Power words make your personal brand stand out

Power words make your personal brand stand out

Your personal brand defines you - it tells someone who you are, what you stand for, how you behave and communicate. It is a powerful tool to promote you and how you add value through the work you do.

Power words make your personal brand stand out. So choosing the right words to describe what makes you uniquely you - your professional essence, if you like - is critical for career success.

There are times of the year when updating your CV and exploring better options is popular, but keeping your CV and LinkedIn profile up to date regularly with current market vocabulary is a small but wise investment of time and effort.

But what often holds us back from doing this is not knowing how to talk about who we are, what we do, all that we can offer and how we add value. These are all part of our personal brand that help us create professional presence and showcase our abilities, but where do we start?

I published a post on how to Tell Me About Yourself, which I encourage you to read to develop a structure and script, so here let's get into the specifics of finding the right words with this powerful but simple exercise.

STEP 1

What five words would you use to describe yourself?

Distilling our essence down into just five words makes us hone in on our core self, what really makes us, us.

Mine are: warm, curious, tenacious, reassuring, candid. How do I know that? Part self-reflection, but mostly what other people have said about me.

Which leads us to...

STEP 2

Ask 5-10 people what five words they would use to describe you.

Try to make it a varied pool of people who know you in different contexts - family, friends, co-workers, former colleagues. That way, you get a broader perspective.

Once you have the results, pop them in a table and take a look. This is where it gets really interesting because you will see themes emerging along with values. A family member might have said honesty and a colleague might say integrity, which are the same theme or category.

Yes, you may have outliers, but in my experience, you will be able to draw out the key themes and choose the words that best represent these and match them to the words you chose. Do they align? Are there differences? If so, where? And what does that tell you about how you see yourself and are seen by others?

STEP 3

Choose how you talk about your brand.

Whilst you might be tempted to say 'I possess excellent interpersonal skills' on your CV (though I'd encourage you not to be so generic!), you are unlikely to speak about yourself that way. More likely, you would say something like 'I get along really well with people'.

Consider the impact of the words you choose and ask if they are strong enough.

CV-speak words like 'proficient' and 'adept' rarely sound authentic, so...don't use them. Use other, more personal and definite words to boost your brand.

I also encourage you to play around with a thesaurus and swap words to hit the right note. If people say you are hard-working, you might choose 'dedicated' or 'determined' as professional alternatives that take your brand up a notch.

We aren't looking for meaningless, empty labels, we are looking for what makes you, you at your core. Think about words that have impact, words that represent you at your best. (Remember, it’s not bragging if it’s true.)

If you’d like some help defining the value of your brand and/or getting your CV and LinkedIn up-to-date, why not get in touch for a free intro call? I can help you find your ‘you’ words to power up your brand and professional presence.

Click on Book a call on the website for a free intro call or email me at louise@careertherapy.co.uk

Why not follow me for more brand boosting tips, tools and talks:

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Check out my article on How strong is your personal brand? And for a comprehensive, easy-to-follow intro, I highly recommend Susan Chritton's Personal Branding for Dummies.

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Photo by Paul Campbell on Unsplash