Why Meetings Are the Best Place to Build Your Personal Brand—When You Develop the Right Mindset

Personal branding is about authentically delivering value to the people you seek to influence, inspire and impact. One of the best places to do that is in meetings.

Sadly though, we just don't seem to take virtual/hybrid meetings as seriously as we do their real-world cousins.

In this episode:

• Read
• Laugh
• Soar

Today, Zoom rooms are where the magic happens, where you impress all the stakeholders who hold the keys to your career success. It's the perfect stage to showcase your work, humbly of course, and highlight the extraordinary contributions you bring to the table. Impact and influence like a superstar:

Break free from your solo bubble

Being a hidden genius won't catapult you to the top. Everyone's busy, and expecting your boss and influential folks to magically know what you're up to every day is wishful thinking. Meetings bring your value out of the shadows. They get you noticed.

Learn. Grow. Conquer

Meetings are like treasure troves of knowledge. They offer valuable context, juicy details, and sometimes unexpected insights that can supercharge your success and make your contributions even more impactful. Plus, you might even learn a thing or two unrelated to the project, like who the boss picked for the new team member—a tidbit that’s really worth knowing!

Forge connections and make friends

Building relationships through emails, texts, or Slack is like trying to build a sandcastle with a toothpick. Meetings, on the other hand, provide the perfect opportunity to connect deeply with key stakeholders and strengthen those relationships. Remember, multiple consistent touch points are the secret sauce to meaningful connections.

Show off your genius

No, it's not about bragging—it's about shining a spotlight on what makes you extraordinary. Meetings give you the stage to leave your mark and reinforce your unique brand. By actively and generously participating (not multitasking) and sharing your brilliant ideas and opinions, you demonstrate your knowledge and showcase your one-of-a-kind perspective.

Demonstrate your communications skills

Meetings are your chance to articulate your ideas with clarity and conciseness. Showcasing your branded communication style, whether it's infused with humor, structure, or compelling data, boosts your confidence, earns you respect and bolsters your personal brand. Active listening and engaged participation (no sneaky email checking!) let your colleagues know you genuinely care.

Express gratitude

Everyone loves a little recognition for their contributions. Acknowledging and expressing gratitude for others' hard work is like rocket fuel for their motivation. And when you do it in meetings, in front of everyone, it's like turbocharged rocket fuel! Acknowledging others shows that you’re a leader.

Embrace the feedback feast

Feedback is the key ingredient to learning and advancing your career (and it's a major part of the personal brand discovery process). Meetings create the perfect platform for others to provide you with candid, actionable input that helps refine your skills and approaches. So, savor the feedback feast and take action on what you learn.

Unleash the leader within

Meetings are where decision-makers spot emerging leaders—those who display leadership skills without needing the title. Taking an active role in meetings showcases your leadership and collaboration prowess, putting you on the radar of those with the power to skyrocket your career.

Rock the credibility-likability scale

By actively participating, providing valuable input, and sharing unique insights, you boost your credibility as an expert in your field. But it's not just about being credible; it's about being likable too! Strong personal brands flourish at the intersection of likability and credibility. (Find out where your LinkedIn profile sits on the credibility/likability scale with this quiz.)

Demonstrate that you're a leader

Meetings are places where decision makers identify emerging leaders—those who demonstrate leadership skills without holding the title.When you take an active role in meetings, you show off your leadership and collaboration skills and get on the radar of those who have the power to promote you.

Seize every meeting as an opportunity to unleash your personal brand power and take your career to new heights. Let your brand shine, leave a lasting impression, and show the world what you're made of!

Here's what people are doing during the online meetings you lead and attend according to a survey from Quality Logo.

Make Meetings Matter

Be deliberate in the way you lead and participate in meetings so you can stand out, grow your brand and advance your career. For an entire day of meetings, challenge yourself to focus and avoid multitasking. Can you do it?

And for those meetings that you lead, up your game. Make your meetings more interesting, interactive and compelling so it's harder for participants to look away!

Want to add some WOW to your meetings? Join me and CareerBlast.TV cofounder Ora Shtull on July 25th at noon ET for a?fun webinar: The Powerful Connection Between Self-awareness and Personal Branding. In addition to taking away insights and identifying actions you can use to expand your personal brand, we'll use some powerful techniques to keep people engaged - techniques you can use to make your meetings mesmerizing! Register even if you can't make and it and we'll send you the recording!

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