SWE Presents: Showcase Your Expertise - - Without Bragging! September 10, 2013 Lynne Waymon CEO of Contacts Count LLC Author and Trainer Lynne Waymon Co-author of Make Your Contacts Count (AMACOM, 2nd edition) Networking thought leader, trainer, keynoter Co-author of The Networking Competency Assessment (c) Lynne Waymon 2 Today s Workshop Why tell stories? What makes a good story? How can I find stories? When can I tell a story? How can I make sure my stories teach about my expertise? How can I avoid bragging, but still be visible and valued? (c) Lynne Waymon 3 1
Why Now? To feel more comfortable & confident in social & business settings To bring in the business To get the job done To get up to speed in a new job fast To become more visible in my firm To launch a new initiative (c) Lynne Waymon 4 What is Networking? Teaching people about your character and competence Listening generously (c) Lynne Waymon 5 Why Tell Stories? Stories stick Stories teach Stories make conversations flow Stories make your expertise visible, so others know what to count on your for, what information to send your way Stories make it easier for others to give you referrals (c) Lynne Waymon 6 2
Damaris s Story I never thought as an engineer I d spend the day with 100 sixth graders! Last week was the Wow! That s Engineering! day I coordinated for our SWE Chapter and Lincoln Labs at MIT. At first we wondered What can we possibly do with 100 young girls to get them interested in careers in science and engineering? Then it hit me - - - lip gloss! I showed them how to use chemical and materials engineering to mix lip gloss. One girl said to me as she left, This was sooooo cool. Thanks! (c) Lynne Waymon 7 Evaluating Damaris s Story What do you know about Damaris? What was most memorable? Did the story begin to show Damaris s character and competence? Was the story interesting to listen to? Did the story teach without bragging? (c) Lynne Waymon 8 Susan s Story Speaking of trial by fire... You won t believe what happened at the conference. As soon as I arrived at the hotel, I got a note from my boss saying that his wife had gone into labor 2 weeks early and he couldn t be there to deliver the session he was booked for. All of a sudden I heard myself saying, I can give the speech for you. We d created the slides together, but I never dreamed I d be presenting! I had 6 hours to prepare. I asked the hotel for a small conference room where I could practice and I got to work. After the session, one of the people in the audience asked if I could give the same presentation at a conference he was planning. I couldn t wait to tell my boss after he told me about his new baby daughter! (c) Lynne Waymon 9 3
Evaluating Susan s Story What do you know about Susan? What was most memorable? Did the story begin to show Susan s character and competence? Was the story interesting to listen to? Did the story teach without bragging? (c) Lynne Waymon 10 What Makes a Good Story? S Strategic U Unique C Clear C Concrete E Exciting S Short S Service-oriented (c) Lynne Waymon 11 Find the Turn-Around Once upon a time... Suddenly... Luckily... Happily ever after... (or lessons learned!!) (c) Lynne Waymon 12 4
Storytelling Formula Segue Situation SNAFU Solution Significance (c) Lynne Waymon 13 Katie s Story SEGUE: I been designing feet. SITUATION: For returning vets who ve lost a limb, getting fitted with a new foot is what they ve been waiting for. SNAFU: At first we had trouble testing the artificial feet to find the which designs work best. SOLUTION: But at the Dept. of Veterans Affairs, we use robots to simulate the human gait til we get it right. SIGNIFICANCE: I like to say, we re literally thinking on our feet, so our vets can have the very best prosthetics available. (c) Lynne Waymon 14 Evaluating Katie s Story What do you know about Katie? What was most memorable? Did the story begin to show Katie s character and competence? Was the story interesting to listen to? Did the story teach about Katie s skills without bragging? (c) Lynne Waymon 15 5
Q & A Please submit your questions online Thanks! (c) Lynne Waymon 16 How To Find Stories Notice your successes with clients and in life Notice situations that brought out your best Notice times when your character and competence were tested Notice what others find unique and interesting about you and/or your firm (c) Lynne Waymon 17 Activity #1: What Do You Want To Teach? 1. Make a list of 3 people with whom you are currently developing a relationship 2. Next to each name write one thing you d like to teach that person to expand their knowledge of your company s capabilities, or your expertise, character, or competence (c) Lynne Waymon 18 6
The Next Step 3. Now think of something you ve done that will teach each person you listed about an expertise or quality (The experience you tell about in your story might have happened to you or be part of your organization s track record) (c) Lynne Waymon 19 Example Tiffany wants to teach That I m comfortable doing long-term projects with tight deadlines. Story: The time her boss got sick and she took on a major project for her. (c) Lynne Waymon 20 Example Sylvia wants to teach That I m experienced designing and leading multi-phase projects. Story: The time she was invited to report to the CEO on the project s success. (c) Lynne Waymon 21 7
Activity #2: Write A Story Make notes about a story you might tell one of the people on the list you made in Activity #1 Check your story: Is it S-U-C-C-E-S-S? Does it have a turn-around to make it interesting? (c) Lynne Waymon 22 Activity #3: Tell Your Story Tell a colleague your story, using your notes if you like Ask the listener: What do you know about me after hearing my story? Ask yourself: Is that what I want to teach? Get tips from the listener and revise Give your partner a turn to tell his/her story (c) Lynne Waymon 23 How to Begin Your Story In response to What s new? or How have you been? When there s a lull in the conversation Segue with a transition sentence such as, I ve been meaning to tell you what happened last week... (c) Lynne Waymon 24 8
Tell A Story with Ease Find a role model to learn from Practice with people you know well Follow the 5-S formula Hint: Once you ve constructed a few stories, others will come more easily and you will have made storytelling a conversational habit. (c) Lynne Waymon 25 Telling Your Story Take out all extraneous details Help the listener be there with you, feel what you felt, see what you saw Vary the volume and speed of telling Punch important words or phrases Quote other people Use gestures and facial expressions (c) Lynne Waymon 26 Avoid Bragging and Grandstanding Be amazed and humbled by your own success Give lots of credit to others Remember what Will Rogers said Learn from a role model who is comfortable telling stories without hotdogging (c) Lynne Waymon 27 9
Benefits, In Summary Other people appreciate your contributions to the conversation Stories make you more memorable and easy to talk with Stories give people confidence in your character and competence, so they want to work with you, recommend you, hire you, and help you (c) Lynne Waymon 28 More Benefits Telling stories attracts new clients, referrals, & opportunities Your network benefits because the people you know learn what you re good at and what information, projects, referrals, & requests to send your way (c) Lynne Waymon 29 Time To Ask Your Questions Please submit your questions and comments on-line. Thanks. (c) Lynne Waymon 30 10
Keep On Learning: After the Workshop Come up with at least one new story each week Listen to the stories of others and notice how good story-telling skills build relationships Invite colleagues to practice with you Reinforce your learning: sign up for the email newsletter at Book at workshop! 301-589-8633 (c) Lynne Waymon 31 11