Your Story is 30 words or less

Close-up of the hands of two businesswomen shaking hands with two businessmen in background

Imagine you are at a networking event. There are many people milling around, all with name tags and some that might actually be the perfect connection to help you get the information you are looking for, the sale you are working on, or the job you are searching for. You approach a promising candidate introduce yourself and ask: “So what do you do?”

Grateful for the invitation that person unleashes a slew of information about everything he does, what he is looking for, and why you should do business with him. The conversation lasts for five minutes… except 30 seconds into the conversation you realize that your mind starts to wonder and you lose interest, but it would be impolite to interrupt, so you stand there waiting for them to finish. Finally as you leave, you realize this has been a lost opportunity. Each of you lost time, each of you lost on making a valuable connection.

Have you ever been a receiver in such situation? Have you ever been the sender? I know I have been both.

On Monday January 14th, 2013 I presented an hour-long Power of a Personal Statement Workshop to a group of senior-level executives at a monthly Execunet meeting and found, to my surprise that they, like the rest of us, also struggle with creating clear messaging about what they do.

Each of them has worked at companies around the world that have had corporate mission statements but when it came to the question of “What do you do?” their answers, for the most part, seemed either too general or abstract. They clearly knew what they were doing, but to share that knowledge…well that is hard!

Mark Twain, a brilliant writer, once said “I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.” During typical introductions it is so common to want to share information, but how much do we share and when? A direct brain dump is easy, but editing is hard.

So I shared with them some of the lessons I have learned in studying the art of a powerful introduction and suggested that there is a way to tell their story in a concise, clear and comprehensive way, and do it in 30 words or less. How? By creating one sentence that can change your career–your very own mission statement!

Take a moment and think of your current or previous company. Did it have a mission statement? Of course it did. And how long are the good ones? Here are some of the local companies whose executives were among the audience:

Prometheus: Prometheus provides turnkey fuel solutions to convert industrial users of diesel, propane and other crude-derived fuels to clean, domestic, secure natural gas, resulting in reduced fuel cost and environmental footprint. (29 words)

Full Circle Farms: to change the food system. Full Circle values organic and sustainable farming, transparency, and access to healthy food for everyone…” (20 words)

Herman Miller: to be a global provider of office furniture and services that create great places to live, learn, work and heal.” (20 words)

McFarland Cascade: Supplying the poles and pilings that deliver our electricity and support our bridges since 1916. Keeping America’s infrastructure working is a job we take very seriously. (27 words)

Even ExecuNet had a clear mission statement, a surprisingly powerful one: ExecuNet is full-service, private membership organization tuned exclusively to helping senior-level executives attract rewarding new opportunities, get “unstuck” and transition into gratifying new careers; maximize their leadership performance, and get better business results. (30 words) Why is this one more powerful than the others? Let me explain.

START Rollecoaster

Based on my study of the subject and my own observations, I will submit to you a 5 step process to creating a powerful personal mission statement. This process is very simple, but as you will find out, not easy. It also differs slightly form the goals of a corporate mission statement. These five steps are Set-Up, Tension, Action, Resolution and Transition or START for short.

Set-up: When we usually start we tend to blurt out immediately who we are or what we want. Think about that…it is important to US, but is it important to your audience? No! What is important to your audience? Think about the time when you had to speak about what you do.  Did you start with what you do or with why you do what you do or what your listener will get by having you do it? Most of us just go in for what we do and expect others to decipher how it applies to them.  That is why I often suggest that when starting an introduction start with WHAT IS THE PURPOSE FOR WHAT YOU DO OR WANT! Instead of “I am a CFO” or “I am looking for a position in sales management” see if you can think of a way to say what those on the receiving end will get: “Help manage financial health of a company” or “Looking to help an international company to improve exports.”

Tension: A powerful way to create tension is to open the wound, and that can be done simply by stating what trouble you can help prevent. This is a great place to be creative or insert loaded phrases—those that might generate questions from your audience, such as “identifying hidden traps” or “avoiding a fiscal cliff” Having a tension in their mission statement is what makes Execunet Mission statement more powerful, because it mentions being “stuck” which is a very visual and effective description of what happens to all of us in transition.

Action: Now that you have identified the purpose behind what you do and created tension, you can release it by giving your audience a taste of what you can deliver. “Doubling sales numbers” or “motivating employees to act.”

Resolution: Now that you have outlined the action that will solve the trouble, state the ideal resolution to the trouble that stems from your actions. “Healthy bottom line” “satisfying work experience”

Take-Away or Transition: Apply it to the situation. This is the opportunity for a transition to the next point, an opportunity to answer a question or create a take-away–a call to action that you want your audience to heed, i.e., “…maximize their leadership performance, and get better business results.”.

This START process is very simple but not easy. Following this template might feel artificial at first, but if you make sure that this statement comes from a place that is authentic within you, if you care about what you are trying to say and take care to say it well, the power of the statement will transcend the mere words and create a powerful declarationthat can help you speak with power and get results!

After I presented this information to the senior executives, I asked them all to try the process themselves. What started off as a somewhat hesitant and reserved meeting turned into a lively discussion with men and women taking a careful look at what they say and how it is perceived by others, often for the first time in a long time. Some presented their mission statements to the group and all left energized to keep refining their mission statements even further.

And I was very pleased, for I knew that I was able to, by using the exact same START structure, connect to the heart and minds of my audience and help them on the road to speaking with power.

I love my job!

About Leo Novsky

Discover the key speaking practices that can strengthen your message, improve the use of stage and build the connection with your audience. Leo has successfully trained job seekers, business executives, and nervous fathers-of-the-brides to give the best presentations of their lives. And he can help you too!
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