5 ways to be an engaging speaker that people will wait in line for you!

Challenge accepted!

Inspired by Tim Denning's email "A quick writing tip"

I want you to write a listicle. I don’t care what the topic is. I don’t care how many items are in the list. Come up with an idea, write it, and publish it.

I was invited to be the panel speaker for @Allhandstaiwan monthly networking event. The topic is "3 successful steps to find a successful job shared by HR" I am very fortunate to be able to share with Selena Kao and Janet Wang under Anne Chung's great hosting. I feel flattered and blessed to know from the team that this is probably one of the most engaging events they have held. More than 10 people waited in line to exchange thoughts with us.

So, I am thinking why not share combine the challenge with my experiences in this event. My topic is "5 ways to be an engaging speaker that people will wait in line for you!

1. Structures and catchy words do help.

When people ask about what resumes will catch HRs' attention, I use 2 Mandarin adjectives to help audiences understand, Solid (有料), Interesting (有趣). Learned from @高永祺Lemon's article.

We are looking for people who either have solid background and impressive deliverables from the PAST or they show FUTURE potential, genuine interests and commitment in their application. If they meet both criteria, that's fantastic!

2. Provide both principles and examples

When people ask about how to answer tricky questions like "What are your weaknesses? and what is your biggest failure in your life?", this is my answer. For HRs, we are not looking for a fancy answer but how you digest these experiences and showcase your characteristic and lessons learned. Your opinion, self-awareness, course of action afterwards are more important. And that's where you can share more stories to elaborate here.

3. Be authentic and put yourself in audiences' shoes

Everyone has been in the struggling job hunting journey. We all know how hard and exhausting the processes are to land an ideal job. Audiences come to hear our know-how as a HR, details and tips that are easily overlooked by candidates, and most importantly, what they could do as the next step to get closer to their dream jobs. I love this description in Mandarin but I have a hard time finding a good translation. 知無不言，言無不盡 "Say all we know and say it without having an ace up our sleeves." And in my opinion, this is the key successful factor to be a good panel speaker.

4. Tell them something they don't know

People feel excited or motivated to learn when they feel the strong need or pain. Why HRs never respond to my emails? Why some people can get the offers easily but I could barely get into an interview? My answer is "Maybe you are using the wrong ways or channels all the time."

You don't really understand or even try exploring what job you are interested in. You submit the resumes via job boards without reading the job descriptions carefully and customizing your CV accordingly. You expect to receive better results using the same methods. In Albert Einstein's word, you are crazy. And the gap between the reality and expectation is what we could support the audiences, by concrete dos' and donts' as well as suggestions.

5. Tell yourself "I am here to share and learn!"

I was so worried before the event since I was not sure whether my content is valuable to the audiences. I was not sure I was QUALIFIED enough to share this topic. Once I regarded myself as a teacher, the high pressure was on. And it's not really helpful. So I changed my mentality to "I am here to share and learn." Even though I don't score 100 in this area, I have some experiences that could be helpful for someone. As long as 1 person feels beneficial from this sharing, it is good for me.

All in all, it was an amazing experience to be with AllHands Taiwan team @John Murn, @Anne Chung, and @Jeremy Hsiao, all the speakers and audiences on Nov 10 evening.

If you are looking for a new opportunity or exposure for your companies, check out their upcoming job fairs "All Hands International Job Fair - 國際企業徵才 博覽會" on Nov 21, 2020.