Where Are You Going Next?

When professionals need to communicate verbally, they nearly always use prepared scripts. Comedians have planned their bits and rehearsed them over and over. Announcers know their opening lines, their monologues, their big moments. And the key to writing your own verbal communication script is to know your story. Where have you been? Where are you going next? What differentiates you? How has your past developed you to where you are today? What weaknesses have become strengths? What weaknesses are you still working on? What are your unique accomplishments? In less than thirty seconds, why you? Answer those questions in a concise paragraph on a single piece of paper or in a note on your phone, and you have a differentiating biography you can use in any number of situations. Memorize it, lock it down, and carry it with you in your brain everywhere you go. But this question isn’t asked to get an answer. It’s asked to see how the candidate thinks about a problem. Oh wait, you need to add something, and then something else. Just one more draft! But ideally, that’s what you should do. First, determine the story you want to tell. Second, write it down.

None But The Brave

That’s why I’m recommending you break the story you want to tell into a minimum of five power lines for every meeting or sales pitch or job interview or email to a recruiter, not to mention to every first date or, hell, even your appearance on The Bachelor or The Bachelorette. That didn’t come out of thin air. Take a similar approach in creating your five power lines. First, make sure each is something you really want to say, something that aligns authentically with you at the core. How can you be sure that works? Talk to yourself about it. Try each power line out. Identify the one you think is the clearest, that says what you really mean and says it short and fast. It’s probably the one place in the world where I don’t have any distractions. I can bloviate to my heart’s content till I find the power line that works. You’ll easily find your own best place or circumstance for rehearsing your power line. When it’s taut enough, sharp enough, and feels good in your mouth, it’s right. Let it become second nature, ready to pour out of you with ease either when the opportunity strikes or when you’re backed into the corner.

The Human Touch

It is a skill set that involves both art and science, and it will have a material impact on your restart. I know that not everybody is at ease with public communication. Imagine you’re telling a second grader how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. How to open the jars, what utensils to use, how to spread each element. Slice off the crust? Cut on the diagonal? The range of opinions on that issue can be wide. You may ask yourself why I am asking you to assume that your audience is a second grader. First, with the numerous distractions and given the speed of technology, today’s adult population has the attention span of a second grader. Second, we always assume people know what we are talking about. They don’t, not any more than a second grader would. That’s great training for keeping your verbal communication on point and on time. Also, as you talk to yourself, listen to yourself. Vary your inflection and watch your timing.

Don't Let Yourself Down

Learn to pause, to vary your tone, to stop when the point has been made. If you’re providing an explanation, start at the beginning and finish at the end. Be precise but snappy enough to hold the attention of that second grader. Does this sound like a lot of work? Does it sound bizarre? The fact is that every second of every day you are selling and being sold to. Both are potent marketing mechanisms and will serve as essential sales tools. We all know that you never get a second chance to make a first impression. Know your story and how to tell it. Your story needs to show how you approach a problem, how you work with others, how succinctly you can express verbally what’s happening in your brain, and how you make the solutions happen. You picture yourself sticking a name tag on your chest and approaching a room full of people you don’t know and who don’t know you, but who seem to know one another very well. It shouldn’t be so terrifying. When you get right down to it, all networking is, technically, is meeting people you don’t know, which is something we have all done all our lives. But finding and following the connections among those people we don’t know presents each of us with a puzzle. As with any puzzle, we have to find the right pieces, and of course put them in the right places, so we can get to where we want to be. It’s all about finding that next piece to keep the puzzle moving along toward completion. Networking is the heart of it, so here is a hack you can implement immediately. Everyone loves to talk about themselves, and everyone is impressed by those who are attentive to their story. And where restarting your life and career is concerned, networking is absolutely essential. Let’s start by realizing how well equipped you are at this point to actually be networking like that one guy or gal you know who does it best. You’ve looked inside yourself and identified the superpower within you, the essential characteristic that differentiates you and on which you will build your brand. The beauty of that brand is that it’s transferable throughout your lifetime for the obvious reason that it is inside you, so you carry it wherever you go. Unlike that company you work for, the title they gave you, or the boss who gives you your annual rating, your brand lives within you, which is why it lives on.