No matter who it is, writing a great LinkedIn recommendation is easy if you follow this simple formula!
How to leave a LinkedIn recommendation for someone
To leave a LinkedIn recommendation, there are a few steps.
- Make sure that you connect with the person you’re recommending on LinkedIn. This is easy to do – just find their profile and click Connect (you might have to click the three dots to find this)
- Remember to include a note in your connection request! For example, let them know that you’d like to leave them a recommendation. Who could resist such a connection request!?
- Once you’re connected, simply go to their profile page and scroll down to the “Recommendations” section. From there, you can click on the “Leave a Recommendation” button.
And that’s it! Then just write your recommendation with the following template
My simple 5-point template for LinkedIn recommendations
I’ve included a few examples of each section so you know what type of thing the template is looking for. Obviously, none of these are directly applicable to me, so if they do end up in a recommendation that you give me… I’ll be suspicious ?
1. Start with a short punchy opening sentence
(examples:
“No other astronaut on our team is as daring as Brian.”,
“Without Aileen, the Great Wall of China would just not exist.”,
“If I was looking for a microsurgeon, Yuuko is the first person I’d call.”)
2. Describe your professional relationship or experience with the person
(examples:
“I’ve been flying with Brian for 20 years and have seen him pilot spacecraft larger than Canada all the way down to a Fiat Punto with wings, and I’ve never seen him break a sweat.”
“We contracted Aileen to do the initial designs for the Great Wall of China project and we were immediately impressed by her professionalism and vision.”
“I saw Yuuko giving a demonstration of open-heart surgery on an Etruscan shrew at our local science fair and her level of skill had me enthralled.”)
3. Share a standout trait about the person
(examples:
“I was always impressed by Brian’s unique ability to navigate a starship fleeter through a dangerous minefield while simultaneously playing Candy Crush on his phone.”
“Aileen’s immense knowledge of Ming Dynasty stone masonry is unsurpassed in the building industry.”
“I believe that Yuuko is probably the most detail-oriented person I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet, and the steadiness of her hand is incredible.”)
4. Add a touch of personality to show what the person is like
(examples:
“After 20 years, I’ve even come to love his renditions of ‘She’ll Be Coming Round the Mountain’ whenever we’re plummeting towards an alien planet.”
“And, she certainly loves a good cup of tea!”
“She was also very generous with her time, even spending time to answer my husband’s stupid question about the difference between a scalpel and a knife.”)
5. End with the recommendation
(examples:
“Whatever type of spacecraft you use, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Brian as the pilot.”
“Any ancient building project would be lucky to have Aileen as its architect.”
“I recommend Yuuko for all your microsurgery needs.”
If you have any questions, just let me know in the comments. Or, indeed, send me a message on LinkedIn! https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexowenhill/
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How are you supposed to attract people to your businesses when you get anxious just talking to people?
Being an introvert is tough at any time. But, when you need to communicate on behalf of your business, it can be especially hard to muster the confidence that the world seems to require of you.
The longer we operate in the world of business, the more often we seem to find ourselves in challenging situations. This is just the nature of business — as things grow, more challenges appear.
Networking events, sales calls, webinar presenting, social media interactions, emails, conference presentations, client meetings…
… almost every aspect of operating in business requires us to communicate with people!
And, if you’re anything like me, it can sometimes be hard to muster the required energy to keep pushing your business forward, whether we run our own business or we work in someone else’s.
Is there hope for those of us who aren’t naturally comfortable with communicating?
Can you succeed at these interaction-heavy tasks even if you are an introvert?
What it feels like to do business as “an introvert”
It’s sometimes hard to explain what it’s like to be an introvert in this largely extrovert-oriented world.
Here’s a relevant example from a non-business situation: shopping in a supermarket.
A persistent problem in the life of an introvert
For my whole life, trips to the supermarket have been beset by a persistent problem — What should I do if I can’t find the item that I’m looking for?
Let’s say I’m looking for a can of coconut milk.
I can’t find it on the first shelf I assume it would be.
So, I make another guess and walk halfway across the shop to check another shelf. No luck.
Undeterred, I start walking up and down every single aisle of the supermarket, scanning all of the shelves to see if it’s there. I get from one end of the supermarket to the other. Still no coconut milk.
Maybe I missed it in one of the aisles?
I now have 2 basic options:
- Leave with no coconut milk, which I really need for the recipe I’m cooking.
- Ask a shop assistant, of which there are many around the supermarket (I’ve already passed at least 3 during my search).
I choose a third option. I go onto my mobile phone and search to see if this supermarket usually stocks coconut milk. It does.
On some days, I will then muster the courage to go and ask a shop assistant.
On other days, I will leave the supermarket with no coconut milk. Perhaps I will visit 2 or 3 other shops in an attempt to find a can without having to talk to anyone.
A waste of time?
The above example is a very common situation in my life.
If you’re surprised by the description of my supermarket trip. If you were reading it and thinking “Just ask someone where the coconut milk is kept!!”, I’m going to bet that you are more of an extrovert or that your introvert aspects don’t show up in this situation.
You might think that my approach to shopping is a huge waste of time and energy.
And it is!
I can spend 45 minutes shopping for something that should only take 5 minutes!
But, it’s also similar to what it’s like when we do business as an introvert.
We have to make an extra special effort whenever we have to talk to someone. Even if all we want to say to them is “Do you have any coconut milk?” we have to push ourselves to communicate.
In business, of course, communications are often more challenging than simply asking for the location of a recipe item.
On some days, that extra effort is just too much for us to handle!
Over the years, I’ve got much better at asking shop assistants for help. But, I will still check multiple places in the supermarket myself before I ask someone, even if the assistant is stacking shelves right next to me in the first place I check.
It still takes me time to muster the courage and energy to talk to that person. Even at 33 years old.
Over the years, I’ve also become much better at communicating in difficult business situations.
After all, a large part of my business involves standing on stages and talking to many people! (which I totally love doing).
How supermarket shopping relates to business
The similarity with business here is that if you are an introvert – or you’re introverted in some situations — you will likely go out of your way to avoid that challenging interaction.
Do you need to do more presentations to spread the word about your business? Perhaps you’ll put it off for months or even years.
Do you need to conduct more sales conversations to qualify prospects? Perhaps you think: “Can’t I just qualify them through an online quiz?”
Do you need to make cold calls to companies to try to book sales meetings with them? No f*@%ing way!
Communications that might be easy for extroverts are difficult for introverts.
But communications that would be difficult for extroverts (e.g. sales calls) are often extremely difficult for introverts.
Sometimes, they are so difficult that we would rather just let our business tick along at a less-than-perfect level of growth or income just because we don’t want to put ourselves through it all.
Does introversion really exist? A brief look at the research
Let’s be clear before I start telling you about solutions… I’m not a huge fan of the idea of “introversion.”
I’m not a fan of most systems for labelling and categorizing human beings. In general, I think that labelling humans is unhelpful and fosters a distorted understanding of the complexity of each human existence.
Even so, I talk about being an introvert because it’s a shorthand that people tend to understand. It’s a quick way for me to explain away a particular set of behaviours and “personality traits”.
But, does “introversion” actually exist according to the research?
Introvert, extrovert, ambivert
The concept of introversion/extroversion was introduced by psychologist Carl Jung in the 1920s. He also introduced a middle term of “ambivert.”
The basic definitions of the three terms are:
- Introverts get exhausted by social interaction and need solitude to recharge.
- Extroverts get anxious when left alone and get energy from social interaction.
- Ambiverts exhibit both introvert and extrovert tendencies depending on the situation.
By this definition, most of us are actually ambiverts. We’re good in some situations but less so in others. According to some psychologists, ambiverts make up between 50%-67% of the population.
Is there a neurological basis?
As a trained researcher — by which I mean I have a PhD, though it isn’t in psychology — my first question when dealing with any topic like this is to ask…
But, does this actually exist?
In the case of psychological research, I propose there are two signs that something “exists”:
- If there is a measured neurological difference between people who have been objectively identified as introverts and extroverts.
- If an objective measure of large populations has been tested that places people clearly into one of these two categories.
A neurological basis for introversion
As far as I can tell, there is some neurological basis behind introversion and extroversion. Specifically, the two groups have different responses to dopamine, a neurotransmitter that mediates pleasure in the brain.
Extroverts have more dopamine present in their brain and they become more energized when they receive the dopamine boosts caused by social interaction. Introverts are more sensitive to dopamine than extroverts so can become overstimulated in social situations.
Introverts, on the other hand, seem to be more driven by the neurotransmitter acetylcholine than extroverts are. Acetylcholine is triggered when people “turn inwards” and are in a calm environment.
But, neither introverts nor extroverts are wholly “dopamine-driven” or “acetylcholine-driven.”
Both groups — and the majority of people who are ambiverts — respond to both neurotransmitters to varying degrees depending on the person and situation.
Population studies?
What about my second requirement? That there are large, objective population studies into whether introversion-extroversion exists.
I’ve found it harder to find any satisfying research into this one.
I’ll admit, I’ve not done a huge amount of research into it. I would likely have to interview some people who did their PhDs on introversion-extroversion if such studies exist. There is a massive amount of research on the topic!
Most of the existing research that I’ve found takes it as a given that introversion-extroversion “exists.” They use standard tests for measuring these traits (e.g. the Myers-Briggs test) and then just perform their further research with that as their starting point.
These tests inherently sort all participants into the “introvert” or “extrovert” category. As a result, I’d argue that they are not good measures of whether or not the traits actually exist. But, please do let me know if you disagree as I’m always open to learning more.
Why it might be unwise to call yourself an introvert
So, introversion may exist to some degree.
Does it make sense to call ourselves introverts?
Some psychologists warn that thinking of yourself as an “introvert” or an “extrovert” can actively limit your possibilities to grow.
If we think “I won’t push myself to do this scary business communication because I’m an introvert” then we are actively limiting ourselves.
Personally, I think that it can be helpful to recognise if we tend towards introversion or extroversion. In particular, it’s helpful to know if we are more introverted because the whole world seems to be geared up for people who find it easy to be social.
As a result, a lot of business advice is aimed at people who find social interaction easy or even energizing.
We should recognise our own tendencies. But, we should not use them as justification for holding ourselves back from making ourselves better.
“Fake it till you make it” and other irritating advice
If you are an introvert — or you have, let’s say, “introvert tendencies” in business situations — what should you do about it?
How can you change what you’re doing so that you can thrive in difficult situations?
If you ask this question to others, you will often be hit by a barrage of advice.
I’ve found that there is a lot of useless advice out there. Much of this advice comes from people who clearly don’t know what it’s like to experience “introvert moments”. They often give vastly oversimplified advice that may have a grain of truth in it but is ultimately unhelpful.
Some common irritating advice is:
- “Fake it till you make it.” — The rationale is that if you pretend to be confident, you will become confident. While there is a lot of truth in this, the advice usually glosses over just how draining it is to “fake it” continuously. Sometimes we have the energy to “put on a confident face”, other times we don’t. The advice-giver usually has no idea how much energy it takes for an introvert to do this, which means it’s not very helpful.
- “You don’t talk enough. Just talk more.” — I’ve often been given this advice on days when I feel like I’ve been communicating and chatting a lot! Maybe I’ve only said a few things in a conversation, but I feel like I’ve been connected and engaged the whole time. As a result, it can feel like the advice-giver hasn’t even noticed my contribution. Telling us to “just talk more” can put a lot of pressure on us.
- “Just send 100 messages a day and you’ll get better at it.” — You can replace this number with whatever example of business communication you have to do (e.g. 10 phone calls a day, 1 presentation a week). The idea is that communication will get easier when you commit to a huge number of interactions… which is probably true, but you might also be completely floored in the process! There’s no such thing as “just” sending 100 messages for an introvert. At the end of those 100 messages, you may no longer have energy left for any other work.
One thing that is so irritating about such advice is that it is basically true!
There is a lot to be said for pushing yourself through the difficulties and getting more used to challenging communications.
Everything I’ve done in my life to become a better communicator has involved a certain amount of “just do it.”
But, there’s also a huge internal struggle that goes into doing this.
We burn up a lot of energy in the process.
And we must burn that energy if we want to improve… but we also have to be careful and kind to ourselves.
The real reason business communication feels hard for introverts
Not too long ago, I put myself through a particularly gruelling set of activities over the course of 3 months to “push myself out of my comfort zone” and take my business to the next level.
Over those 3 months, I delivered at least one webinar every week and I was trying to make 20 cold calls to tech companies every weekday.
This was extremely draining!
I don’t think I ever managed to put in all those 20 cold calls per day (the most I managed in a week was 10 on one day and a few on other days). I could spend my entire morning preparing myself just to make those few phone calls. Afterwards, I was exhausted and demotivated.
On the days when I ran my webinars, I spent the entire morning physically preparing for the event. Afterwards, I spent the afternoon crashed out and struggling to get more work done.
Is it worth it?
In hindsight, I really value the progress I made during those months. I pushed myself further than I had ever pushed myself before and all that activity did actually move the needle for my business in some ways.
Pushing myself through those difficulties also made me stronger and more confident.
The problem is that it wasn’t just those 3 months…
Afterwards, it took me almost 6 months to recover!
During those 6 months, I still worked hard within my “comfort zone” content strategy work for clients. I was still coaching my presentation and voice clients. My business was booming thanks to all the marketing work I’d put in.
But, the wind had been taken out of my sails.
I didn’t really want to talk to anyone (apart from my clients who I love communicating with).
I even questioned whether it made sense for me to keep doing what I was doing…
Why it feels so hard
All that intense communication that I’d forced myself to do was extremely hard. I needed a lot of time to recover before I was really ready to put myself out there again.
And that’s the real reason that business communication can feel hard for introverts…
Because it is hard!
Because it takes all of our energy!
Because there is no such thing as “just do X” and you will magically become comfortable with doing it!
If we want to consistently improve how we communicate on behalf of our businesses in a sustainable way, we need to change how we approach these difficult situations.
A counterintuitive way to communicate confidently about your business
How do we change ourselves to become more confident when we communicate about our business?
One highly effective strategy that I have used in various parts of my business is this…
Develop a new persona for yourself.
This might seem like a strange thing for me to say. After all, I’ve just told you that the advice to “fake it till you make it” is annoying and unhelpful.
Wouldn’t “putting on a persona” be the same as “faking it”?
But, no, they’re not the same.
The problem with “faking it” is that we feel like we’re trying to pretend to be something that we’re not. We are still trying to “be ourselves” and we struggle hard internally to “also be confident” even when we don’t feel it.
When we put on a persona, there’s an extra level of protection. We don’t need to feel confident because the persona is confident.
Suddenly, hard communications become a little bit easier.
What you can learn from professional performers
I grew up around actors.
I was the only introverted engineer in an extended family of actors and acting teachers.
It often surprises people to hear, but [a lot of actors are introverts.][8] Sure, a lot of actors are also extroverts but the idea that people have about actors is that they are all extroverts. People think they love attention.
In reality, it’s pretty common to speak to an actor off-stage and find them quiet and unassuming. Then, they go on-stage and blow you away completely because they’re so dynamic, confident and energetic.
This is also true of a lot of other professional performers including stand-up comedians, singers, clowns, street performers, magicians, and drag queens/kings.
Although people are familiar with the idea that actors or drag queens are “playing a character”, they are often surprised when I say that stand-up comedians are “a character”.
As an audience, we assume that stand-up comedians are the same off-stage as they are on-stage.
In reality, they aren’t the same at all.
Stand-up comedians are using a persona. This persona is a version of their real personality. Sometimes it’s very close to their real personality but often there are significant differences. It’s a “heightened” version of themselves.
To craft their persona, performers find parts of their own personalities that align with who they want to be on-stage. They then heighten those aspects of themselves.
This is partly why stand-up comedians are so funny. They are a caricature of a person.
The great news for us is that you can also apply this same idea to difficult business communications. You can choose which aspects of your personality you want to heighten in those communications.
What a business persona isn’t
When I talk about personas and acting and performance, there’s almost always someone who says “But I don’t want to come across as false I don’t want to look like I’m ‘acting’.”
There is a very common misconception that “acting” means “not natural.” This is total nonsense, but it’s a pervasive myth.
If you think about it for a moment, it clearly cannot be true that good acting and performance comes across as “false.”
As humans, we hate it when someone appears to be “pretending” and they don’t behave in a natural manner. If it were true that acting and performance was unnatural, we would also cringe whenever we watched performers doing their thing. However, instead, quite the opposite is true. We spend many many hours of our lives watching actors acting in movies, theatre, and TV shows.
We love watching people performing!
As long as our persona is drawn from real parts of ourselves — which is how all good performers create their personas — people will see your persona as being a natural part of you…
… because your persona is a real version of you.
What your crafted business persona(s) might look like
Every time I encounter a new, difficult situation in my business, there is an opportunity for me to create a new persona… if a new one is needed.
Over the years, I’ve discovered various versions of myself that I can harness depending on the specific business situation that I’m in.
To other people, these versions of me probably look quite similar to each other — though, I’ve often had comments from people who have only met shy, “Introvert Alex” in social situations and are surprised when they see me performing on stage as Presentation Alex. These two personas are the extreme ends of my personality.
Here are my business personas:
- Presentation Alex — When I’m speaking from a stage, I am pretty high energy. I stride around the stage, I chat to the audience, and my delivery constantly changes and adapts to the particular material I’m delivering. Presentation Alex requires a lot of energy but that’s okay because the longest I’d ever use him continuously is in a workshop for a few hours.
- Coaching Alex — When I’m coaching my presentation clients, my energy is more calm and focused than it is when I’m on stage. My entire concentration is placed on the client and I listen and respond intently to what they are doing. I sometimes switch to Presentation Alex when I need to demonstrate something, but otherwise, this is mostly a receptive persona.
- Leader Alex — The longer I operate in business, the more often I’m required to take leadership roles. This requires a different level of energy from the previous two personas. As a leader, I am more of a facilitator than a speaker or coach — my prime focuses are “moving things along” and making sure that everyone gets a chance to contribute. Leader Alex is similar to Coaching Alex in energy, but “he” ultimately tends to make decisions whereas, as a coach, I encourage the client to drive the decisions.
- Networking Alex — I developed Networking Alex when I discovered that bringing Presentation Alex to a long networking event (e.g. a conference) would burn me out completely after just a few hours. I explain in the next section how I created him.
- Sales Alex — I still consider this to be a very fledgling persona. Sales Alex is not as well developed as, say, Presentation Alex, but he’s getting there. There is an odd dynamic in sales conversations because you are driving towards a particular outcome, usually in a very limited timeframe. It requires a persona that is both receptive but also assertive.
- Social media Alex — For years, I rarely posted a comment on social media and I certainly didn’t post status updates. Whenever I did post a comment, it would easily take me 30 minutes to write just one response. More recently, I have become more strategic about social media for my business. I need to post regularly and engage via comments. As a result, I have had to develop a new persona online which sounds authentic and chatty, and also allows me to post 30-50 insightful and considered comments per hour.
- Phone call Alex — I’ve always been terrible on the phone. Throughout my life, I would always leave phone calling up to someone else. But, my business has required me to become better on the phone. As a result, another persona has emerged for phone calls.
- Introvert Alex — Let’s not forget my “introvert self.” This version of me is the one that I most consider as being “myself.” It’s the version of me that I revert to when I’m tired, ill, or just not feeling great.
Is Introvert Alex “the real me”?
I’m not sure.
All of my other personas also feel “real” and they are all authentic reflections of my personality. But, they all have a time limit because they expend energy.
Introvert Alex is what I revert to when that time limit runs out.
My “persona” approach is similar — though not identical — to the idea of creating an Alter Ego, which Todd Herman has written a very useful book about. My approach to creating your personas involves less “invention” and “borrowing” than Todd’s approach. Mine is more focused on finding aspects within your own existing personality that you can harness within your persona. But, both are very powerful approaches and it can be useful to have both in your toolkit.
How to build a new persona for yourself
Okay, so you know that you need to build a new persona for a particular business communication.
How can you build that persona?
The way I work with my clients is to look at what strengths they already have. I look at what they are already capable of doing and help them to heighten particular aspects of themselves.
Together, my client and I will explore existing aspects of their personality through how they use their voice and body.
We identify what qualities they will need in a particular business situation. I’ll then use a variety of different voice frameworks and techniques to help them to become comfortable working with their “new persona.”
For example, here’s how I developed my Networking Alex persona…
When I realised that Presentation Alex was too high-energy for long networking events, I needed to create a version of myself that would work more effectively in networking situations.
To do this, I went to various events and practised showing up to each one with different types of energy. I practised different methods of introducing myself and different ways of keeping the conversations going with new people.
To my joy, I found that I already had 2 “versions of myself” that I could harness in these situations. These were — in a way — “personas” that I had already used before in my life — though, at the time, I didn’t think of them as being personas.
Networking Alex is built from these 2 existing versions of myself:
- He has the energy level that I used to use when I worked as a waiter and bartender in the catering industry. This is an energy that I can sustain over a long shift while also doing a lot of high-energy work. Also, it gives me the ability to give all my attention to one person but also break off that conversation easily and move to another person, which you do all the time when you are a bartender or waiter.
- He has the questioning power of my “journalist persona” which is the version of me that shows up when I’m interviewing sources for an article. This gives him a great energy for really learning about people’s businesses and making a deeper connection with them. It makes Networking Alex always interested in finding out more about the person I’m speaking to, which is a great trait for networking.
It’s impossible for me to say exactly how you will be able to develop your own persona for your chosen business communication because I’m only writing about the process. I would need to see what you are already capable of and understand the situation you are developing the persona for.
But, hopefully, this gives you a snapshot of the general approach.
How to truly stand out in your industry with a clear business voice
What’s the benefit of using a persona in your business?
Apart from the increase in confidence that it gives you, it can also be a powerful way to help you stand out in your industry.
People are drawn to businesses that have a clear, strong, confident “voice.” When we communicate with a distinct voice that really shows who we are, we give people the opportunity to understand who were are and what we stand for.
Being an introvert often means that our voice is diluted. We find it difficult to really “assert our personality” because we are struggling so much with our inner world.
One great thing about a persona is that it is clear.
Your persona has defined lines. It has a start point and an end point.
When I get on stage to give a presentation, Presentation Alex is there.
When I get off stage, I can either revert to Introvert Alex if I don’t have to talk to anyone. Or, if I have to do networking, I can harness Networking Alex, who uses up less energy than Presentation Alex.
If I were to stay as Presentation Alex during a long networking session post-event, I would burn myself out quickly.
Start by building one persona and then work from there.
With a reliable toolkit of various business personas, you will find it much easier to operate in challenging business situations… even if you’re an introvert!
And if you’d like to learn more about how to improve your confidence in business situations, just sign up to the blog here:
The touchpoints in your business are a vital key. You need to get your touchpoints right if you want people to sit up and take notice of your business.
But, what are touchpoints in business?
Can we really influence how people perceive us?
And what mistakes do people often make when they try to manage their touchpoints?
Let’s take a deep dive into your business’s most important touchpoints!
What are touchpoints in business?
A touchpoint is a specific medium of communication through which people interact with your business. Touchpoints are most commonly talked about in relation to the interactions that customers have as they move along the customer journey. However, touchpoints are also applicable to other forms of communication.
The reason you should take a “holistic” view touchpoints is that people will interact with your business in a multitude of different ways. It’s not enough to just focus on one touchpoint in isolation.
You want to have as much control as possible over people’s experience of your business. That means that your touchpoints need to be aligned.
The more you are aware of how people are interacting with your business, the better you can influence people’s perception of the business.
There are now more touchpoints than ever!
In the past, people had very few ways to interact with businesses.
For brick-and-mortar retail companies (i.e. those where the physical premises are central to the business) people would just come to your building in person or they would call you up over the phone.
For marketing touchpoints, the traditional options were basically just advertising and word of mouth. There were various forms of advertising (e.g. newspaper, public bulletin board, radio) and you had very little control over word of mouth marketing.
The customer journey was simple. Someone would see your advert or hear about you from a friend. Then, they would get in contact in person, by post, or by telephone.
These days, everything has changed.
There are now more touchpoints to businesses than ever before. Twitter, email newsletters, press release distribution services, LinkedIn, video sales platforms, virtual summits, trade publications, events, … and the list goes on and on.
We now also have far more control over each of the touchpoints that we use in business. Even the smallest one-person business will have potentially dozens of touchpoints with customers. We can measure the effectiveness of each touchpoint to a much higher degree than was ever possible in the past.
This plethora of options can be a good thing…
But, it’s also extremely confusing!
People often run around in circles trying to manage all of the various touchpoints that people can have with their business.
As a result of their confusion, many businesses make mistakes.
The 3 common mistakes when planning business touchpoints
If you’re planning to assess your business’s touchpoints, there are a few core mistakes that you want to avoid making.
Here are the top 3 common mistakes I’ve seen people making when they plan their business touchpoints:
Mistake 1: Leaving your touchpoints up to chance
If you have never considered your business’s touchpoints before, you are not alone!
While many of the world’s top companies do think about their touchpoints extensively, I’d say that most businesses don’t. Many businesses leave all their touchpoint interactions up to chance.
I’ve certainly been guilty of ignoring the touchpoints in my own business. Even though I interact with people through many different channels, I’ve just assumed that each channel is “doing its thing correctly.”
But, leaving your touchpoint planning up to chance is a bad idea. It means you basically have no control over how your business comes across to other people.
How can you expect to influence people’s perceptions of your business if you don’t know how it’s already perceived?
Mistake 2: Assuming its all about marketing
I think it’s fair to say that many larger businesses leave the management of their touchpoints up to the marketing team.
People often assume that touchpoints are just about attracting new customers. They put time, effort, and money into “optimizing the customer journey.”
Of course, it’s very important to optimize your customer journey. However, touchpoints are about much more than just marketing.
Consider your hiring process…
When you need to hire new employees, what are the touchpoints each candidate interacts with?
Some touchpoints that influence each candidate’s perception of your company during the hiring process are:
- The job advert copy
- Your company’s website
- Your company’s application form
- The application form of any recruiters you use
- The representatives of recruiters
- Your email correspondence with each candidate
- The interview(s)
- Phone calls with the candidate
- The job offer email or letter
And this is just before the candidate becomes an employee!
When the person is offered the job, there are dozens more touchpoints before that person becomes an integral part of the company.
During that entire process, their perception of your company is vital. If they perceive the company badly, they might reject the offer initially or leave the post after being hired, costing you even more time, money, and energy.
Hopefully, you get the idea — touchpoints are relevant to everybody’s perception of your business… not just the perceptions of prospects and customers.
Mistake 3: Only caring about one or two touchpoints
In the world of business, it’s important to focus your efforts. If we try to do everything, we end up doing nothing well.
The only problem with this way of thinking is that it can lead companies to focus all their efforts on one or two touchpoints of their business. For example, they might just look at Twitter interactions and the company website.
Sure, this type of focus is a good option when, say, you’re choosing which of the dozens of social medias to invest your resources into. Maybe you will choose to only use TikTok or only use LinkedIn because research shows that these are the best platforms for your audience.
However, if you only care about a couple of touchpoints, you are neglecting all the other touchpoints that your business already has.
Can people contact you via email?
Can they talk to your people on the phone?
Will they read about your company on Trustpilot?
These touchpoints don’t go away just because you don’t pay attention to them.
Every interaction that someone can have with your business is an important touchpoint and requires conscious thought.
Why voice and consistency are vital when picking your touchpoints
One of the major struggles I see companies having is that their business voice is inconsistent across many of their touchpoints.
You look at the company’s website and it gives you one impression of the business.
You talk to one of their sales reps and they give you another impression.
You talk to one of their customer service reps and they give you yet another impression.
In the end, the business starts to feel rather disjointed and often dysfunctional.
What’s going on here!?
Voice: Who are you and why should we listen to you?
Have you ever found that you prefer some people over others?
With some people, you instantly like them. You feel comfortable in their presence, you enjoy communicating with them, and you find it easy to trust them.
With other people, you are unsure about them from the start. You feel awkward or even creeped out in their presence, communicating with them is uncomfortable or actively stressful, and you wouldn’t even trust them to throw a stick for your dog.
Sound familiar?
Well… the same is true for businesses.
The Voice of Your Business is what gives people the ability to trust you. It’s through this voice that your personality as a business is communicated to other people.
When you get this voice right, people will understand who you are as a business. They will understand what you stand for and why they should listen to you.
Hopefully, some of those people will connect with that voice on both an emotional and a logical level. When your business speaks, they will feel like they “belong.”
People should feel this comfort across all of your touchpoints.
Consistency: Are you sending mixed messages?
Imagine that you go to a dinner party and you are sat next to someone called Brian.
You’ve never met Brian before but he seems like an okay guy. He is soft spoken, makes small talk, and seems amiable enough.
About an hour passes and Brian suddenly changes how he’s communicating with you. He becomes gruff when he speaks, cuts down every topic you try to offer to the conversation, and talks about himself loudly.
Another hour passes and suddenly Brian changes how he’s communicating again! He becomes very sweet and gentle. He asks you lots of questions about yourself and listens intently to everything you say.
Towards the end of the meal, Brian changes his communication style yet again! He becomes very matter-of-fact and awkward. He tells you that you need to pay for his expensive taxi ride home… “because he asked you to.”
Do you trust Brian?
Probably not.
At the very least, you are likely very suspicious of Brian’s motives and reliability as a person. I doubt that you want to pay for his taxi ride!
This situation might seem a bit bizarre, but it’s exactly what happens to people who interact with some businesses.
The voice that such businesses use across their touchpoints is completely inconsistent.
With every interaction, it can feel like you’re getting yet another unwelcome glimpse into the deranged mind of Weird Brian.
Communicating with such businesses is far from being comfortable!
As consumers, we often endure this inconsistency because we have to. We expect that calls to customer services will mostly be horrible. We expect that salespeople will be overly friendly and pushy. We expect a company’s website to be “all about them.”
But, those companies that do manage to have a consistent voice across all of their touchpoints are extremely effective as a result.
Which type do you want your business to be?
15 touchpoints that affect people’s perception of your business
Hopefully, you are starting to get an idea of the reason that touchpoints are a vital part of any business. Your business should present a clear voice that is consistent across all of its avenues of communication.
What are examples of touchpoints that you might use?
Here are 15 common touchpoints that affect people’s perception of your business:
1. Sales representatives
A sales rep is often the first “real person” that people communicate with. As a result, your sales reps hold a huge responsibility for how customers perceive your business.
It doesn’t matter how much marketing content a prospect has consumed before they speak to a sales rep, the rep’s “voice” has a huge impact on people’s perception of your business (by “voice” here, I mean many factors including their physical speaking voice, manner, approach, personality, etc).
2. Customer services
Unlike sales reps, your customer service channels interact with people who are already your customers. This can leave many companies to drop the ball when they train their customer service reps.
Some of the worst interactions I’ve had with companies are through their customer service reps! I’m sure you’re the same. But, this failing by many companies also means customer service offers a huge opportunity to stand out in your market.
3. Hiring and job adverts
As I mentioned above, the hiring process is full of touchpoints. One of the first touchpoints that people encounter is the job advert, either on your website or a recruiter’s website.
It’s surprising to me how few companies use this opportunity to make a great first impression. During hiring, you’re looking to attract the best people to your team. Doesn’t it make sense to treat them as being as important as your customers? If not more important! The job advert is a superb opportunity to make an impression on those people you most want to attract.
4. Webinars and presentations
Thousands of webinars and presentations are being given every day in businesses. Internal presentations communicate your voice, values, and information to those people in your teams. External communications (e.g. sales pitches, investor pitches) demonstrate who you are as a business to the outside world.
As a professional speaking coach, I can tell you that very few people in businesses excel at these types of communication. By even just making a small improvement, you can make a huge impact on the Voice of Your Business and really stand out in your industry.
5. Website or app
The website is one of the few touchpoints that people do focus on.
In fact, some businesses focus exclusively on their website or app! Some branding agencies also often focus entirely on their clients’ websites. This means that the “brand voice” that branding agencies include in their work often works well on the website but is hard to translate to other touchpoints.
6. Social medias
Everyone knows that you need to be on social media, right?
I see many businesses focusing so much of their efforts on the social media touchpoints that they neglect all others. While social media is important, each platform usually has only two or three potential touchpoints that you can use (your posts, your comments on other people’s posts, and direct messages). There are so many more touchpoints in your business!
7. Events
Lots of businesses run or attend events. These can be very impactful touchpoints because people get to speak directly to real people from your company.
Recently, there have been many more online events. These offer a different set of touchpoints and need to be managed in a completely different way to offline events.
8. Adverts
Back in the days of Mad Men, there were only a handful of advert spaces where people could come into contact with your business.
Now, there are so many different advert possibilities for your business. It can get overwhelming — and expensive! — if you chase after them all without a solid strategy.
9. Word of mouth
You might not think of word of mouth as being a touchpoint because you don’t have much control over what people say about your business.
But, word of mouth is one of the strongest touchpoints. What people say about you has a huge effect on what others think about you. You certainly shouldn’t ignore this touchpoint or leave it up to chance.
Plus, you can actually influence this touchpoint more than you’d think.
10. Publications
Newspapers, magazines, trade publications, newsletters… many different publications could be touchpoints for your business.
Some publications give you a lot of control over how your business comes across. This is a good thing and means you can be conscious about the voice that is used to describe your business.
11. Media
With media touchpoints, there is a little overlap with “publications.” However, many more channels of media beyond publications can influence people’s perceptions of your business.
One of the major factors with media is that you often don’t have much as much control over what is said about your business and how it is said. Even so, there is a lot you can influence.
12. Networking
Some people love formal networking, other people hate it. But, it’s undeniable that networking is a strong touchpoint for your business.
Every time you or someone from your teams talks to another person about your business, they are both affecting how people perceive the business and opening up potential opportunities for the business.
Think about that for a moment…
… then wonder why companies don’t put as much effort into training people in networking skills as they do in developing the graphic design on their website.
13. Internal communications
Just because some people work in your company doesn’t mean that those people don’t count when you’re designing your touchpoints.
Your people are probably the most important when it comes to influencing perceptions of your business. If your own people aren’t fully convinced of the value and integrity of your business, how on earth will they convince customers to put trust in you?
Internal communications are a key touchpoint for building the trust and passion of your own people.
14. Emails
Some people claim that emails are dead (mostly social media marketing companies, I think). The huge number of actionable emails that come into my account every day is a testament to the fact that this is clearly nonsense.
Emails are an extremely important touchpoint for your business. And that doesn’t mean just marketing emails. Any email that your people send out on behalf of your business is another potential touchpoint.
15. Impromptu conversations
I’m going to restate the point that I made in “networking” above, just in case you missed it…
Any time someone communicates with anyone about your business, they are influencing people’s perception of your business.
This applies to impromptu conversations as much as it does to more formal touchpoints.
Each communication is an opportunity to communicate who you are as a business. Each is an opportunity to use a clear Voice of Your Business that authentically represents who you are and what you stand for.
How to get the touchpoints in your business right
There are huge possibilities for improving how you use the touchpoints in your business.
But, how do you start?
You need a process that helps you to improve your touchpoints gradually.
A good place to start this process is to do an audit of the touchpoints you already have.
Identify which are the highest impact and focus on these first. This doesn’t mean ignoring your other touchpoints, it just means focusing your energy.
Then, investigate the voice that currently comes across in that touchpoint. Look for what’s working. Look for what’s not working so well.
And identify those areas where you can improve!
So…which touchpoints are most important for your business?
]]>We all know that tech companies rely on having a great company culture.
One of the most common sentiments I hear from successful CEOs is "we hire for values, not just for aptitude."
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A couple of weeks ago, I attended a three-day conference in Montreal, Canada. I learned a lot of things from it, both from a content level (what they were teaching) and on a “meta” level (how to run a great conference). The organisers used some simple techniques to make the conference extra special.
I want to zoom in on one extra special thing that they did. On every attendee’s name badge, they indicated whether we were an extrovert, an introvert or an ambivert (which we had indicated on the pre-conference form). I found this very useful. It was a good way to start a conversation and it got all of us thinking about the communication preferences of the people we were talking to, rather than thinking just about what we wanted to say.
You see, I would say that that I’m an introvert. I find socialising quite difficult and it takes a lot (a lot!) of my energy. On the first day of the conference, I made a big mistake regarding my energy, which I discussed in last week’s video: How to Manage Energy in Networking as an Introvert
Since the conference ended, I’ve been thinking about the whole introversion-extroversion thing. It’s a fashionable concept at the moment. A lot of people seem to assume that “being an introvert or an extrovert” is an undeniable scientific “fact”. As a scientist, this level of “certainty” always makes me want to find out more.
In my opinion, there are 10 very questionable “rules” about being an introvert. Rules which I think are false and unhelpful.
Does Introversion Really Exist?
Before I jump into my 10 ridiculous rules, I want to make a brief nod to the science behind introversion.
You see, there is some research behind it. The idea of introversion-extroversion was popularised by the psychologist Carl Jung. Introversion refers to quiet, reserved behaviour; Extroversion refers to more outgoing, energetic behaviour. Jung proposed that everyone has both of these qualities. He also highlighted a middle-ground — ambiversion — which described people who were introverted in some circumstances and extroverted in others. From the badges that I saw at the conference, I would say that most people identify with this third category.
However, although Jung talked about everyone having an introverted and an extroverted side, recently people have started to talk about “being introverted” or “being extroverted”. This idea has gained a lot of traction since the arrival of Susan Cain’s book and corresponding TED talk “Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking”.
The prevailing wisdom these days is that we are either one or the other, introvert or extrovert.
So far, I haven’t been able to find any science which backs up this claim. I will outline the science in more detail in future articles. Until I do some deeper research into the topic, I can’t yet say what introversion means scientifically (and therefore whether it “exists” in the sense that many people think of it).
What I can say is that it seems that everyone is on the introvert-extrovert scale.
10 Ridiculous Rules About Introverts in Networking
Whether you feel introverted in most situations, or introverted in just some situations, you may have heard some of the following “rules” before. They regard introversion and networking. They’re the sort of rules you find in articles on popular sites like the Huffington Post, Psychology Today, Lifehack and Buzzfeed.
1. Networking makes you feel fake because you’re an introvert
Let’s be honest. Networking makes everyone feel fake. It’s an unnatural situation which is unlike any other social situation. Personally, I find normal social situations quite difficult. However, I have developed a system for networking which is often very effective. It works for me exactly because networking is an unnatural situation.
2. Networking is hard because you’re an introvert
Again, networking is hard for everyone, but for different reasons. Even the most extroverted people I have met often have hangups about networking. For example, most people have some amount of impostor syndrome, which gets in the way of selling themselves, whether they are introverted or not.
3. Introversion is a bad thing in a networking situation
I’ve found the opposite to be true. When I manage my energy effectively, I think I’m quite a good networker because of my introversion.
I handle my natural fear of interacting with people by preparing thoroughly beforehand. I rehearse what I’m going to say about myself, I think of questions I could ask people, and I warm up before I arrive at the event. As a result, I am often more prepared than those networkers who rely on their own innate abilities.
4. You are either an introvert or an extrovert
As I mentioned above, I have not been able to find any science that says that people are either one or the other (this doesn’t necessarily mean the research doesn’t exist, just that I haven’t found it). In any case, don’t avoid uncomfortable situations just because you have given yourself the “introvert” label.
5. Networking drains your energy because you’re an introvert
A recent study indicated that everyone (extroverts included) find that socialising drains their energy (or more accurately, few people listed socialising on their list of “restful activities”).
Networking is just tiring.
Don’t make the mistake I did two weeks ago: manage your energy effectively.
6. You’re easily distracted because you’re an introvert
There is some research to suggest that introverts are more prone to being distracted — the study tested how well participants performed on a reading test when a television was playing in the background.
Some people say that introverts are therefore more prone to being distracted and that makes them worse in social situations.
I think this is a bit short-sighted. I can tell you from experience that almost everyone is distracted a lot of the time. We all get distracted by different things (thoughts, external stimuli, etc) but we are all prone to distraction. This applies to both introverts and extroverts.
The way to improve this is to do exercises to boost your Presence in networking situations.
7. You hate small talk because you’re an introvert
Small talk is a social lubricant. It’s not the most interesting type of conversation for anyone (extroverts or introverts). Nobody ever said “You know what I love doing the most in the world? Talking about the weather.”
However, a bit of “phatic communication” (the linguistic term for small talk) is necessary.
It’s a skill, just like any other aspect of presentation.
8. You don’t like meeting new people because you’re an introvert
I like meeting new people. Even if you think of yourself as a huge introvert, you probably like meeting new people too.
The thing that I hate is thinking about meeting new people. I hate the fear which comes before I meet new people. I also hate the brain chatter after having met the new people where I doubt myself and fear that I made a bad impression.
However, when I’m actually talking to a new person and I’m getting on well with them and the conversation is interesting, do you know what I’m feeling? — I’m feeling “This is okay! I like talking to this person!”.
Hating the fear of something and hating the actual act are quite different.
9. Science says introversion exists
As I’ve said, there are varied theories of introversion and extroversion. There are also some research studies. However, I’ve not done enough digging yet to be able to tell you how strong these theories are.
Therefore, I leave this point with a big “To be continued…”
10. Being an introvert defines who you are
I don’t know why, but we love to categorise ourselves. Whenever somebody else tries to categorise us (“You’re so vain”, “You’re just like Monica from Friends”, “You’re a …”) we hate it. However, when we’re given an opportunity to categorise ourselves, we jump on the chance.
I don’t think that saying “I’m an introvert so I’m bad at networking” is very helpful at all. All of the skills necessary to be good at networking are very learnable. All of us have strengths and weaknesses, whether we identify as introverted or not.
Don’t restrict your networking abilities by defining yourself by the introvert label.
Be more specific. Identify your networking strengths and use them to your advantage. Identify your networking weaknesses and find strategies to overcome them.
What are your best and worse networking experiences? Tell us in the comments below or join the discussion on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest.
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“Sit up straight!”
Do you remember when your mother told you that?
Most parents have said it at some point. They see their teenager hunched over the dinner table like a gorilla, shovelling food into their mouth. They recognise that this is not a healthy posture. They want the best for their child so they tell them to sit up straight.
It turns out, mum was right about posture.
Being able to have a long, aligned posture is a fundamental aspect of being a good speaker and communicator.
What Well-Aligned Posture Looks Like
Instinctively, we all know what a healthy posture looks like. When a person has a comfortable, straight posture, we look at them and we are impressed. It’s natural.
Look at this image of actor Christopher Walken on stage. He has a long, aligned spine, an open body, and a strong stance. (The only thing I might query is that his neck seems a little pushed forward. If he let his neck be freer, his posture would be even better. However, this might also be the angle of the photo.)
And yet… most of us do not have a well-aligned posture.
Although we recognise it when we see it, we don’t know how to achieve it in our own body. From a very young age, we start to develop an unhealthy posture which gets worse and worse throughout our lives.
It turns out that mum was right. But, that’s not the whole story.
The problem is that parents don’t usually know why they’re telling their children to sit up straight. We know that we shouldn’t slouch, but we don’t know why and we don’t know how to achieve it.
On top of this, parents themselves often have the same postural issues as everyone else. Without good role models, we grow up learning unhealthy posture from our parents and from the people around us. Our dad hunches over his computer so we hunch over our computer. Our mum nervously tenses her back and neck when she’s socialising so, in time, we learn to tense our back and neck when we are socialising. We pick up bad habits from friends, teachers, TV personalities and pop-stars.
Why Posture Is The Most Important Aspect Of Communication
Posture is important for communication because a well-aligned posture allows your voice to function freely. When your posture is misaligned, you restrict your voice, you restrict your breathing and, as a result, you cannot communicate as effectively as you would like.
In our normal lives, we get by. We have all developed habits which allow us to survive with our less-than-optimal posture. However, when we give a presentation or a speech we suddenly push ourselves into a whole different type of vocal communication. The habits that work in the rest of our lives are no longer enough.
When I speak in front of a small group of people, I have a tendency to tense my neck. When I get on stage to give a presentation, this becomes even more pronounced. My neck can become very tense. As a result, when I try to speak loudly so that the audience can hear me clearly I end up pushing my voice. It quickly begins to feel sore.
If I didn’t know how to counteract this effect, I would end up damaging my voice.
A lot of voice work, in the beginning, is all about noticing where and when you are tense in your body. It’s about learning to release that tension before you speak. In fact, if you can learn to just release the tension in your body before you give a presentation, you can become a far more effective communicator even without doing any other voice work.
Why “Sit Up Straight” Is Not Good Advice
Correct posture happens when your spine is in its natural alignment.
Our spines have a natural alignment. We are born — except in some unusual cases — with our spine in its natural shape. When your spine has that shape, you are able to be free from all tension.
The natural shape of the spine is shown in this image, along with some examples of well-aligned (top) and misaligned (bottom) posture.
As you can see, the natural shape of the spine is not exactly straight. It has a natural curve.
Although mum was right in principle, the words she used were not the best ones.
“Sit up straight” can actually be harmful to the spine.
Because the natural shape of the spine is a curve, there are extremes in both directions. You can have a spine which is too bent but you can also have a spine which is too straight, as shown in the following illustration.
This is sometimes a danger when we say “Sit up straight” or “Stand up straight”. We have a tendency to over-straighten the spine.
Don’t say “Sit up straight”. Say “My spine is long and free. My neck is long and free. My shoulders are wide and free from tension.”
How to Improve Your Posture
The first step to having a better posture is to simply notice how you’re holding your spine.
A mirror can be a useful tool.
F.M. Alexander, the actor who invented the Alexander Technique, used a whole roomful of mirrors to troubleshoot his voice problems. He noticed that he was throwing his head back when he spoke on stage, which put his head, neck and back out of alignment, eventually resulting in losing his voice.
The Alexander Technique is a very popular and well-established method for learning better posture — or, more correctly, it is a method to unlearn bad postural habits.
I like the Alexander technique. Not just because it shares my name, but because it is very simple and can be applied to all areas of your life. I also like it because (and this important to me) it has been actively developed for over a century and has been shown to be effective in various good-quality research studies for over 20 years.
Just like F.M. Alexander, you can use mirrors to check your posture.
In my bathroom, I have a full-length mirror. When I’m cleaning my teeth, I often look in the mirror to check how I am holding my spine. Often, I am surprised to see that I am off-balance and/or my spine is bent. Sometimes I am leaning all my weight on only one leg. Sometimes I am hunched over the sink. Sometimes I find that my shoulders are hunched up around my ears. Without looking in the mirror, I wouldn’t know how my body was held because the misaligned posture is so much of a habit.
I look in the mirror and I reset my posture to be more long and free.
Relearning your natural posture is a long-term activity. We all have years or decades of experience holding our body out of alignment. It takes time to unlearn these habits.
The first step is to notice how you hold yourself and how other people around you hold themselves.
Start looking at people and imagine you are everyone’s mother.
Mentally tell them: “Allow your spine to be long and free!”
Who told you to sit up straight when you were younger? Tell us in the comments below or join the discussion on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest.
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