Page 231 - Effective Communication Skills Mastery Bible 4 Books in 1 Boxset by Tuhovsky, Ian

interlocutor’s head, where your title is already described in a

more or less accurate way.

Even if a particular name on your badge makes you feel

proud and you love wearing it, it will not allow you to create a

strong brand based on your personal individuality.

There are a whole bunch of personal trainers, graphic

designers, managers, physicians, IT engineers, sales people,

lawyers, headhunters and so on—at some stage it can be really

edifying to become one of them, but when you want to take a

step further, you must go beyond the framework of your name
tags. They are very limiting due to their predetermined place

in the minds of people with whom you will communicate.

Imagine that someone introduces themselves to you. You

ask, “What do you do?” and they reply: “I inspire people and

show them how they can live better every day.” The reaction
to that response is likely to be quite different than if the

answer was, “I’m a personal trainer.” Thanks to this the person

does not receive any predetermined label, but creates a new

scheme in the interlocutor’s mind, thereby building their

individual, personal brand. Useful? You bet.

When I worked as an HR consultant, I conducted a training

for one of the many European cosmetics companies. We came

to the conclusion that the label of a “beautician” is a scheme

that often makes it very hard to succeed in that industry. In that

particular country, this identity was associated with rather

average knowledge, little authority and low experience. It did
not help in attracting new customers. We considered how we

can create a new business personality while getting away from

the “beautician” label at the same time.