Help Others to Help You
I was in Rhode Island last Friday giving a workshop on Promoting Your Brand to Rhode Island Networking to Open Doors to Jobs. I arrived early and was, therefore, able to sit in on the facilitated networking exercise at one table. All of the people at the table were highly qualified and competent individuals who held director or executive level positions before being laid off.
The facilitator at the table asked each person to give a little information about their background, their strengths and expertise, and what kind of position they were seeking. I was impressed how well each person articulated their strengths and what types of companies and jobs they were targeting for employment. Everyone around the table responded enthusiastically with potential contacts and leads for their colleagues.
We worked our way around the table to one woman who told the group that she was an architect and was now in limbo and trying to decide what she wanted to do going forward. She told the group that at this time she was looking for any type of job. Interestingly enough, the group who had previously been so helpful to others, now remained quiet. They simply did not know how to respond.
The lesson from this is: People really want to help. In fact, most people are eager to assist you in getting a new job or getting clients, but YOU need to give them enough information so that they CAN help. When we are vague and unclear about what we want ourselves, we cannot expect others to come up with the answers for us.
If you are a business owner or entrepreneur, the more specific you can be about who is your target audience, the easier it is for people to refer business.
If you are looking for new employment, be clear about what type of company you want to work for and what kind of position you are seeking.
People sincerely want to help. Give them the opportunity to be helpful.
What’s Your Story? Women in the Media Today
How difficult is it for women to be successful in journalism and other media today? Certainly, we can learn many tips from award winning journalist, Toddi Gutner, not only about what it takes to make it in this field, but as women, how do we present ourselves to the media and what lessons can we learn to better positions ourselves and our companies.
Featured Guest
Toddi Gutner is an award-winning journalist who has covered the financial markets, personal finance, small business and women in business for print, television, radio and the web for the Wall Street Journal, BusinessesWeek and Forbes. She is currently a contributing writer for the Wall Street Journal,
and a columnist for MSN Small Business Channel.
In 2007, Toddi launched a communications strategy firm, TLGutner LLC, that helps companies identify and create an effective message to market to the new media landscape as well as potential clients.
Toddi became the first woman columnist at BusinessWeek magazine when she created and wrote a well-respected weekly column called HERS, which focused on women and their financial and professional lives. Before joining Businessweek, Toddi wrote for Forbes magazine for five years.
Toddi’s has made TV appearances on CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, Power Lunch, Good Day New York, Weekend Today, Lifetime Live, Fox News, and This Week in Business.
Listen to the March 2, 2010 show, or visit our VoiceAmerica archive to hear any of our previous shows.
Madam President
It’s President’s Week this week. Besides school vacation, it is also a time to honor Abraham Lincoln and George Washington; two past presidents who were a major part of our history in the United States.
The holiday this week prompted me to think as well about honoring all the women presidents who have started and are now running their own companies in the United States. These women are playing a major role in our current economy and our future history. We should take the time to honor and recognize all female presidents in business and the incredible impact they have on the economy in the United States.
Here are the facts:
- 40% of all privately held U.S. firms are now owned or controlled by women. (10.4 million firms).
- Women’s companies are responsible for creating jobs at twice the rate of all firms.
- Women’s companies are now responsible for more payroll than all the Fortune 500 companies combined.
- Women’s companies are growing profits at a faster rate than all firms.
- 420 new women-owned businesses are started every day!
Margaret Heffernen states in her book, How She Does It. Women Entrepreneurs are Changing the Rules of Business Success, “That these companies are doing so well says a great deal about female strengths and talents….These phenomenal numbers show just how effective women can be when they work on their own terms.”
To Madam Presidents everywhere, we honor you for your hard work and dedication, your commitment to your purpose and vision, and your contribution to the growth of our economy. YOU are our future.
Tune into Women Mean Business Radio on March 23rd, when I interview Margaret Heffernen.
http://www.voiceamerica.com/voiceamerica/vshow.aspx?sid=1612
ENCORE PERFORMANCE:Body Language at Work: Your Secret Weapon
Did you know that you have a built-in competitive advantage ready to be deployed in any important professional situation? It’s literally at your fingertips and waiting for you to grasp and turn into a powerful, yet subtle key to success.Body language cues are especially important for women in the workplace, and they differ markedly from those of a man. Women are better than men at reading nonverbal signals, but women are less aware of how to present themselves in ways that optimize their credibility, confidence and power. My guest, Carol Kinsey Goman, PhD, is an expert in this field and will help us to understand how to use body language to our advantage in the workplace.
Featured Guest
Carol Kinsey Goman, PhD. is a keynote speaker and author of The NonVerbal Advantage-Secrets and Science of Body Language at Work. She is president of Kinsey Consulting Services. Carol has worked with over 130 organizations in twenty-one countries. Her work has been featured on CNN, Bloomberg Television, and NBC News. Carol addresses associations, government and business audiences around the world on this and other strategic business issues. Her website is www.NonVerbalAdvantage.com
Listen to the February 23, 2010 show, or visit our VoiceAmerica archive to hear any of our previous shows.
Love Your Colleagues
Women have the reputation of being great nurturers. After all, we have always been primary caregivers for our family and children. It is our history. It’s in our DNA.
Here’s my question this week for professional women: Why doesn’t that love and nurturing carry over more into the workplace?
What happens to women in a work environment that holds them back from nurturing and supporting each other?
I know that women make excellent managers. We often take great care to nurture our staff, and sometimes, in fact, we take on too much work ourselves to protect our team. But how much support do we give our female peers?
In a recent radio interview I did with Gail Evans on Women Mean Business Radio, this topic surfaced. Gail spoke about how women don’t seem to help each other be successful in a corporate environment. During the interview, she told the story of one instance in her tenure as Executive Vice President at CNN that a female colleague exhibited some behavior during a meeting that Gail felt would eventually sabotage her career. After the meeting, Gail asked this woman to join her in the ladies room, and she gave her some honest feedback about what took place during the meeting and how she might approach the situation differently in the future. Gail was nurturing her. She cared enough to help her female colleague be successful. Gail’s philosophy is that if one woman succeeds, we all succeed.
How many times have you taken a female colleague/peer aside for the purpose of helping them advance their career?
It’s Valentine’s Day week. Maybe it’s time to love and nurture our female colleagues.
I would love to hear from you about specific examples you might have when you “nurtured” a female co-worker and spread the love.
You CAN Have it All: Lessons fromTop Leaders on How to Combine Work and Family
Is it possible for women to have it all; to successfully combine work and family and still advance their careers? Professional women everywhere want to know if this is possible and what it takes to do this right. My guest today, Diane Halpern, interviewed 62 powerful women leaders for her book, Women At The Top: Powerful Leaders Tell Us How to Combine Work and Family, which she co-authored with Fanny Cheung. She will share with us what these women in top leadership positions do to manage their careers without sacrificing their family lives. Learn valuable tips from Diane on how to succeed in your profession when you are also a wife, mother, or family caregiver.
Featured Guest
Diane F. Halpern is a past-president of the American Psychological Association. She is Professor of Psychology and the founding Director of the Berger Institute for Work, Family, and Children at Claremont McKenna College. Diane has published over 350 articles and many books including, From Work-Family Balance to Work-Family Interaction: Changing the Metaphor in 2005, and Women at the Top: Powerful Leaders Tell Us How to Combine Work and Family (co-authored by Fanny Cheung), in 2008.
Diane was president of the Western Psychological Association, the Society for the Teaching of Psychology, and the Division of General Psychology of the American Psychological Association. She has won many awards for her teaching and research including the 2002 Outstanding Professor Award from the Western Psychological Association, Her recent work includes studies of the effects of California’s paid leave insurance, and how flexible work policies affect stress and health.
Listen to the February 16, 2010 show, or visit our VoiceAmerica archive to hear any of our previous shows.
What Is Your Attention Grabber?
I was in Orlando this past week with some colleagues training a medical device sales force on “purposeful communication”. “Purposeful Communication” is communication that has a goal or desired outcome and when applied to sales presentations, the objective is to create a sales presentation that is well organized around a desired outcome with your target audience.
Selling to a large or small group of potential decision makers has many similarities to promoting yourself and your business to prospective clients. One similarity is in the way you open a presentation. The opening of a sales presentation or “attention grabber” is much like the way you start your elevator pitch or promotional message.
Attention grabbers are just that. They are designed to get the attention of the audience from the start so that they will engage and listen to your message.
How effective is your attention grabber?
Here are some different suggestions on how to open your pitch to grab attention from the listeners.
- Open your pitch with a statement or question that creates some kind of an emotional bond. A good way to create an emotional bond might be to say, “Imagine yourself….. or how would it feel if….”. You can move your listener to a state of mind or emotion where they will connect with their need for your product or services.
- Ask a poignant question that demonstrates that you get their problem or challenges. “Have you ever experienced….? What do you do when….? etc.
- Share a story about yourself and your journey that connects with your business in some way. Maybe you experienced similar issues, overcame those issues and now are passionate about helping other people.
- Make a statement that has an unexpected ending or is surprising in some way.
- Use a quote or song title or lyric that people can easily identify with and fits well into your message.
Starting your promotional pitch with your name and company name is NOT a great attention grabber. You need to give people a reason to remember you before you give them this information.
Draw them in first with something that gets their attention and then talk about your business and the benefit your product or service will provide to them. NOW, they will remember your name and company!
Say It Better: Simple Tips for Improved Communication and Collaboration
Good communication skills are extremely important for success in business, whether you are an entrepreneur, business owner, or corporate professional. Verbal and written communication reflects your professional image and impacts your credibility. If you want to be heard and you want to be influential, communication skills are of paramount importance. Good communication to connect with others and collaborate with others is essential to build your business as well, and my guest today, Kare Anderson, is an expert in both communication and collaboration. On the show today, Kare will share with us some simple tips to hone our skills to project a professional image and give some practical advice on how to use collaboration and cross promoting to build our businesses and advance our careers.
Featured Guest
Kare Anderson is an expert on communicating to connect and collaborate. This once “phobically shy” stutterer turned Emmy-winning former NBC and Wall Street Journal reporter was recently voted one of the Top 5 speakers on Communication.
As the Obama campaign’s Team Collaboration Director she formed and led 200 issues teams.
Kare reaches over 45,000 people monthly through her Say it Better newsletter and blogs, Moving From Me to We and How We Partner. Her books include Resolving Conflict Sooner, Getting What You Want and Walk Your Talk. Her clients are as diverse as Google, Human Rights Watch and Legos. Two of her blogs are now featured on top of the Alltops Collaboration page
As David Rockefeller Jr., said after hearing her speak, Kare forever changes how you see yourself and your world.
Listen to the February 9, 2010 show, or visit our VoiceAmerica archive to hear any of our previous shows.
