile So on behalf of CIM that just leads me to thank Debra once again for a fantastic presentation and to say Big thank you to you for joining us today. Take care everybody Have a lovely summer and we look forward to welcoming you again and the new season starts up again in a few months time Can I