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Viewing Posts by Jim De Piante
The "Other-Conscious" in Public Speaking
| In my last post, Contagious Enthusiasm in Public Speaking, I talked about how being overly self-conscious can inhibit your effectiveness as a public speaker. I also know that public speaking is a valuable way to enhance your career growth. I promised to explore the idea of being fully "other-conscious" a little more deeply. Communication, of course, is what we project managers spend the majority of our time doing. Public speaking is common enough for us. All communication is about sharing meaning. To be effective, we need to have a good understanding of whom we are talking to and what will influence his or her understanding of the message we are trying to communicate. The best communicators have a keen ability to be very attuned to the other person. It helps them develop a rapport that makes real understanding happen more readily. Effective public speakers bring this ability to the group setting. They master the ability to be dialed in, not to the group, but rather, to many individuals simultaneously. Some people who are extraordinarily good in "one-on-one" situations can be very ineffective as public speakers because they find it so distressing. Much of what people find distressing stems from self-consciousness -- they are overly concerned with how people perceive and react to them. Forget self-consciousness. Be other-conscious. If everything we do is focused entirely on the listener as an individual, it can help us have the kind of rapport essential for good two-way communication. The mistake people often make is to view public speaking as addressing an audience -- a nameless, faceless and even a potentially hostile audience. Rather, we should view our listeners as a collection of individuals with whom we need to establish separate relationships in order to effectively communicate with them. But don't ignore yourself in the process. On the contrary, because of the importance of the speaker's role, visibility, prominence and leveraged influence, the speaker must pay particular attention to him or herself. And that means, with a mind toward the other. What do you think? Does being self-conscious help you be other-conscious in all communications, not just public speaking? Read more about speaking in your project management career. Get more career help. |
Contagious Enthusiasm in Public Speaking
Categories:
Career Development
Categories: Career Development
| A few years ago, I was at a PMI chapter professional development day to give a presentation and attend some sessions. Between sessions, I saw a young man who worked for one of the conference sponsors reading something. I asked him what he was reading, and he said he was going over his notes for his upcoming presentation. "Excellent," I commented. "What will you be talking about?" Our product," he replied. Then he added, "I'm probably going to bore everyone." "Why would it bore everyone?" I asked. "Well," he said, "because it's a boring presentation." Now I was really intrigued. I asked again why it's boring and got a similar response: "It's just not very interesting." I kind of felt sorry for the guy, but thought maybe I could help him out. I continued, "Certainly, it's interesting to you. You must have some enthusiasm for the topic -- the product you are here to sell! How can you share that enthusiasm with the folks who will be listening?" "No," he replied, "I don't really find the topic interesting at all. I don't have any enthusiasm for it." You can't give what you haven't got -- and the most important thing you can have when speaking is your enthusiasm for your topic. But having enthusiasm isn't enough. You have to be enthusiastic, and you have to be able to share your enthusiasm with others. But the biggest inhibitor to sharing enthusiasm is self-consciousness. Therein, I believe, lays the great secret to effective public speaking. Public speaking is a giving act. You are giving of yourself - your insights, your experience, your enthusiasm, your knowledge, your stories, your being. The effective speaker is fully tuned in to the people he or she is speaking to - fully conscious of their presence, their reaction, their needs - fully other-conscious. This leaves no room for self. No room for self-consciousness. Next post, I'd like to explore this idea of being fully "other-conscious" a little more deeply. In the meantime, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts about how being "self-conscious" can inhibit a speaker's effectiveness. Get more career help. |
Speaking about Your Project Management Career
| Every major turning point in my career within the last eight years -- everything that I would call progress -- can be traced back to one thing: public speaking. Eight years ago, on the advice of a few colleagues and friends, I decided to take my project management stories and experiences to a broader audience and enter the world of public speaking. I hadn't anticipated how wonderful it would be to share stories and experiences with so many fine people. Nor could I have ever imagined the world of possibilities it would later open up to me. Success in project management certainly depends on capability. But it also depends on exposure and on the image you convey. What better way is there for you to gain exposure and to project an image as a capable project manager than to stand before a group of colleagues and share your knowledge on the profession? When asked about public speaking, people often say, "I wish I could do that." I say, "Why can't you?" Each one of us has a unique perspective and unique experiences. All that remains to be done is to tell the stories in a compelling way. That takes some work and some practice, but it is within reach of any professional. I'll address some ways you can be a great public speaker in my next post. In the meantime, I'd like to know if you ever considered public speaking? Why or why not? How has it helped shape your career? What tips can you share? |
Managing Your Personal Brand
Categories:
Career Development
Categories: Career Development
In a reply to my previous post about the advantages of an employee adopting the mindset of an independent consultant, commenter Conrad Harrison said:In terms of going fully independent you have to go beyond the profession. Whilst people are seeking you out on the basis of profession, then anyone in the profession will do and can replace you. They have to be seeking you out: recognizing your uniqueness. That added value that only you can provide. Your uniqueness, this differentiating characteristic, is perhaps the most important part of your professional reputation, your brand. And you do have a brand. It might be good or it might be not so good. It might be very crisp or it might be fuzzy. It might be consistent or it might be ambiguous. It might be helping you or it might be hurting you. Whatever it is, your brand tells people what they should expect from you. Here are a few considerations I view as most important in managing the "Jim De Piante" brand, along with tips for cultivating your own brand: Little things matter. Every interaction with other people contributes to your brand. Often, it's a seemingly small thing, such as promptly returning a call, that can leave a lasting impression. Quality matters. As in all things related to reputation, it can take a long time to build a good brand, but you can destroy it very quickly. People talk about you. They talk about your work. You want to be sure they're only saying positive things. Consistency matters. When people think or talk about you, you want them to remember, think and say you can be counted on to do certain things a certain way. Whether you're an employee or an independent consultant, the project you're working on is going to end. Then what? Who will seek you out and why? I'd be interested to hear how you manage your personal brand. Read more from Jim De Piante. |
The Employee as an Independent Consultant
Categories:
Career Development
Categories: Career Development
| This post was updated from its original version, published on 8 July 2011. I've been employed by the same multinational corporation for the past 27 years. About 15 years ago, I decided that I didn't like feeling like an employee, and decided to adopt the mindset of an independent consultant. Strictly speaking, I was and am still an employee. What changed was my mindset. I decided to think and behave like an independent consultant while continuing to be an employee of the same corporation. It's a nice arrangement. I treat my employer as if they were a client, my main client. With a couple of notable exceptions, they've given me steady work. Since I see myself as an independent project management consultant (even though I am really an employee), I have to think about marketing. If I don't keep the pipeline full, business could dry up. I make sure people know who I am, what my capabilities are and that I stand ready to help them. I do a lot of business development. I help people "on my own time" so they'll know what I can do for them should they have a need. I get to know who the decision makers are, who holds the budgets and who has influence. I keep myself sharp. Sometimes, my client/employer pays for my training and pays me when I take training. Sometimes they cover any travel expenses to take the training. Or, I may take training on my own time and expense to increase skills and my value proposition as an independent consultant. I interact with others in my profession apart from my client/employer. I belong to a professional organization (PMI) and volunteer with them as a speaker and writer. When I begin a new project, I approach it as a consultant, looking not only at how I can satisfy the immediate need, but also looking at the potential for follow-on work. When people I deal with are unpleasant or difficult to work with, I remind myself that they are my client, and will be paying me for my work. It helps keep things in perspective. I do the occasional "side job" for other clients, but only to the extent that it doesn't result in a conflict of interest. I don't think I would have the courage to make the career switch to truly be "independent." At least not yet. I have the utmost respect for those who really are independent. I understand that I don't face the same risks they do, which is why I have such respect for them. I've learned a lot from them and hope to learn more. But this works for me and seems to combine the best of both worlds. I have the satisfaction of doing work for people who seek me out as a professional, and doing so at a level of risk that I find tolerable. What do you think? Do you think working as an employee and behaving like a consultant would work for you? Why or why not? See more posts from Jim. Get more career help. |