It's Okay to be Vulnerable on LinkedIn
Bobby Umar
I land you a TEDx Talk Guaranteed | Keynote Speaker, Trainer & Coach | Expert in Thought Leadership, Personal Branding, Storytelling, Digital Presence | LinkedIn Top Voice | 5x TEDx & Inc Magazine Top 100 Speaker |??Gaga
Newsletter Highlights
From Telling Stories, to Getting Personal to Embracing Vulnerability
I've been on LinkedIn since the beginning. In that time, my posts were all professional content. Until five years ago a hashtag campaign called #LetsGetHonest encouraged professionals to not only get personal, but be vulnerable.
It's hard enough to tell good professional stories on this platform. That's something as a professional speaker, I've blessed with as a skill.
It's even harder to get personal with your stories. Again, most of my best stories I did onstage were personal and full humour. I wasn't sure LinkedIn wanted to hear them.
But the hardest of all is to tell deeply vulnerable stories.
I'm telling you and everyone else who reads this... It's perfectly okay. You are human, and the human experience is something we all can relate to, and if you want to share something vulnerable the right people, the best people on this platform will support you.
When I took this challenge, I wasn't sure what I was going to talk about. But I saw what leaders like Swish Goswami (his lisp) and String Nguyen (an abusive relationship) shared, I decided to go beyond the personal story level and go very vulnerable.
I was terrified, but the examples of others helped me.
I spoke about my binge eating - something I struggled with my whole life and carried a boatload of shame with. It had led to so many other problems, including Diabetes, body image issues, and obesity.
What happened after I shared this video post was incredible. The outpouring of support, comments, private messages was unbelievably inspiring. There was great power not only in taking ownership of my story, but the community that rallied behind me. And most of them were either people who I solely knew from a professional capacity to many outside my network.
If you can imagine telling that personal or vulnerable story, I invite you to imagine the impact on you, your network and the silent majority who reads them.
The Value of Vulnerability
Vulnerable storytelling is worth it. Since that time five years ago, I've been more open about the personal and vulnerable challenges in life including:
I understand that this type of content is not for everyone.
A small few don't want to see it or consume it (then please, scroll on by)
A larger few don't want to share it (for them, I suggest telling personal stories from work to start)
But for most people, these stories are valuable, powerful, and most of us never even comment on them, yet they still are meaningful.
Finally, I am seeing many people on LinkedIn talking about stories around women's rights and autonomy over their bodies, like this powerful story by Kyle Ducharme .
"Now I sit here writing this, almost two years later, horrified and baffled by the fact that our government is trying to take away this fundamental human right. A right that places trust in women and families to do what's best for them and their situation."
The impact for change has never been more raw and real with these recent posts.
The Benefits of Vulnerable Storytelling are Clear.
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"Yeah, but this isn't Facebook!"
That's one of the worst retorts we often see. Here's the truth. On EVERY single social media platform, there is a space, a need, and a reason for being personal from time to time. The same applies for the workplace. If each content creator takes responsibility for what they post on their own profile, who cares what the haters say. Most of the time, they don't even get it.
There is so much more I could talk about the Power of Vulnerable Storytelling, including how to do it, the best frameworks and a fascinating case study that led to millions of views.
Want to hear more about that? Check out the section below called "What's Next".
Bobby's Besties!
While I normally give shoutouts here, I'm taking a break this newsletter. But I'd love to hear from YOU if you know some amazing vulnerable storytellers. You can TAG them in the comments and give them praise. Trust me, they'll appreciate it.
What's Next
"Energize & Boost Your LinkedIn Profile with 6 Insightful Global Experts ” - May 7, 10am-12pm ET
This new workshop with 5 of my Thought Leadership Branding Club friends happens in two days!
?? Leanne Calderwood, CMP ? will talk about Polls and Carousels
?? Heather Epstein will discuss communication strategies on the platform
?? Lynne Williams will share how to use LinkedIn for career development
?? ILIA FRANCIS is bringing epic tips around video content and creation
?? Melanie Mitchell-Wexler will demonstrate the power of LinkedIn’s newsletter feature
I’m going to focus on 3 things:
1?? How to get started on LinkedIn
2?? Your 3 Magic Weapons to Boost your results
3?? The Power of Vulnerable Storytelling (a framework and a case study!)
This 2-hour session with 6 experts is awesome value. ??????
So tell me, what's stopping you from sharing your story on LinkedIn? Which of the benefits would you gain from most by creating more vulnerable content? Share with me in the comments.
Thanks for reading everyone! Take care, Bobby
?? Want exclusive access to my LinkedIn content? Visiting my profile , follow me and then RING THAT BELL! ??????
?? FUN BONUS! If you click on my name pronunciation, you will get a funny surprise and a song. Let me know if you liked it!
If you like my newsletter series, be sure to share it with your network.
#ThoughtLeadership #Storytelling #Entrepreneurship #PersonalBranding #PowerOfConnection
Freelance, audio engineer, editor, producer. Specializing in radio ads, podcast, editing, and production, Voice Actor, 85 word specialist, for Creative, copywriting in radio commercials,
1 年Thank you for this. Interestingly I just deleted a more vulnerable post of my own. Someone whose value I really appreciate, pointed me to your post. Now I wish I would’ve read this one, before deleting my old post. I can’t wait to share positive, encouraging, real stories about me and my work and journey in the coming weeks. Thank you for this.
Bachelor of Commerce - BCom from Nizam College at Hyderabad Public School
2 年????
I Help Executive Women Build Scalable, 6&7-FIGURE Coaching Businesses to MATCH and EXCEED Their Corporate Salaries | Ex-Management Consultant turned Business Coach & Strategist | Speaker ??
2 年Yes! I ??% agree. In fact, I started following you way back when you were tweeting about being at the Toronto Eaton Centre during the shooting a few years ago. My best friends kids were there that day and I was so grateful for your real time play by play account of the situation as it unfolded. I’ve since learned a lot from you because of your ability to storytell in such a personal way. The days of boring posts that only highlight what is considered traditional “professional” content is so antiquated. Personally, I’m over it. I would much prefer to read about how you and your family celebrated EID ????
?? | I’m looking for motivated men & women who want to lose 8-16lbs | In 4 weeks ????♂?without depriving themselves or spending hours exercising ???? | Message me “28” for details ??
2 年So many takeaways from here Bobby Umar. A fantastic article with significant value for everyone.
Gest?o, Marketing Digital, Estratégia, Planeamento, Apps, SEO, E-Commerce, Website, B2B, B2C, e Vendas, Interim Manager, Entrepreneur, Vendas, MultiLingue.
2 年Since we Humans are vulnerable, that's a fact, I think it's ok to be vulnerable everywhere, we should be truthful to who we are. The absence of this is one of the biggest problems of social media and kids education nowadays.