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How to talk about yourself:5 steps to present your activity to your customers, your network, your partners

" And you, what do you do ? “Aha! If you are asked the question:what do you answer? And how are you feeling? Super comfortable? Or are you decomposing inside?

Talking about yourself is not easy, is it? When you enter a pre-determined box:lawyer, sound engineer, poet, stretcher-bearer, salesman, teacher, it's quite easy. But when you have set up your activity, it is difficult to know how to present it to someone outside, to line up the words without stammering or shooting yourself in the foot.

At trade fairs, events, conferences, the person next to you is seated, the one with whom you go to the buffet, it may be a client, a colleague, a potential partner... so when you feel the adrenaline rush and words get tangled up, you can miss opportunities and bite your fingers after the fact – without knowing how to do better next time!

We are therefore going to see together 5 steps to know how to talk about you. (It will also help you improve your about page, your social media profiles, your product pages, your sales pages!)

Let's go:here is an exercise in 5 key phrases to clearly formulate what you are doing and interest your interlocutor instead of putting him in coma mode 🙂

Step 1:explain who you are, what you do and for whom

In the first 2 sentences, explain what you do and who you do it for – don't forget to give your name, and the name of your site. Examples:

My name is Marie Dupont, and you can find my work on mariedupont.com. I create shoes for women who are executives, who have to respect a dressing code and who still want to express their personality with their accessories.

Or

I prepare personalized herbal blends to help my clients overcome blockages in the private or professional sphere.

Or

I help parents keep memories of their children, and have a good time together.

Step 2:say why you are doing it!

Say why you are doing it:the key is to focus this sentence on what it changes for your customers. To unlock writing this step, and even to remember it afterwards, when you have to talk about what you do, start with the catchphrase "It's important to me that..." That's a catchphrase there. to help you, it does not mean that you absolutely have to keep it afterwards. It's a tool, so use it and then customize the wording. So:why you do it, let's continue with these examples:

It's important to me that people who have a demanding job, a not always easy place in the hierarchy, in a very masculine environment, can be creative, and not end up wearing only black or white.

Or

It is important to me that people who realize today that certain past failures, certain past patterns are still blocking them now, can overcome this without spending hours in psychotherapy, without swallowing drugs either.

Or

It's important to me that parents torn between demanding work and little ones who grow up so quickly don't miss out on their children's childhood.

Step 3:explain what you are putting in place and overcoming

The catchphrase for this sentence is "currently":

Currently, I am preparing new offers, to further develop my online business and support more customers who are not geographically close.

Or

I am in the process of setting up in a practice, or in a shared workshop to have colleagues, it is very motivating!

What is important is that depending on your situation, you explain the direction in which you are going, including obstacles if there are any, but always in a constructive way. There's nothing worse when you meet someone and they start talking about their failures, what's going wrong, what they can't do etc. in those moments. , we are looking for the exit! So tell us what you are putting in place, and overcoming.

Step 4:describe where you are going

This is often where the shoe pinches! We spread out over our difficulties, we bore our interlocutor instead of sharing our vision. To avoid this problem, use the "Ideally" hook:

Ideally, I would like to delegate some of my administrative tasks to devote myself to what I enjoy most:showcasing my work, developing my network.

Or

Ideally, I would like to divide my week halfway through the practice, or the workshop, or the store to have face-to-face exchanges with part of my clientele, and spend the other half of the week working online to not be geographically limited, and to limit the time I spend on the move.

Step 5:Get in shape

Final recommendations!

"You don't build the future by looking in the rearview mirror," said Anita Brodick, founder of The Body Shop, and she's right!

I come back to this because when we are asked what we do, we tend to leave in historical CV mode, to tell what we have done since the baccalaureate, what we would have liked to do:we get confused , but the worst thing is that it is not interesting for the interlocutor. If he wants to know where you come from, your background, etc., he will ask you afterwards because your pitch will have interested him. But that's not what he expects when he asks you, "How about you?" What are you doing ? »

So when you are going to write your 5 sentences, start with the hooks suggested above:my name is…it is important to me that I am currently speaking, and ideally I would like. They help you to formulate what you have to say, and to remember it, because once on the grill, you don't have a little paper to answer the question 🙂

Which brings us to the next point:training! Explaining what you do is already allowing yourself to say what is important for you, and what would be ideal for you. Surprisingly, it scares us a little, so you may have trouble articulating. By practicing, you will take ownership of your own words, and manage to show conviction when you talk to someone about them.

However, training is not reciting, but rather having fun, drawing inspiration from improvisational theatre:take your sentences out of order, and say them in different ways:one day while whispering, the next day talking loudly, the next day laughing, with a nasal voice, southern, northern, Canadian accent… really have fun with your text once a day, for 21 days.

About me:

My name is Selma Païva and I help creatives, enthusiasts, non-conformists to put in place progressive strategies to develop their business. It is essential for me that people with a free spirit temperament are as passionate about the business aspect of their activity as they are about what they sell:that's how they go further than if they were remained focused on their products, services, or benefits! Currently, I am learning to delegate, with the help of a virtual assistant. Ideally, I would like to have more time to develop my network and my activity outside my office.

And you, what are you doing? I'd love to know, so when your script is ready, tell me what you're up to!

> www. selmapaiva.com

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