Name: Susan
Bio: I'm the co-founder, creative director, and blogger of mojo40.com. While I love blogging, my main focus is leading creative teams to develop websites and online campaigns that people like so much, they tell their friends about it. You can read more about me at http://www.linkedin.com/in/susanmkim
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- Resist the urge to automatically help. Yes you’re a wonderful, caring person. And you have enough to do without taking on helpful projects that no one even asked you to do.
- Don’t assume help is needed. Most problems end up resolving themselves on their own. Work on the problems where your help is specifically requested.
- Interact before acting. It takes 3 seconds to say, “Do you need help with that?”
- Don’t schedule back to back meetings.
- Set time limits. For example, spend a 20 minute block of time answering email and then stop. That gives enough time just to answer the most important ones. A good reason to become more efficient at email.
- Don’t go to all you can eat buffets.
- Set appointments with friends. It’s easy to blow off a workout. Not so easy if you agreed to meet your friend. Or commit to your Wingman.
- Get enough sleep. Nothing saps your decision making power more than sleep deprivation.
- Don’t go too long without a small snack. Your brain runs on glucose. If your glucose (blood sugar) is low, so is your willpower.
- Spend 10 minutes figuring out all the daily decisions that can either be eliminated or automated
- Start scheduling your most important thinking time in the morning and not right before lunch
- Get stuck in good habits so you don’t have to waste time thinking about them
- Think about what items you lose most often and figure out a place you will always put them (e.g. a key rack next to your door)
- Practice mindful handling starting now
- Notice how good you feel when you always know where thing are
- Think of three people you would love someone in your network to introduce you to. Figure out how you would like to be introduced to them using your elevator speech as a starting point
- What two people do you know that would benefit from meeting each other? Make the introduction that you wish people would do for you
- Make a lasting impression by not being socially invisible
- Go to your gmail account and click on the options icon (upper right corner, it looks like a gear or a weird blue daisy). You will be given the choice of Mail settings, Mail help and some other things. Click on Mail settings.
- On the mail settings page, you default to the General tab at the top. There are many other blue hyperlinks to the right of that. Click on the one that says, “Labs”.
- On the Lab page, scroll down. You will see a variety of lab options. Look for the one that says: Undo Send by Yuzo F. Click on the button that says “Enable”.
- Scroll to the bottom and click save changes.
- Send a stupid email.
- At the top of the page (just below) the Search Mail/Search Web buttons you will see a yellow bar that says: Your message has been sent. And right next to that, an Undo blue hyperlink. Click Undo.
- Voila! You will get a confirmation that your message has not been sent and it will be waiting right there to be edited or deleted.
- Go to options (remember, the weird blue daisy in the corner) and click on Mail settings.
- It defaults to the General Tab. That’s where you want to be.
- Several rows down you will see the setting for Undo Send. It will probably be set on 10 seconds for your cancellation window. Set it to 30 seconds.
- Save changes.
- If you don’t have a gmail account, set one up. You can have all your other email addresses forward to it
- Enable the Undo Send option now. Do some test runs so you’re ready when you have to do it for real
- Check out the other cool gmail Mail settings ->Labs options including Mail Goggles which requires you to do a math problem before emailing in order to avoid late night alcohol influenced emails
- Read these before going into an interview for a shot of confidence and to know how to answer the age question.
- Add your own suggestions to the comments below.
- Pass this on to others. Link it in your blog. (You do have a blog, don’t you?)
- We know how to have real conversations. We didn’t grow up texting each other. We like talking in person and know how to speak on the phone and in person. We can speak extemporaneously and know what it means. And we listen.
- When we’re working, we’re working. Our job is not our social life. We’re not looking for love or a hook-up at work and we don’t spend hours texting and flaming others about it. Because we don’t care.
- It’s nice to have a Grown-Up on the team. Consider this scenario: your top client is waiting in the conference room and the projector just broke. Who do you want presenting with just a white board and a marker, the grown-up or the recent grad?
- We’ve seen it all before and have perspective. We’ve seen clients freak out, servers go down, blackberries go in the toilet (literally). As long as no kittens, puppies, or babies were harmed, we know these can be fixed and It Will Be OK.
- We’re done with the babies. We may have kids but for the most part, they are past the keep you up all night phase. No matter how youthful you are, running on no sleep day after day is going to affect your performance.
- Loyalty. Not interested in jumping around. Again, been there, done that.
- We’re on time. Perhaps it’s because we still wear watches.
- We understand the bottom line. Most of us have either consulted or had our own business, so we understand being responsible with the company’s money.
- We’re good mentors. Everyone talks about the importance of mentors. There’s no substitute for a ton of experience, both in work and in life, to make you a good one.
- If you’re selling to the biggest, most powerful, wealthiest demographic (Baby Boomers), who better to help you do it?
- Allot a specific chunk of time to just focus on one task– no multitasking. I will spend 60 minutes writing a post and nothing else.
- Commit to your Accountability Wingman.
- Consider getting a professional coach. They’re like a Wingman on steriods.
- Instead of working on a task until you get it done, give yourself a time limit
- Become comfortable with the idea of 95% perfect is good enough. It will take you forever to get to 100%
- Be accountable to finishing on time with the help of an Accountability Wingman or a Coach
- That’s against the law to ask me that question. No one wants to hire a litigious, cranky person.
- Nothing. A long uncomfortable pause.
- A lie.
- A long rambling, answer.
- Reframe the question. Janine Yancey, president of emTRAiN of Sacramento, CA, an employment law training company, advises to, “tell the interviewer how many years you’ve been in the workforce. As a candidate, you could say, ‘If you are asking me how many years I’ve spent in this particular industry, I’ve been working for X years.’ You’re talking about relevant years of experience: it’s smooth, seamless, not confrontational.”
- Give them the answer. Whether it’s your graduation year or actual age, consider just answering it so you can move on to the next topic.
- Humor. If they point blank ask your age and don’t even cloak it as, “when did you graduate?”, explain you are old enough to be around alcoholic beverages, if that is part of the job.
- Don’t automatically assume they are fishing for your age. Sometimes interviewers follow up with a question about your graduation date because they, or someone they know, went to the same school and are just using it for conversation fodder.
- If a security clearance is part of the job, there’s no getting around the age question as they will need photo IDs and have to do extensive background checks.
- Practice how to answer the question in both business and social situations
- Never be defensive about your age
- Remember being another year older is much better than the alternative
- Can your mom understand it? Use that as your first test. Chances are, she can’t and it is not because she isn’t intelligent. It’s because you’re using too much jargon and relying on phrases from your overly formal resume. If your mom (or equivalent) can’t understand it, you’re the idiot.
- Stop being so defensive. Perhaps your long winded spiel choked with industry acronyms may be OK for someone in your industry. But for the 99.9% outside of your niche, I speak for us all when I say, “we have no idea what you’re talking about.”
- Have a short, medium, and long version. Approximately 5 seconds, 15 seconds, 1 minute max. Here are some of my favorite elevator speech examples. My accountant: I used to work for the IRS and now I work against them. My friend who negotiates intellectual property contracts: I’m fluent in English-to-English translation. For example, I can explain financial arcana to lawyers and marketers, explain business needs to technologists, and translate technology jargon into understandable everyday language. And finally, a classic short one for someone who is still working at the IRS: I’m a government fundraiser.
- Start with a question. Career Coach, Catherine Morgan, explains this is particularly useful if you have a job that people aren’t familiar with. For example, one of her clients provided Apple with key media information before they launched the iPad. So the job-seeker starts with, “Did you notice how the iPad was everywhere in the media, all at once?”
- It’s not about you, it’s about them. Tailor it for your audience. An organizer I know will ask those over 40, “How much time do you spend each day looking for misplaced items?”
- Practice on video and in the mirror. No matter how perfect your speech is on paper, it can sound awful the first 10 times you try it out. Ideally, video yourself and watch it back. If you can’t do that, at least practice in front of the mirror.
- Practice on people you will never see again. Too embarrassed to flub in front of your friends? Morgan suggests trying it out on strangers, people in line at the DMV, on the subway platform, or for your taxi driver.
- Test your elevator speech with supportive friends. Once you’ve rehearsed in front of the mirror and for strangers, you’re ready for feedback. Start testing out with friends and family.
- Help others with their elevator speeches. The best way to learn a subject is to figure out how to teach it.
- Right now, spend the next 15 seconds explaining what you do. Go
- Is there a video camera on your computer? (Most Macs have one built in.) Record yourself and watch it. Twice
- Commit to your Accountability Wingman that you’ll follow the above nine steps
Are You Helping or Wasting Time? Ask the Turtle
October 14th, 2011Imagine seeing a giant turtle that is crawling up from a river and is approaching the side of a road. You’re hiking past it and it turns up its head towards you. What do you do?
Just because you think you're helping doesn't mean you are.
Gloria Steinem was in that position when she was a college student and on a field trip. She decided to save the turtle and lugged the huge reptile back down to the river. When her professor asked what she was doing she proudly told him of her virtuous deed. He then explained the turtle was looking for higher ground to lay her eggs and that Gloria had just undone a month’s trek for the turtle.
Helping is good. But you need to make sure it’s actually helping. So ask the turtle first.
Are you moving turtles at work?
Although you may not be moving tortoises between cubicles, you might be doing some extra work that people not only don’t appreciate, and it’s actually causing them problems. It’s wasting everyone’s time. Yet to you, the only problem is why you aren’t being lavishly praised.
Don’t ‘Do Unto Others’ unless you ask first
Yes, we’ve been told in Sunday School, kindergarten, and at home to do for others what we would want them to do for us. But unless the other person is you, you have no idea what they really want. Your idea of what the perfect TPS report is might be their idea of the worst 119-page PowerPoint presentation ever created. So stop wasting time unless you get the go ahead first.
Refrain from moving the legal turtle
I found myself in turtle-moving situation early in my copywriting career. An account executive asked me to proof some text for a banking client. I was insulted. I created commercials, dammit. I came up with concepts. I was not a proofreader. But to show I wasn’t a snobby creative person, I told him I would do it since it was late at night and he needed it in the morning.
I looked at the text. It was technically okay, but it was so dull, so boring, and such a snooze. I decided to go the extra mile and make it much snappier.
The next morning, I expected to have a shower of flowers and thanks rain down on me. Instead I got a shower of expletives. Why the hell did I change the text? Apparently, this was the legal, cover-your-ass text that a financial lawyer had put together and — other than typos — not one thing could be changed.
I could have saved everyone a lot of pain, heartache, and heartburn if I had just asked the turtle first.
I’m not saying don’t help out or take initiative. I’m saying take the initiative to take a few extra seconds to find out if it’s actually going to help first.
Mojo Moves
Photo courtesy of CarlaMFox.com
Got some stories on how being helpful ended up not being so helpful? Spill here.
6 Uber Easy Ways to Conserve Your Willpower
September 8th, 2011When hurricane Irene was threatening to take out the whole 1-95 corridor, we on the East coast made sure we had stocked up on the essentials. Batteries, strawberry Poptarts, and wine. Liquor stores reported huge runs on booze just before the storm.
The nice thing about Chardonnay is you can see when you are running low. And when you do run out, it’s easy enough to get more.
The #1 thing not to run out of
What’s even more crucial to have on hand, and not just during storms, is willpower. Yet because it’s not tangible and you can’t buy it by the bottle, people assume they have an unlimited amount. Just grit your teeth, man up and control yourself. Instant willpower, right?
No.
Why sex and drugs and donuts all seem like better choices after 6pm
In the book Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength, the authors John Tierney and Roy Baumeister show we have a finite amount of willpower. And once we’ve used our daily allowance, we make all sorts of bad decisions. As Baumeister explains, “Making decisions uses the very same willpower that you use to say no to doughnuts, drugs or illicit sex.” It’s a prime reason people are much better at consistently working out in the morning and eating more healthful breakfasts than dinners. By the end of the day, they find all type of excuses not to work out, raid a vending machine, and have another drink.
Stop wasting your prime decision power on fluff
That time you spend crafting the perfect text message? Slogging through those emails? Or figuring out just the right topping for your frozen yogurt? It drains away the prime decision power, aka willpower, you could have used on improving your business strategy, writing your speech, or figuring out which candidate to hire. So keep that in mind when you get the urge to check your email every 5 minutes.
How to conserve your willpower
The best decision makers understand how limited willpower is. They preemptively avoid overwhelming themselves with too many decisions. The authors recommend:
Be like Odysseus. Protect yourself from yourself
In The Odyssey, Odysseus wants to hear the ethereal voices of the Sirens. But he knows if he does, he’ll be so drawn to them, he’ll crash his ship into the rocks. Instead of telling himself to “man up”, he recognizes that his willpower has limitations. So he puts beeswax in his crew’s ears and ties himself up to the mast. He protects himself from his natural inclination to listen to those damnable voices.
Do you spend too much time watching TV? Disconnect your cable. Can’t eat just one chip? Don’t keep them in the house. Send crazy alcohol emails at 1am? Gmail has an app that requires you do a complex math problem before it actually gets sent.
Mojo Moves
Photo courtesy of CarChatWithPaul
What tips do you have for conserving your willpower? Spill below.
How to Never Lose Anything Again
August 11th, 2011Driving through a deep tunnel can be a bit stressful. Doing it while driving a huge truck and a trailer increases the stress level considerably. Being stopped by the New York City police, asked to back it up and open the rear door and then realize—you do not have the key for the lock on the door makes the stress level even crazier than the angry drivers behind you.
How much time do you waste looking for things?
The key to happiness
It was with this recent experience in mind that I was reading that the key to happiness is: Putting things away in their proper place. So you always know where they are.
I know I would have been incredibly happy to know where that key was.
You don’t need to go through my extreme example, however, to know how stressful it can be to misplace something. Think of all the time and blood pressure points you’ve spent looking for things like cell phones, the notes from your client meeting, your wallet.
It’s easy to blame age for losing things but the biggest culprit is simply not putting any thought into where we put them in the first place.
Deal with it now or deal with a lot more stress later
According to professional organizer Emily Herwig the secret to never losing anything (and decluttering your life) is to follow the simple habit of mindful handling. Whenever you pick up something, make a conscious decision about what you are going to do with it when you put it down. But not doing that, you are creating a potentially huge amount of work, clutter, and stress for yourself.
Herwig graphs it in the decision box below.
Clutter Decision Matrix © Tidy Life, LLC
Just imagine how much less stressful you would be if you never had to deal with that sinking feeling of where’s my cell phone, what happened to my passport, and where is the key to my lock?
Mojo Moves
Got stories on what happens when you lose things? Tips on how not to? Share below.
Are Your Introductions Worse Than George Costanza’s?
July 7th, 2011Whether you’re blanking on your date’s name, missed connecting with someone you’ve been trying to meet for a year, or getting zero response from the three emails to potentially huge client (despite her being a college roommate of your friend’s wife), the root of the problem is the same: poor introductions.
In a famous Seinfeld episode, Jerry is dating a woman whose name he can’t remember. All he knows is it rhymes with a female genital part. So he asks his friend, George Costanza, to introduce himself so he can catch the woman’s name. George pops in and says, “Hi, I’m George.” Mystery Woman says, “Nice to meet you.” George then turns to Jerry, shrugs his shoulders, and mutters on his way out, “Hey, I tried.”
That’s trying?
It’s too bad George, Jerry, and Jerry’s date didn’t all read this post on introductions first.
How to make introductions in person
I am a staunch feminist and believe women and men are equally intelligent. But in general, women are awful at introductions. And the bar is low because men aren’t so great either.
If you are introducing just yourself:
1. Smile, get eye contact, and hold it for a beat. Do not be scanning the room, looking at your reflection, or anything else.
2. I can’t believe this needs to be said. But it does. Hold out your hand and give a firm handshake. Ladies, stop with the passive, limp, holding-out-your-hand-as-if-you’re-getting-a-manicure handshake. Give a good couple of pumps.
3. Clearly say your name and supply a blip of information. “Hello, I’m George, I designed Jerry’s house.” or “Hi, I’m Elaine, the bride’s sister.”
4. Don’t be a low talker. Speak up.
5. The other person may only reply, “Nice to meet you.” In that case, you’ll have to say, “And your name is?”
6. When the other person says their name, do not be multitasking in your mind what witty thing you are going to say next. Your only task is to listen to the name.
7. Repeat the name back to the person and, if possible, ask something about the name. “Is that Sara with an ‘H’ ?” If you’re up for it, add, “Because Sarahs with an ‘H’ were always the smart ones in class.”
8. If you exchange cards, really look at the card and the name. Pick up on one element or item to continue the conversation. And while discussing, carefully tuck it away in a place you have committed to memory to be your collection point.
If you’re introducing two people:
Take a bit of time. Do not just say, “Jim, this is Bob. Bob, Jim.” Instead, “Jim, you know that app we’re always using to find the best bathroom in the city? Bob Benes here designed it. Bob, this is Jim Brown, our company CTO.”
Social media offers more ways to make both good and bad introductions
Because of email, LinkedIn, and social networking, there are many more ways to do half-assed introductions. Here are some tips to avoid that.
1. Help the introducer help you. Sometimes bad introductions happen because the person doing the introducing isn’t sure what to say. What are the main things you want them to say about you? Give them three bullet points so you’ve done 95% of the work.
2. Ask for help. If the requester for an introduction didn’t read the above tip, ask them to supply you with some key points they want to get across.
3. Think about what’s in it for the other person. I get messages that sometimes say, “You should talk to so-and-so.” I appreciate your thinking of me but give me a good story as to why we both would find this beneficial so I can make an informed introduction.
4. Give feedback to the introducer. If they are going out of their way to help you, the least you can do is tell them what happened after the introduction even if it’s just, “we met for coffee but our business needs are too different.”
Don’t be promiscuous with introductions
Before that second glass of wine, commit that you will not gush to people you’ve just met, “I’m going to introduce you to Ms. Big Wig,” unless you know Big Wig well and have a good feeling she will want to meet your new friend. Otherwise, you’re wasting everyone’s time and making yourself out to be a flake.
Mojo Moves
Photo courtesy of hypervocal.com
Got some other tips for introductions? Tell us in comments.
Oops I Did It Again, Hit Send Too Early: How to Unsend an Email
June 20th, 2011You don’t have to be Anthony Weiner to feel terribly that you just sent something you shouldn’t have and wish you could “unsend” it. Perhaps you accidentally hit Reply all when you meant to reply to your accountant friend about the CEO’s boring updates. Or maybe you wrote a nasty email to someone who stood you up only to discover you mixed up the dates. Oh, why can’t you just turn back time and “unsend” your email?
Well, now you can.
Now you can unsend that ridiculous picture you accidentally sent to everyone.
Google lets you unsend emails
OK, you have to be using gmail (Google email) to do this but big whoop. Even before this time machine benefit, gmail has many advantages over other email programs. Before unsending any ridiculous emails, however, you first need to set up your account to do it.
How to enable unsend
Testing that you correctly set up “Undo Send”
You can only undo send for 30 seconds
The time machine switch only works for up to 30 seconds, and this depends upon extending the setting beyond the initial default of 10 seconds. If you want 30 seconds for the cancellation period, do the following:
30 seconds may not seem that long but it’s long enough to realize you forgot the attachment, or forwarded an email to the wrong John, or vented what should have been kept private. So it’s nice to have an unsend option just in case you need it.
Mojo Moves
Got a story about an email you shouldn’t have sent? Spill in the comments.
10 Good Reasons To Hire A Grown-Up
June 1st, 2011As part of a close knit creative department, the copywriters and art directors were used to walking into each other’s offices to borrow awards books, the latest Adweek or some not well hidden enough stash of chocolate. Ed usually had the best collection of all of the above, so it wasn’t surprising we were in his office even when he wasn’t there. What was mildly surprising was that he had left his driver’s license on his desk. But what was completely incomprehensible to us was what we saw on his license: his date of birth. Doing the math we late twenty-somethings figured out that he was (gasp) Over 40! How could this guy who looked to be our age and was in the creative department possibly be So Old?
Young does not automatically mean hard working.
Where do older creative folks go?
It wasn’t so much that he looked our age, although he did indeed choose his parents wisely. It was more that we never saw anyone over 40 at the agency except for the president and the executive creative director. And possibly a few old ladies (who might even be pushing 50!) who processed payroll. It certainly never occurred to us that some day we might be Over 40 ourselves.
Well there’s a whole generation of creative folks who are now over 40 and apparently all of them are commenting on a recent post about the Age Old Question. They are justifiably ticked off about age bias. Here’s the deal, though. All that effort is wildly unproductive and could be channeled in a much more effective way. How could folks so good at crafting messages and getting the word out about brands be so bad when it comes to marketing themselves?
First thing is, folks north of 40 have to be clear on all the advantages to hiring a grown-up. So I suggest:
Advantages to Hiring a Grown-Up:
Note: this was originally published in Talent Zoo
Photo courtesy of BetterMondays.com
What advantages would you add? Reply in the comments below and forward to some people who need to know.
What Saturday Night Live Taught Me About Time Management
May 19th, 2011When Tina Fey was first promoted to head writer at SNL, she was stressed over all the sketches she had to edit and felt there was no way she could have the show ready in time. So she asked Lorne Michaels, the executive producer, “What happens if it’s not ready?” And Lorne replied, “The show doesn’t go on because it’s ready. The show goes on because it’s 11:30.”
The show doesn't go on because it's ready. The show goes on because it’s 11:30.
Nothing like a hard stop deadline to give you focus
When you’re facing 90 minutes of dead air time on national TV, not having the show ready is not an option. If you’ve ever watched an entire SNL show (not just the Will Ferrell highlights), you know that some of the sketches could probably have used a little more attention and tweaking. Big whoop. Because that’s nothing compared to the fact that they have never missed creating a full show for 36 years. While you may not have such a highly public deadline for your projects, you know the feeling of having to get something done when there is absolutely, positively no extension. The last train of the night is taking off. The new buyers take possession tomorrow morning. The bin Laden story has to be written in a hour or it will miss getting in the print version. It focuses you and somehow you get the job done in the time you have.
Do you spend an hour on a 5 minute job?
In addition to helping you get tasks done, deadlines also keep you from spending too much time on projects that should only take a few minutes. Replying to a meeting request, straightening your desk, or sorting through your home mail should take just a short time. It’s easy to get sidetracked and suddenly an hour has gone by with no tangible results. There’s a famous saying called Parkinson’s Law that states: “Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” You know how much time it takes to get basic tasks done. So limit yourself to that amount of time, then move on.
How to create deadlines when there’s no hard stop deadline?
As exciting as running on adrenaline can be, you don’t want to have crushing, hard stop deadlines as the only way to get things done. So how do you create deadlines when there isn’t a do-or-die one? Here are some suggestions:
Just go for 95% perfect
You may be thinking, though, some things really do require an extra amount of love and attention because you want it to be just perfect. Your big presentation at an industry show, your proposal for a book, or your dinner party with your in-laws. Absolutely, you want to spend a good amount of time creating something magnificent. But where is the point of diminishing returns? Here’s what a wise creative mentor told me when I was producing my first radio commercial. After a couple of hours it sounded great but I still wanted to edit it to Be Perfect. The mentor pulled me aside and explained that these little perfectionist tweaks could take at least another two hours. He explained that you want to get something so it’s 95% perfect. Because that last 5% is at going to at least double the effort and expense. And besides, that last 5% is usually subjective anyway.
Mojo Moves
Photo courtesy of television-ratings.info
Got some time management tips? Share below.
How to Answer How Old Are You?
May 5th, 2011In many Asian cultures, asking how old you are is considered to be a perfectly acceptable conversation starter. In fact, it’s important to establish who is older so the younger person can speak more deferentially since respect for elders is so highly revered.
It’s a little different in American culture.
One of the few times it's OK to ask, "How Old Are You?"
Think of the ridiculous things we do to pretend we don’t age, from plastic surgery to plastic party cups that say, Happy 39th Again. Age is so taboo that you’ll be sent to Social Siberia if you ask about it at a cocktail party. And in the workplace, the ban on discussing age is even more official. Because if you’re over 40, you’re in a protected class. That’s right. According to the government, you’re Legally Old at 40.
So is it illegal for interviewers to ask your age?
Unless confirming that you are old enough to work or serve alcohol, prospective employers are not legally supposed to ask your age. But that doesn’t stop them. Sometimes they do it a little differently by asking what class you graduated in, or asking for a photo ID. If you’re filling out an application and are asked for dates, you can usually work around this. But what if you’re asked your age in a straightforward or roundabout way, in person?
How NOT to answer
The number one thing is not to go into automatic defensive mode. Avoid saying:
How to answer the age question
Sometimes there are good reasons to ask about your graduation date and age
Mojo Moves
Photo Courtesy of JournalStar.com
How do you handle the question, “How old are you?” Share your stories in comments.
Your Elevator Speech… Still Working On It?
April 16th, 2011So a financial services guru, a chief operating officer, and a lawyer walk into a bar. And a career coach asks, “What’s your elevator speech?” And they all have the exact same one: “Um, I’m working on it.”
The time to work on an elevator speech is well before you get on an elevator.
It’s actually not a joke, I know all these people and that’s what they say when I ask them. I’m working on it. Fortunately, we have an actual career coach with us today. She has some tips not only for what goes into a good elevator speech, but even more importantly, how to get it out of your head and actually say it.
#1 goal of an elevator speech — have the listener say: Tell me more
An elevator speech is not a laundry list of your titles, responsibilities, or anything else that will have your listener excusing herself to get a drink. Never say, “I’m a lawyer,” whether you are one or not. An elevator speech (sometimes called an elevator pitch) is meant to give an inkling of what you do and encourage the listener to continue the conversation. That’s it.
How to create, and actually say, your elevator speech
Mojo Moves
Extra special Mojo40 Bonus: Send your elevator speech to us by email in the Contact Us section. We will pass the first 10 that we receive, to Career Coach, Catherine Morgan, who will review it for free and give professional feedback.
photo courtesy of patrioticpros.com
Got tips on creating an elevator speech? Dish in the comments section.
Why the Best Time Management Strategy Involves Taking Off Your Clothes
April 8th, 2011Despite all books you’ve bought on time management (some you even read), the seminars on the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, and the best intentioned to-do lists, somehow you have ended up with even more stuff to get done.
Ready to step up your time management?
Want to know the real secret to effective time management? Take off your clothes
Then go put on some work out gear. Then go work out. It can be as little as 15 minutes, but you need to take a complete physical and mental break from work and focus entirely on breaking a sweat.
You do too have time
Before you start wasting time explaining why you don’t have time and are too busy working on Very Important Things, keep in mind that President Obama finds the time to work out every morning, and so did George W. Bush. They didn’t agree on much but they knew that to manage their country and time effectively, they needed to work out.
Why working out is key to smart time management
Here’s the deal. If your body is sluggish and tired, your brain is going to be even more so.
Who’s making good time management decisions when you can’t focus? Long term, exercise is the best thing you can do to keep your brain sharp. Short term, a workout break can also help you focus and prevent a whole lot of misery down the road.
Your body is going to get a break one way or another
Don’t have the time to take a break even to walk around the block? At some point, your body will automatically take one for you and add a lot of interest. In the form of a killer flu, an incapacitating backache or a heart attack. Sometimes it just manifests itself mentally as a panic attack or a crushing episode of depression. Hey, there’s a reason they call it a breakdown.
If you don’t have time to take off weeks recovering from an illness, follow these Mojo Moves.
Mojo Moves
* Schedule a regular time to work out and commit it to your Accountability Wingman
* Stop watching TV
* Schedule other short breaks to recharge
photo courtesy of www.liftingrevolution.com
What tips do you have for fitting in a work out? Tell us in comments.