The Impact & Presence Pocketbook
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THE IMPACT & PRESENCE POCKETBOOK By Pam Jones & Janie van Hool Drawings by Phil Hailstone "This little gem tells you all you need to know about making a positive impact. The user- friendly format and excellent content make it essential for anyone in business." Maura O'Mahony, Management Development Manager, Allied Irish Bank (GB) "Provides invaluable advice on how to develop yourself, great tips and hints on how to do it and useful exercises to get you started." James Moncrieff, Director, LMT Consulting "A fun, pragmatic approach developed by experts in their fields. Applicable in areas of business and personal life." Monica Kinder, Assistant Manager, Management Development, Allied Irish Bank (GB) Published by: MANAGEMENT Management Pocketbooks Ltd POCKETBOOKS Laurel House, Station Approach, Alresford, Hants SO24 9JH, U.K. Tel: +44 (0)1962 735573 Fax: +44 (0)1962 733637 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.pocketbook.co.uk All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers. This edition published 2004. © Pam Jones and Janie van Hool 2004 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data – A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 1 903776 18 X Design, typesetting and graphics by efex ltd. Printed in U.K. CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 5 DEVELOPING YOUR 71 Who should use this book?, impact and PERSONAL BRAND presence – why so important?, what is it?, Identifying your brand, creating your who makes impact and how, start right now brand identity and statement, your own brand, developing brand GAINING CONTROL – 13 awareness, your brand image, THE INNER THINKING TOOLKIT packaging the brand, men, women, first Questionnaire, understanding yourself, identifying impressions, extending your brand your strengths, your values and inner motivation, stress responses, handling your inner critic, managing ADAPTING TO 85 stress, breathing, visualisation, focus, getting in the THE ENVIRONMENT zone, mood words, emotional state, handling rejection, Meetings, small talk, remembering humour, reviewing impact, critical incident exercise, names, 15-second introduction, positive inner dialogue, power bases, finding and presentations, dealing with an audience, choosing a mentor, maintaining the inner engine the kipper tie technique, impact and influencing, interviews, impact and IMPACT FROM THE OUTSIDE IN 43 promotion, assertiveness Impact questionnaire, outer impact, posture, techniques for improving physical presence, ACTION PLANNING 105 gesture, handshake, eye contact, creating atmosphere, Creating your plan, ways to get enjoying your space, rapport, matching and mirroring, started, action plans for inner matching energy levels, creating rapport through and outer impact content and language, flexing your style, listening, questioning, ‘yes, and…’, simplicity and clarity, being heard, tips for optimising your voice, sounding authentic, voice workout, modelling impact 4 I NTRODUCTION 5 INTRODUCTION WHO SHOULD USE THIS BOOK? This book is for people in business who want to maximise their presence and create a powerful impact on the people they meet and work with. It provides a wealth of tips and techniques, using questionnaires and exercises to help you assess your impact, and enhance your communication style and strategy. The book shows you how to appear confident and use a dynamic style of communication, but also how to feel positive and self-assured in any situation. It takes a holistic approach, helping you to project an image that reflects your values and strengths. The authors bring together experience from the worlds of business and theatre to provide a broad perspective on the benefits of taking control of personal impact. 6 INTRODUCTION IS THIS BOOK FOR YOU? G Do you want to make the most of yourself? G Do you think you could make greater impact? G Do you need to prepare yourself for a meeting or interview? G Do you want to create an image which reflects your abilities? G Do you want to enhance your leadership capability? If so read on. ‘You never know when you are making a memory.’ Rickie Lee-Jones 7 INTRODUCTION IMPACT AND PRESENCE – WHY SO IMPORTANT? ‘It takes 30 seconds to make an impact.’ Albert Mehrabian, Silent Messages, Wadsworth, 1971, 1985 Your image and how you use it is central to others’ perception of your abilities, skills and potential. It is amazing how quickly you make an impression on others. You need to pay attention to your image because: G To develop your career you will need to sell yourself to others G In a service economy people buy you G While adapting to the environment you work in you need to stay true to yourself, and know how to do this G There is a clear relationship between impact and self-concept; each feeds off the other G Confidence is contagious, but so is lack of confidence G You have the ability to create the atmosphere you work in through generating a positive impact Projecting the right image can mean the difference between success and failure. 8 INTRODUCTION WHAT IS IMPACT AND PRESENCE? We are so much more than what we do. 10% Career progression is not just about doing a good job, but about: G Getting exposure with key people G Visibility 60% 30% G Personal credibility G Networking G Sending out the right messages G Being positive G Creating the right image Your personal presence is the What you do experience people have of you and How you do it (image/style) the memory of you they will take away. How visible you are/who sees you 9 INTRODUCTION WHO MAKES IMPACT AND HOW? In the media every day we are bombarded with images of people who make an impact: politicians (nationally and internationally), actors, artists, sporting heroes, etc. These people inspire strong reactions from their audience, both positive and negative. Before you can effectively make an impact, or make yourself memorable to the audience that you face (be that one person or a thousand), you need to have a clear idea of what you think impact is, or should be, to give you the results you want. Think of some famous people that you would define as being charismatic, having personal presence, creating impact, and try to define what it is about them that gives them this quality. Chances are, you’ll have focused on people whose image is everywhere, but who are unknown to you, other than in pictures or on TV. Now try the exercise with people you know, or have met. Analyse what it is that they think, feel, say and do that gives them this quality and then define which of those qualities you share with them or would like to develop. 10 INTRODUCTION START RIGHT NOW To create impact you need to work on yourself in a number of different ways. Using this book, you can work systematically through each section or dip in at the appropriate place. G Understanding yourself Gaining control – the inner thinking toolkit G Being mentally prepared G Getting support G Communicating with impact Impact from the outside in G Creating physical presence G Using your voice G Identifying your brand Developing your personal brand G Creating your brand G Developing brand awareness G Adapting your style Adapting to the environment G Creating impact in different situations G Planning for success 11 INTRODUCTION START RIGHT NOW Inner thinking Impact from toolkit the outside in Developing your personal brand Adapting to the environment 12 G AINING CONTROL - THE INNER THINKING TOOLKIT 13 GAINING CONTROL – THE INNER THINKING TOOLKIT QUESTIONNAIRE Impact and presence is as much about YOU as it is about how you look. This section will focus on your ‘inner engine’. Look at the questions below to determine how aware you are of the importance of your inner thinking toolkit. Spend some time reflecting on your answers. Each question relates to some aspect of your self-confidence and how this is expressed. 1 Do you think positively or negatively about your impact on others? 2 When communicating, do you ever anticipate what others might be thinking about you? 3 How does stress manifest itself with you? 4 Do you control your stress levels when anxious? How? 5 When do you feel at your most confident? 6 When do you feel at your least confident? 7 Do you sometimes feel self-conscious? 8 Do you feel like a different person at work from how you feel at home or with friends? If so, what changes? 14 GAINING CONTROL – THE INNER THINKING TOOLKIT QUESTIONNAIRE (Cont’d) 9 Do you feel comfortable with how you look? 10 Which are you more aware of: your strengths or your weaknesses? 11 Do you feel powerful? If so, when? 12 Are you aware of your inner critic? 13 When do you feel at your best? 14 Have you ever had a personal coach or mentor? 15 Do you prepare yourself mentally, physically and emotionally before communicating? 16 Do you focus on the other person or people when communicating? The following pages will show you ways to strengthen your inner engine by: G Understanding yourself G Understanding what holds you back G Identifying ways of preparing yourself mentally and emotionally to create great impact Read this section, complete the exercises and then revisit these questions to review whether you now feel better equipped to create impact. 15 GAINING CONTROL – THE INNER THINKING TOOLKIT UNDERSTANDING YOURSELF A first step in developing your personal impact and presence is identifying what it is that you want to project to others. G What are your strengths? G What are your values? This will provide a clue to what really motivates and inspires you G How do you want others to see you? G How do you want to be? Real presence and impact comes from being congruent at all these levels.