Today, I’m sharing 3 ways to use your story to elevate your personal brand.

A great story...  is memorable, connects people, builds trust and loyalty, and allows us to STANDOUT From The Crowd.

So how can you use your story to build your personal brand?

When you tell stories, people are far more likely to remember what you say. Most people forget more than 40% of the information you tell them by the very next day. After a week, they will likely have forgotten a full 90% of what you said. Stories give you an advantage because information is up to 20 times more memorable when delivered in a story. But most importantly, stories often lead to action.

“Logic makes people think; emotion makes them act.”

At the end of the day, we want to  prompt people to do something, and logic doesn’t necessarily emote. We need emotion to get people off the couch and onto their feet to do something about our message.

1. Don't Box Yourself In

A concern that a lot of my clients have - when we start working together - is being confused and confusing their network. And I understand. As individuals, we are diverse and multi-passionate. The average person changes career and/or industry two to three times in their life. So how can you explain and communicate that shift? The answer is simple: “YOU”.

Actionable:

Collect your stories and reverse engineer the process. If you think it’s good, learn to identify why. If you like it, consider how it makes you feel.

➡What is it about the story presented that makes it resonate with you?

➡What are the lessons learned?

➡How can it bring value to your audience?

No matter what you do, people want to get to know YOU, your ups and downs, the good, the bad and the ugly. This is how you’re going to create a connection and make people want to listen to you.

2. Stay focused on the storyline

Short is better than long, simple is better than complicated and less is always more. Don’t wander in the story and don’t add irrelevant details.

Your story formula should be as simple as this:

➡The Problem you faced

➡The Solution (How did you overcome the challenge?)

➡The Outcome (What’s your success story?)

When I started The Smart Woman, my focus was to help professional women become more confident and strategic when networking. During that time, my story structure was as follow:

The problem: I struggled with networking.

The solution: I realized that I had to change my approach and become more strategic in my networking activities.

Success: I have built an international career and run two businesses with the support of an international network.

BONUS: I even wrote a book about strategic networking - Networking In The New World Of Work.

3. Brag better

Many of you don’t want to showcase their achievements and share their story because you’re scared people will judge you.

People may think “oh (s)he is bragging”. Let me tell you something, if you’re not bragging, if you don’t tell your story nobody is going to know you. And, it’s not bragging if it’s true.

Here is what it is about, marketing yourself. Marketing yourself is about to get the world to know you so you don’t have to introduce yourself.

I didn’t know this because I always thought my hard work would speak for itself. This is bull***t. Your work doesn’t speak for itself, it doesn’t even speak for yourself.

Bottom line: How are you going to make an impact if nobody knows you?

You'll also like:

4 Tips for Building your Personal Brand & Boosting Your Career

3 ways to promote yourself at work (without bragging)

See you next week again.

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With your success in mind...Darine