HR Conference "The Art of Sounding Like Yourself"
On 20 May, the HR conference "The Art of Sounding Like Yourself" on promoting the personal brand of directors and executives inside and outside the organisation took place in St. Petersburg.
The event was organised by Arina Gorokhovskaya, career consultant, expert in management communications, founder of the «School of Career Mastery» and author of the course «The Power of Authoritative Influence», together with Brandson (TSN) branding agency, which is part of the international Total Skills Network and has been providing services on the market for more than 55 years.
The conference was organised for directors and executives who understand that they need to develop a personal brand to advance their careers, but do not know how to do it organically or where to find the time. The invited experts revealed the secrets of positioning senior executives effectively inside and outside the organisation, and shared social media promotion tips not only for those in senior positions, but also for those building a personal brand in search of a new job.
Svetlana Tokareva, a business stylist from the world of media, author of programmes on image and charisma and instructor of the «Stylist and Image Maker» course at Netology, spoke on «The Power of Image: How to Inspire, Influence and Persuade». Her talk was built around an analysis of the visual codes of charisma, strength, power and authority, empathy, trust and warmth. So what exactly is a «visual code»?
Visual communication — is a form of communication in which information is conveyed through signs, images, imagery, infographics and so on. In modern society, visual communication is ceasing to be a passive intermediary, acquiring distinct visual sequences (codes) and a pronounced manipulative character. When working with a personal brand, the visual sequence (code) is geared towards creating a positive image.
«There is a rule in visual communication: what remains in the end is feelings alone. People value and reward the feelings we evoke in them», — comments Svetlana, — «Image — is the extra zeros on your «personal price tag». Whether or not to use them is up to you alone».
Arina Gorokhovskaya shared the current rules of positioning on the labour market in her speech. Arina also emphasised the influence of a personal brand on the demand for top managers; career resilience through the creation of a new professional identity; and how to use positioning to find a job, fill a vacancy or sell a specific service. In addition, she shared 5 ways to present yourself and your experience briefly and elegantly.
One of the main mistakes people make when promoting a personal brand is a mistake in positioning themselves on the labour market. In other words — poor «packaging» of their experience. Who are you? Who is your client? What problems do you solve? What value do you bring? What skills do you have?
«Even if headhunters are ringing you off the hook with interview invitations, you can ruin everything with vague and boring positioning», — says the expert, — «Whereas executives who can describe themselves concisely are visible to the market and stand out favourably from other candidates».
One of the key tools for promoting a personal brand, or any brand, in today's world is social media. That was the subject of the talk by Elena Root, Executive Director of Brandson Branding Agency (Total Skills Netwrok) and a certified specialist in branding, marketing and advertising, entitled «Building and Promoting a Personal Brand». Elena identified 5 key steps in building a brand for directors and shared them with the audience.
Special attention was paid to what the internet should know about you during your promotion, and where and what to talk and write about in order to become visible and sound vivid. Elena is convinced that the key resource — is creative, educated people capable of coming up with unconventional solutions. The most successful company of the future may be the one engaged in education. Or more precisely — in investing in people.
«On social media, people are more interested in following other people than abstract companies. A clear sign of a strong personal brand — is when a specialist is recommended not only by clients» — Elena shared in her talk.
To sum up:
• Why you need a personal brand: it brings an entrepreneur trust in their company's brand and in them personally, more clients, employees who share the values of the entrepreneur and the company, the ability to shape the impression you make, and the successful launch of new projects.
• Levelling yourself up will take considerable resources. You will have to dive deep into marketing, psychology, SMM, SEO, content creation and so on.
• How to start promoting your personal brand: find out what information search engines return about you and remove any compromising data, understand why you need a personal brand and define the right promotion path specifically for you.
