The word credibility comes from the Latin root word credere, which means to believe or to entrust. We give credence (belief) to ideas when we accept them to be true. When you have credibility, people believe in you and they trust you. Your credibility is decided upon by other peoples’ perceptions of you and what they observe about you. The interesting thing is, if other people don’t perceive credibility in you - you will not be credible in their eyes. However, you can influence another persons’ belief in you.
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Whether you call it manners, etiquette or common consideration for your fellow human beings, it appears it needs to be reinforced in today’s business environment. We hear so much about how to conduct ourselves in business and yet we don’t realize that our actions are speaking louder than our words when it comes to how we conduct ourselves with others. We have become so tied to our cell phones, tablets and computers that they have literally become the focal point of our world—at times appearing more important than the people we are physically with or around.
Projecting a confident positive attitude and self-image results in positive experiences. Negativity yields more of the same, often setting you up for failure. If you want to succeed you must cultivate a positive attitude, be clearly motivated, balance your energy and be willing to work hard. In his book “The Power of Positive Thinking In Business”, Scott W. Ventrella interviews Horst Schulze, CEO of the award winning Ritz Carlton. He asks Mr. Schultz what business concepts he believed were the most important contributors to the prestigious success of the Ritz Carlton. Without hesitation Mr. Schultz responded, “People! Having motivated, energetic, hardworking people with great attitudes. That is the single most important factor.”
Honing your skills in these areas will serve as a cornerstone to your success: Years ago when someone would mention the word “brand”, you would think of a product such as Coca Cola or Pepsi; Nike or Adidas; Cadillac or Ford. Today you are the product/commodity. You are the brand. Everything you say or do impacts your brand for the good or the not so good. Since brand is all about perception, it is crucial that your perception is a good one.
We all know beauty when we see it, but defining beauty is something else entirely. Webster’s defines beauty as “the quality which makes an object seem pleasing or satisfying in a certain way; those qualities which give pleasure to the esthetic sense, as by line, color, form, texture, proportion, rhythmic motion, tone, etc., or by behavior, attitude, etc.” We all grew up hearing phrases like “beauty is skin deep,” and “beauty is as beauty does,” but what is beauty? What exactly is that certain quality or qualities that determine if beauty is present in a person, place or thing? Perhaps the most popular phrase regarding beauty is also the most accurate—“beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” Or is it?
The trend toward a more casual lifestyle has permeated every aspect of our lives. And yet, over the last decade we’ve watched the pendulum swing from a more casual dress code replacing the more traditional office suit to the resurgence of the more traditional dress code. It seems that many employees forgot the “business” in business casual. As such we’ve witnessed a huge misuse of what constitutes “casual” in the workplace. We’ve watched the boundaries between work and play, erode. Initially many employers believed that a more casual dress policy would promote greater morale, better communication, greater company loyalty and increased productivity. What was not taken into consideration was that employees might mistake casual for a less than professional look and ultimately have a negative impact on the company’s brand.
What exactly defines casual in the workplace? How do we dress casually and still continue to look professional? These are the questions that need to be asked and answered if one hopes to get that high profile job and or climb the corporate ladder. Let’s start with first things first. If you have not done so already, make sure you get a copy of your company’s dress code. I was working for a company that contracted me to present a two-day workshop for a very large national corporation. Half way through the program one of the Vice President’s came up to me and asked if I would please address proper “business casual” attire. She said that one of the big problems they were having now that it was summer was too many women wearing open toed shoes and sandals and it was strictly against company policy. The first rule when it comes to “business casual” is to know your company’s dress code. If your company has the dress code printed up they are usually very happy to share a copy with you. Make sure you request one. Dress codes will differ from one company to another and from one region to the next. They may even vary among different departments within one company, depending on the amount of direct communication that each department has with clients. For example, what’s appropriate in the art department may differ from what works for the sales department. To determine how you personally should dress “business casual” examine the type of company for which you work. Is it a store, a bank, an insurance company? What’s your role in the company? Do you work at a computer all day or are you frequently out making sales calls? Are you a boss or an assistant? What kind of day do you have planned? These are all factors that will greatly influence what you wear. Make sure your outfit is appropriate for the occasion. If your company has an extremely casual dress code but you will be calling on customers all day, find out what the dress code is for each company you will be calling on and then wear an outfit that will be appropriate for the company with the most rigid dress code. You can always take off a tie or jacket as long as you have one with you. Men make fewer mistakes when it comes to business casual because they have fewer options to choose from. But even though your company may have a very relaxed dress code, there are still some big no-nos to keep in mind. Ladies and gentlemen do not wear:
Ladies do not wear:
Gentlemen do not wear:
Now that you know what to avoid, let’s discuss some casual staples you should have, especially if you plan to move up the corporate ladder. Do you remember the song “Old Macdonald had a Farm”? Well it struck me that Old Macdonald was onto something more than just the various sounds of farm animals. So at The Presentation Pros we came up with, and like to teach, the Old Macdonald rule of presenting “EIEIO”. The EIEIO rule applies whether you’re delivering an idea one on one or presenting a formal presentation to many. Follow EIEIO and you can’t go wrong. We all know that when we’re delivering a story to a child the most important element is entertainment. Guess what? Children are not the only ones who want to be entertained when listening to a story or presentation. When we took a poll of our clients, 95% said they wanted to be entertained as well. There is nothing more boring than listening to a litany of stats and data with no entertainment factor at all. So the first thing you want to strive for in relaying your message or delivering your presentation is to ENTERTAIN. Next you need to INFORM. The stats and data are very important. You need to bring in the facts so that your audience is apprised of all the necessary information needed to make a decision. Just be aware that information alone will not give you the buy in. Also make sure you only deliver information that really pertains to the issue or issues at hand. Information is important but can easily become overkill if you try to make it about the knowledge you possess instead of the information your audience needs to be properly informed. Next you want to EMPOWER people with the information, examples, stories etc. to make the difficult decisions. Share the facts with them then give stories and examples that create the emotional element that enables them to step inside the problem and really feel it as well as see it. When you do this you have empowered them to be able to address the issues head on. Empowering your audience is great but it’s also important to INSPIRE them. Let them know why it’s so important for them to take action and take it now rather than later. When you inspire your audience, you not only let them know the why but you also help them to know that they are up to the task at hand. You help them see that they are the ones who can make the difference. You inspire them to take action now. And lastly, make sure you always OVER DELIVER. Give your audience more than they had hoped for. This does not mean load them down with so much data and statistics that their eyes glaze over. It means make sure you provide them with a nice balance of logical and emotional and lift them up as individuals so they know they have all the facts, tools and skill sets needed to make the necessary decisions and get the job done. If you follow the Old Macdonald rule when putting together your presentations, you will find your audiences far more interested, attentive and receptive to the topic at hand. You will also find that your audience retains the information far longer and acts on the information more quickly. Sing along with me to the tune of Old Macdonald: If I present to you like this—EIEIO I’ll have a hit that just won’t miss—EIEIO With some data here and some stories there There a stat, story here Logic and emotion clear If I present to you like that—EIEIO A+, it’s a go! Entertain, Inform, Empower, Inspire, Over-deliver (EIEIO) = A Home Run! Debbie Darling, ©2014 The Presentation Pros Read more of The Presentation Pros blog HERE. Deborah Darling is the owner and president of The Presentation Pros, a soft skills training company empowering people with the skill sets to deliver their message with power and persuasion. She is a professional development coach, international best-selling author, speaker and trainer. To book a training or keynote go to HERE.
Whether you’re just getting out of school or are on your way up the corporate ladder, job interviews can always be a bit stressful. With so many exceptional candidates going after the same position, here are a few tips you can use to stand out in the crowd. First, assess what YOU bring to the table. What knowledge and expertise do you possess? What environments do you shine in and what environments shut you down? Do you need to have a lot of supervision or do you tend to thrive when given free reign to get the job done? Do you enjoy working with colleagues on a team or are you better suited to working alone? Next you need to assess what your passion is. Do you like the more analytical side of things or do you tend to enjoy the more creative aspects of a job. If you are already in a position but are going after another one, ask yourself what aspects of the job you presently have do you like and which ones do you not like? You want to move toward a position that will give you more of what you like so your passion can really come through. If you’re just about to graduate ask yourself what did you like about some of the summer jobs you had and what did you not like? Again try to go after positions that will give you more of what you enjoyed. Next sit down and do some research on the culture of the companies that you wish to apply to. Make sure their values and yours are a fit. You are going to be spending a lot of time in your job and in order for you to do well and really show your talents it needs to be about more than just the money and the benefits. Once you have done due diligence with your research it’s time to prepare for the interview itself. It’s impossible to think of every question they will ask you. You could worry yourself sick trying to figure them all out. Or, you could focus on the most important questions they really want the answers to. Every company wants to know four things: 1. Do you have the skills, expertise and experience to handle the job? 2. What are your strengths and weaknesses? 3. Why do you think you are a fit for the position and the company? 4. Why should they hire you over one of the other candidates? Let’s take a closer look at each of these questions. Preparing for question number one will really take you a long way in the interview process. Think about all the skills and expertise that actually apply to the position you are going after. Then add all the skills sets that would be great to possess in most every job such as being a team player or having excellent communication skills, being a creative thinker. Find the qualifications that best describe you as a whole and in the position you are interviewing for. Once you are really clear on how the skill sets and expertise that you possess coincide with what is required in the position and within the company culture you can bring almost all other questions back to this and keep the interview on focus. Question number two is very similar to question number one in that you are reiterating your skills, expertise and experiences but bringing to light for the interviewer any area of weakness that may not be great for the job or culture. Now I ask you, who in their right mind would give a litany of weaknesses when applying for a job? This has always seemed a crazy question to me but this is usually one of the questions that will be asked. If you do in fact have a weakness that would apply then make sure you can back it up with an even greater skill set. An example for me might be: “I need to thoroughly understand something before I can really jump into it. Having said that, I grasp things very quickly and once I know it, I can teach it to anyone and in many instances make it easier, faster and cheaper to do.” So if you really do have a weakness make sure you follow it up with an even more powerful strength, so that the strength outweighs the weakness. Again make sure both the strength and the weakness pertain to the job you are applying for. Question number three really speaks to your knowledge of the company, their culture and how your personality and style will fit in. Before you ever applied for the job you should have done your research on both the kind of position you are looking for and the kind of company that would be a good fit for you and vice versa. If you did not do this, then before you interview make sure you go to the website and thoroughly familiarize yourself with everything you can. If it is important enough to the company to put it on their website, it is important enough for you to know before the interview. The company is as interested in finding the candidate with the right fit as you are. They don’t want to have any problems with a new hire and certainly do not want to go through the process of hiring and retraining any sooner than they have to. It is a costly endeavor for them. Before you get to the interview really think about how the company puts its message out to the world. If you familiarize yourself fully with the company, its culture and the way they show up in the market place, as well as your style, personality and how you put yourself out into the market, you will be able to explain why the fit is so good. Question number four really has an easier answer than you might think. You really cannot speak to another candidate’s knowledge or expertise so this question really goes back to question three. You can’t speak to what you do not know. You have no idea who the other candidates are or their knowledge, expertise or passion but you most certainly can speak to yours. Make sure you reiterate this and once again let the interviewer not only know what you bring to the table but also how you see your fit within the company. Do not be afraid to turn the tables on the interviewer. Ask relevant questions of them as well. Just as they do not want to go through this process again soon, neither do you. You want to know that you are going with a company that will provide you the support you need, that will make the best use of the knowledge and skill sets you bring to the table and help you acquire new ones as well. You want a company you can shine in so that your passion comes through. Believe it or not, the company wants the same thing. Finally, dress for the job you are going after. If you do not know the dress code of the company, call and ask. Arm yourself with a firm, not crushing, handshake and great eye contact. If you can accomplish all this in the interview process, you will go a long way to getting the job of your dreams, providing your new employer with the best candidate for the job—YOU—and allowing your passion to come through. That’s called a WIN/WIN! Debbie Darling, ©2014 The Presentation Pros Read more of The Presentation Pros blog HERE. Deborah Darling is the owner and president of The Presentation Pros, a soft skills training company empowering people with the skill sets to deliver their message with power and persuasion. She is a professional development coach, international best-selling author, speaker and trainer. To book a training or keynote go to HERE.
UPSIZE Woman in a downsize World How to create high self-esteem and a positive body image in 21 days Everywhere you look these days low self-esteem and negative body image are prevalent for the majority of women. Women in their 40's and 50's are trying to hold onto their 20's. This book is a step by step guide to helping you love yourself here and now.
In order to build a positive body image and high self-esteem you need to love yourself for who you are in this present moment. What we resist persists. If you continue to resist your body, or your age, or your dress size you will never be able to get fit and stay fit. If you can't love yourself as you are now, you can never build high self-esteem. This book will give you steps to take to self love, a positive body image and high self-esteem. 1. Believe in Yourself “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t—you’re right.” —Henry Ford To succeed in life you must first believe in yourself, your abilities to get the job done and know with all your being that you can do it. Without this belief you will allow the naysaying public to keep you from your goals and dreams. They mean well. They are just trying to keep you from the pain of failing. This says more about their belief system than it says about yours. But if you allow them to influence your beliefs, now it says everything about yours as well. I remember when I first knew I was going to be the National Spokesperson for Catherines Plus Sizes. I had never heard of the company but a friend thought I was a perfect fit for them. Unbeknownst to me she set up a meeting in Memphis. She called me and told me she felt very strongly about it and when I said I had never heard of them she said “I know this is right—trust me.” Well it didn’t feel right to me. While I had been a plus size model, I was not an expert in the arena of fashion. I was an expert on self-esteem but—I did trust her hunches. She called me on a Saturday and she had scheduled the meeting for Thursday. We tried to get flights out but between my schedule and the available flights and costs we decided to drive down. What a trip. I got into the office with the Vice President and he asked me what I thought I could do for them? I told him the truth. I had no idea what I could do until I knew what they did. This was before computers and web pages so I didn’t know a thing about their company. A real no no. I told him I was an expert on self-esteem and he said he wasn’t interested in self-esteem. He was interested in selling clothing. I told him women buy more clothing when their self-esteem is high and there are fewer returns. They buy because they like and want the outfit not because the sale of the outfit makes them feel good momentarily. At the end of the meeting he asked me if I could write a newsletter for them. I emphatically said “yes” even though I had never written a newsletter in my life. I did not have a desk top publishing program, much less a computer. I had written many articles for magazines so I knew I could do the writing. But without a second thought I said “yes, give me six weeks to have something on your desk.” We left the office and I just knew that my friend was right. I was a perfect fit for this company. I knew it before they knew it. I did not know where this would lead but I knew I needed to see it through and I knew without a doubt that I was the person to do it. Other friends and family told me I was crazy but I just knew it was right and I believed in my abilities. I also knew that what I didn’t know how to do I would quickly learn how to do. 2. Take Action! “You miss one hundred percent of the shots you don’t take.” —Wayne Gretsky Many people talk about what they want to do or are going to do. Their ideas are great but they never take action on any of them. If they do begin to take action and meet with an obstacle they stop. This should be a red flag that they have not completely met the challenge of step number one—Believe in yourself. Fall on your face several times if you must but take ACTION. Sometimes people are so focused on what they want and the way they want it that they don’t realize opportunities to take action toward their dreams and desires are all around them. When I got home from my meeting with Catherine’s I quickly researched computers. Did I want a Mac or a PC? Once I got the computer I researched page layout programs and brought myself up to speed on how to use both. I then wrote some articles, laid them out in the program and voila, Catherines received the mock-up of the first newsletter with two days to spare. I had a great rapport with the Director of Advertising and she mentioned in passing that she had been trying to convince the owner of the store that they should have a national spokesperson. She had interviewed many high profile women including the three top plus size super models but did not think any of them were right until she met me. She wanted someone with a knowledge of fashion which all the other women had hands down over me. But unlike the VP who was a male she understood the importance of high self-esteem for women and she realized that I could bring something to the table that none of the others could. She just had to convince corporate that I was the right gal for the job. I already knew I was the one the second she mentioned it. 3. Persevere and never, ever give up. “Perseverance is failing 19 times and succeeding the 20th. — Julie Andrews It is unlikely that everything will be exactly as you envision it. We do not usually move in a direct line toward our goals and dreams. It is more a three steps forward, 2 steps back side to side approach. You must continue to persevere. Before you know it, you will have met your goal and will need to reach for new heights. Catherines started by hiring me to do their newsletter then they hired me to do talks here and there. Finally they brought me on board to launch their new Body Basics line. I started booking TV and radio to promote my appearances and within a year I signed a contract as their national spokesperson. There were ups and downs along the way to signing the agreement but I knew that I was the right person for the job, I took action and I never gave up. Unbeknownst to me that job opened the door to my next incarnation. It turns out I had all the tools and skill sets I needed I just did not know how I could create a marketable package with them until I stepped into each scenario. Follow these three steps and you will definitely be successful in life. You may find you are taken in a direction that is different than the one you initially moved toward, but it will be more rewarding and you will definitely move into your passion. Debbie Darling, ©2014 The Presentation Pros Deborah Darling is the owner and president of The Presentation Pros, a soft skills training company empowering people with the skill sets to deliver their message with power and persuasion. She is a professional development coach, international best-selling author, speaker and trainer. To book a training or keynote go to HERE.
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