By Liz Radzick of Manifest Consulting

As we approach the middle of the summer many people are looking to the fall to resume a focused job-search and go for interviews. And successful interviews rely on your ability to talk positively about yourself.

Many people get hives when thinking about self-marketing. “I don’t want to look like an egomaniac” or “I don’t want to come across as bragging” are common concerns.

First of all, it is my general impression that the average Canadian female has a self-esteem deficit the size of Denmark when it comes to accurately appraising her value. Second, the intention behind your self-marketing (see Intention Paves the Way to Success for more on intention) is not to prove your superiority but to engage people and to let them get a positive, accurate view of your activities. People are going to make their own judgments anyway – why not give them good material to work with?

So here are 2 simple things you can do to make sure you communicate your greatness:

1. Minimizing is for Pores

“Just” is one of the words that falls into the category of “minimizer” along with “sort of” “I guess” and “kind of.”

E.g.

I guess that my greatest strength is…

Well, I just oversaw this 3 million dollar product launch…

I sort of pioneered the use of this system nationally…

Don’t think that only Valley Girls talk this way – I have heard literally hundreds of people including managers and executives pitch themselves in a minimizing or ambivalent-sounding way.

2. There is no “I” in “we”

One of the by-products of the corporate focus on teamwork is that people avoid using the word “I” when describing their accomplishments. Why? Fear of being branded “not a team player.” Even when *you* are the one who initiated the sales process, came up with the idea, or organized the database it is more than likely you are hiding your accomplishments behind the “we.” Try detoxing slowly, combining the 2 words in a 50/50 ratio so that you accurately communicate your true contribution along with your peers.

The bottom line for your interviews:  Avoid minimizers and you will maximize your impact!

Want to get some hands on experience and coaching from Liz?

Check out our Boot Camp this Fall

By Liz Radzick of Manifest Consulting

Fran Capo is The Guinness Book of World Records fastest talking female clocked at 603.32 words in 54.2 seconds. That works out to 11 words a second! Chances are no-one is going to give you an award for breaking the speed barrier when you are talking quickly. What you may get instead are confused listeners who feel bowled over by your rapid-fire speech and who eventually tune out.  So for you fast talkers out there here are some speed bumps you can use to help you slow down.

1. Breathe: Oxygen is Free

Most people do not breathe before they speak, so they end up running out of air and then rushing to the end of the sentence.  Begin by taking in a breath this way: put your hands on your ribs, and breathing  SLOWLY through your mouth fill up the space between your hands. Breathe in for 4 beats, hold for 3, and exhale for 5. Think of breathing wide vs. deep because you don’t want your shoulders hitching up around your ears. Do this a few times and you will notice that you start to relax. When you speak you should be exhaling at the same time; when you notice you are starting to run out of air, top-up the breath and continue. Most fast talkers run their sentences together and breathe infrequently.

2. Use Word Stress

Now using a nursery rhyme like Jack and Jill, take a WIDE breath and say “Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water” then top up the breath and say “Jack fell down and broke his crown and Jill came tumbling after.” If you are still racing through the rhyme, really stress the rhythm of the lines: “JACK and JILL went UP the HILL…” while looking at the second hand of a watch or clock.  You should be reading at 2 words a second and every time the second hand moves is when you should be saying a stressed word. Yes, THAT SLOWLY. I know it feels dorky. Stay with me!

3. Practice a Real Life Situation

Type out what you say on your outgoing voicemail at work. Capitalize the words you want to stress e.g. HI, YOU have REACHED SANDRA CAPELLI at APPLEGATE ACCOUNTING. I’m NOT AVAILABLE  to TAKE your CALL right NOW…”etc.  Read it aloud slowly with the stress and the breathing. If you sound robotic pick-up the pace a little. Now record yourself by calling your voicemail and see if it sounds slower than your old message. Chances are it does.

For additional practice, read aloud from the newspaper, the novel you’re reading or if you have kids use their storybooks which are meant to be read aloud. Going slower will allow you to think more clearly, connect with your audience and feel more confident. GOOD LUCK and NOW go PRACTICE!

Are you a fast talker? Have any suggestion on how to slow down -share them with us!

By Liz Radzick of Manifest Consulting

I was working at my desk the other morning and for over an hour annoyed comments about a female presenter scrolled on my TweetDeck.  ”She’s pretentious,” “Annoying,” “She’s BORING.”

Who IS this person getting all this negative press? I wondered.

Turns out it was Cammie Dunaway, Executive VP of Sales and Marketing at Nintendo’s E3 2009 press conference – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBy2FJAKeC8

Now this is a serious gig for a female executive – in fact, WIRED magazine wrote last year that it was unusual if not unprecedented to have a platform holders’ press conferences run by a female executive. My hat is off to her for her very well-rehearsed management of her technically complex presentation. She dressed well in a beautiful white suit and she was clearly on message. But something wasn’t quite right.

I diagnose Ms. Dunaway as having The Teacher Syndrome. Women who try to sound passionate and who look too serious at the same time often come across as “angry teachers”.  It’s a very common challenge when I’m coaching female clients for sales presentations, especially when they are presenting in a large audience venue. The fact that she was so serious and unsmiling at an event that is about fun and games -literally! – was compounded by 2 other delivery errors:

i) She spoke too slowly and deliberately with lots of pauses. As a consultant for a Japanese-American company, my guess that she may have been speaking that way to either to facilitate simul-translation to Japanese or just to speak clearly and with conviction. The unintended result was that she sounded like she was talking down to people. If most of her audience were experienced Gen Y gamers you can imagine how that went over.

ii) 37 seconds into her presentation Ms Dunaway gave her audience the finger.
No, not THAT finger, but she might as well have. While making a point, she gestured in the air with a pointed index finger. I ban this gesture from the podium/stage because it evokes such negative parental/authoritative associations.

 The Finger + no smiles + deliberate delivery = irritated young, hip audience within the first minute.

So what is a woman to do, you ask?  Smile like the village idiot for every presentation? Stifle her passion? Definitely not. In my next article, we’ll take a look at what you can do to appear approachable, authentic AND passionate at the same time.

Until then, keep smiling.

By Liz Radick

In the last article I talked about how not being present, waiting to speak vs. listening, and interrupting are all behaviours that can disrupt effective communication.  Here are a few more of my least favorite communication habits:

1. Talking too quickly

The modern world moves at warp speed but that doesn’t mean you have to talk that fast. If you’re talking too quickly you’re probably also:

• Rambling
• Using too many filler words such as ‘um’ and ‘like’
• Not thinking before you speak
• Ignoring your listener’s signals that they have tuned out or have a question for you.

If you notice that you are speaking quickly try to stop and take a breath.  Breathe before each sentence. Pronounce every word as if your listener had to lip read what you are saying.

Listen to a podcast and try to speak along with the narrator/host at the same speed they are speaking at.  It will feel like you are talking in slow-mo, but actually you’ll be at just the right speed.  And maybe skip the Red Bull for breakfast.

2. Using Jargon

You worked hard for your financial/ medical/ insurance/ coaching/ legal designation and that’s great. Just don’t expect me to understand what a business methodology that helps companies manage marketplace variability and complexity and align company strategies with execution processes in an IS20087-B environment means.

When you use words I don’t understand I do two things:

1. Feel stupid

2. Tune out

Probably not the effect you’re looking for.  Watch your listener’s reactions.  Are they following you? Just because they are nodding politely doesn’t mean they understand.

Your best bet is to speak plainly or explain the acronyms and terms that are so familiar to you. (Check out http://www.johnsmurf.com/jargon.htm for more fun samples of bad jargon usage)

3. Giving Unsolicited Advice

Sometimes we’re blunt about it: “You should really get organized.” Sometimes we veil the advice under a question: “Don’t you think you’d save more time if you were more organized?”

Receiving a ‘teachable moment’ when you’re just plain emotional, frustrated or exhausted is no fun.  If you want to give advice try asking “I have a suggestion if you’re open to it” or even ask the person “Do you just need to vent right now or do you want me to give you some ideas for solutions?”

The bottom line: sometimes your full attention is a better deal than your free advice.

Have a question for Liz? Want to share your pet peeves? Post Here!