Maybe it’s easier to describe what it isn’t.
It isn’t a list of qualifications and ‘achievements’ like the ones I saw in the bios on ‘Meet the team’ pages on various university websites the other evening.
A little light research while my youngest takes herself off to open days, me at home scanning a long list of words and dates next to a thumbnail photo that tells me nothing about the person, what draws them to lecturing, what they love about working with young people or even why they chose that subject.
Your story – for work and life – isn’t a list. It meanders, pivots, stalls and chugs along. It delves beneath the job titles and qualifications. It gets down to who you are, your ethos, your character and what makes you tick. It shows people what it might be like to know you, work with you, have a conversation with you.
‘Personal brand story’ might be a bit of a mouthful but it hits the spot and put simply, it’s the story of who you are, what you stand for, and why you do what you do.
It is personal because it’s about you and it’s a story with a beginning, middle and end. It has characters, settings, moments of tension and change whether’s that’s change with a big ‘C’ or little ‘c’.
Describing yourself as a brand might feel a little icky. It’s a word we know and recognise, but associate more with big names like Nike or Tesco (fresh in my mind because I’ve just popped in to get some milk 😂). It’s just hard knowing how it applies to us personally.
The challenge with all of this is turning this phrase into something tangible that works for you – words and phrases you can use in a bio or About page. Conversation starters.
So think of someone you’ve worked with and ask yourself, ‘What would they say about working with me’.
- Is there a disconnect between what they’d say and what you’d want them to say?
- Do you know what you’d want them to say?
- Is there consistency in the way you talk about what you do, why and how across all your comms – online and in person?
- Is your version of what you do, why and how out of date with who you are now?
You’ll find it so much easier to explain your story to others once you’re clear on the why and the what. You’ll spot the threads that run through your story, be able to put the pivots and changes into context and it’ll feed into your regular comms as well as acting as a base for a bio, About page, pitch and so on.
We spend so much time looking forward to the next thing. Apart from anything else, taking time to step back, reflect and pull your story together can be a huge confidence booster 😊
“Stories must have a basic structure and answer the fundamental questions: who, what, when, where, why, how. This framework is drunk like mother’s milk by all news reporters from day one….However, Kipling also knew that it is what lies behind these facts that creates the emotional connection. And that is the key to great storytelling. The story behind the story.”
Bobette Buster, How to tell your story so the world listens