In other words: How to communicate effectively who you are and what you do …
Whether you run your own business, maybe just starting out or you work for a company, the way you introduce yourself directly influences the way people perceive who you are.
Yet, most people find it incredibly hard to answer this simple question ‘What do you do?’ in a powerful way, even though many times, a great answer to this question could make the difference between success and failure.
Words are your personal currency.
Words are powerful tools. They carry a message: The message you want to share with others. The words and language you choose to describe who you are can be of service and of disservice to you and your work, your mission.
Fortunately, you are behind the steering wheel when it comes to selecting your words. Some of us are very good at it and can make a real and lasting impact (we all remember them, for the right or wrong reasons, but they do stand out from the crowd surely …), whilst others struggle with it.
In the next section, I’ll show you my intro pitch, analyse it a little and share with you my 5 tips that I believe will help you create an introduction that is powerful and makes the right people want to engage with you.
My intro pitch:
I’m a German & Hungarian language teacher, personal language coach. I do highly personalised corporate training classes in the city of London.
I’m also a marketing & communication strategist. I contribute to the success of budding small and medium size businesses that have a great product or service to offer but need help to communicate their ideas to the target audience as well as their staff better.
Besides, I’m an author, blogger and entrepreneur. A multi-passionate person and eternal optimist with a mission to help people achieve their goals.
I’m sure there is a lot that I could improve on (if you have any feedback and suggestion, please do leave a comment below, it would be much appreciated), but my point is this:
I want to state not just my general occupation but give a little insight into each point I’m doing. This approach makes it all digestible, easy to understand and with no insider jargon. I want my passion to shine through it, and I want it to sound exciting and engaging.
Usually, the reaction I get is meaningful questions and curiosity, followed by a great conversation.
So here we go:
5 helpful tips to help you answer the question “What do you do?”:
- Don’t just state your occupation or that you run an XYZ business. Give a tiny little insight into the actual work you do, service you provide or product you sell, using verbs.
- What’s obvious to you, might not be obvious to the person you’re talking to. Meet people where they are and do not over-complicate your message. If you confuse people, you lose people.
- Be concise and stay on point. Let go of insider jargon.
- Let some passion shine through. You’ve got to love what you do. Show it!
- Watch and listen to the reaction of the person you’re talking to and reflect on it later. Be prepared to twist your introduction based on the responses you get.
The point is not trying to appeal to everyone, it’s about appealing to the right people.
So, let’s finish this article with a nice little tweetable:
Now I’d love to hear your take on this topic and this time, I’d like to challenge you.
How would you answer the question ‘What do you do?’
Leave a comment with an intro pitch below and let me and my readers give you a little feedback on it.
Feel free to promote yourself if you like, and polish the way you introduce yourself in a helpful environment.
And equally, please do leave any helpful feedback on my little pitch, I’d appreciate you sharing your experience and insights with me and with all of us here.
Thank you soo much for reading, and I hope to catch you next time.
With love,
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Featured Image: Flickr
Gabriella Ferenczi 