Be LESS professional in 2017! Be more human and you'll be more successful.

5 tips to make you more engaging and transform your reputation in 2017

Have you ever noticed just how boring our professional communications are? From dreary, clone-like CVs to monotonous, to clichéd corporate videos. And not to mention the ever-present death-by-powerpoint, millions and millions of business hours are wasted each year churning out well-presented, but utterly tedious stuff. Which NOBODY listens to.

Yet as soon as we are not being professional, we all tell lots of interesting, engaging anecdotes and stories. Gossip is rife. It's the really interesting stuff. And then when it comes to being professional, we switch back over into our official-dull-bland-boring mode.

A few days ago, I was contacted by a fairly large professional services firm. I hadn't heard of them before so I checked out their website. I clicked on "Our Story" and this is what they said about themselves:

XYZ has grown to become a preeminent global provider of services to businesses requiring highly specialised support focusing on Accounting & Finance, Change & Transformation, Compliance, Management Consulting, Operations and Risk & Regulation. XYZ’s global reach extends across Europe, Asia and North America — each with a strong focus on the core values that made XYZ the company it is today: Commitment, Character & Trust, Relationships and a Passion for Excellence.

Apart from changing the company name, I only needed to remove 2 words and you could use this for any similar-sized professional service firm, anywhere in the world. I did a quick check on Linkedin and this firm has 2335 similarly-sized competitors. Each of which could use the same "template".

If you happened to be searching among these 2000 firms, would those words make this firm stand-out? Would it get your attention? Would you even remember them 2 minutes and 10 identical firms later?

Now here's the irony. Firms like this don't just "happen". To have got to where they are today, they will have done something special. They will have had their challenges.Their struggles. They will have overcome them and they will have done things that make them unique, engaging and special. But they've decided not to tell us.

Why, oh why?

On the other hand, there is a massive amount of evidence that shows that you need to be personal in your professional communications, if you want to succeed.

• "People do business with people, not business" is very often quoted in sales training (and when we are communicating we are all "selling" in its broader sense)
• "Show vulnerability" is a well-documented successful part of any negotiations strategy. But we never like to show our vulnerability when we are being "professional"
• Robert Cialdini's excellent book "Influence" demonstrates the key elements that give you and your business influence. These include personal - human factors - which enable you to build trust, liking AND give you authority

Telling your unique personal story is vital to differentiating yourself in ALL your business communications.

So here are 5 key tips to make your professional and business communications more engaging and transform your reputation in 2017

1. Make it personal - talk about the struggles you and your business faced
2. Make it memorable. In his classic book from 1972, "The Art of Getting your own Sweet Way", Crosby points out that "Nobody really Listens". Make every communication unforgettable and they will listen to you.
3. Remember that the technology can only improve the packaging, not the content. Beautiful power-points, professional videos and slick websites will all have ZERO impact if you don't have an engaging, human story for people to relate to.
4. Be authentic. People can easily spot a fake - use your personal story to build an authentic, credible message
5. Take yourself less seriously. When being professional, it is to easy to overdo it and - without realising it- we come over as unfriendly or arrogant. Taking yourself less seriously makes you more likeable and, as a direct result, more influential.

I hope you've found this helpful. Now please help me on my mission in

Improving the Sorry State of Professional Communications, one Story at a Time

by sharing this post. Thank you!

Need some help? No time to figure this out yourself? Get in touch with me about my coaching, training and done-for-you services. www.julianatherley.co.uk or just message me on Linkedin.

And have a happy, healthy, influential and successful 2017!