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How many of you woke up this morning

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and consciously thought
of your personal brand

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or coming here and making
a great first impression?

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Anyone?

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I didn't think so.

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(Laughter)

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OK, you know that time
when you're lying in your bed,

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it's early morning,
it's still dark outside.

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In fact you shouldn't even be awake.

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But guess what? You are.

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You probably have a job interview
or a big exam, and it's making you nervous

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and your heart's racing
just that little bit faster,

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and you know that any minute now
that alarm clock to going off violently

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next to your bed, right?

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And guess what; reality sets in,
and you can't escape the day.

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Many years ago
in the beginning of my career

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I found myself lying in my bed
comfortable, warm, and safe

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but knowing that I had
a big day ahead of me.

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I had my first marketing strategy review.

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And what made it worse?

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I was presenting to an international team
of very senior executives.

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And guess what?

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They're smart, they're hard
to please, and fast to decide.

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So as I'm getting ready,

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I realize, not only do I have to tell
this compelling story today,

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but I have to look the part, professional.

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So I grab one of, what I call,
my power suit,

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and no, it doesn't have a cape,
or spurt out pixie dust,

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it just looks good.

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So, I'm in my power suit,
and I get in the driver's seat of my car,

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and I drive to the office
silently rehearsing my opening comments.

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Now here's the deal; I decide to get
to that conference room 30 minutes early.

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Do you want to know why?

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Not because I just want
to be on time and prompt,

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it's a little bit smarter than that;

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I want to gauge the room.

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I want to observe the body language,


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and I want to get a sense
of the mood in the room,

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so if necessary I can adjust my delivery

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because I'm not the only one
that's been presenting that day.

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The agenda moves on, it's my turn.

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I walk into this room holding my head
up high, up to the presenters table.

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Even though my nerves are killing me,

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the palms of my hands are even
getting a little bit clammy,

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but you don't show anyone, right?

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You just keep it together,
those shoulders are straight,

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and I walk in, and I present everyone
with this warm welcoming smile.

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I'm still keeping my shoulders back

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because you want to have that power pose.

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And I deliberately make eye contact
with the executive panel in front of me

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that I'm about to present to.

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And I begin my opening comments,
looking at them straight in the eye

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with confidence
because I'm going to own this.

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Well guess what, it works.

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I capture their attention, and I keep it 


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while I tell them about this business
problem and a very creative solution.

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Basically all I'm doing is I am telling
a story that is painting a picture

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on the opportunity that I just created.

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Well, guess what?

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The next thing I know, I'm being promoted
and moved to another continent.

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So I wanted to share
that brief example with you

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because that is how impactful
and how powerful

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making that first great impression can be.

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If I mess that up who knows.

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You don't get a second chance.

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And under a few seconds,
people will make observations

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about other people, situations,
or environments,

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and turn those observations into opinions.

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And we do it so quickly.

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Then you add to it the pace
at which technology is evolving.

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It's absolutely incredible.

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I just mention the words "social media,"


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and I'm sure I'll get
a smile from all of you.

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Social media has given you
a new platform to promote yourself

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and represent yourself.

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And you'll agree with me

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that there's pretty much an app
for anything out there, right?

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Here's what you won't be able to order
online or download via an app today:

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your image,

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your personal brand,

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and your ability to correctly apply
professional etiquette

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in the work environment.

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So guess what?

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For the next few minutes I'm as close
as you're going to get to that app.

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So put your phones down,
start to download now.

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And here's the reason:
For the last 25 years

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I've built relationships across the globe.

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And to do that well, I had to really 
consciously develop my social smarts,

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I had to develop the ability
to create these great first impressions,

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and most importantly,
to build my personal brand.

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Today I run seminars,
and I think I've got the best job

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because I work with people and help
them identify what their brand is,

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by, not only by what they do

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but why they do it,
and why it matters to them.

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When you need to show up

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I'll help you bring the best version
of you that you can.

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You know this, building trust
based-relationships today doesn't happen

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by the click of a button.

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It is a process that requires
human interaction,

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authentic human interaction.

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And you'll agree with me,

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relationships both in your personal
and professional life take a lot of work.

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So here's the thing; the way you show up,
the image you project,

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the first impression you create
will ultimately inform people

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how you want to be treated.

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Because they're going to look
at the non-verbals:

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What's your body language, your attire?

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Do you have eye-contact, 
or the lack thereof?

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Are you really listening?

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The tone of your voice.

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So you're probably sitting there
in your seats going,

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"That's not completely fair.
So, people think about all of these?"

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Well yeah, they do.

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You know how the old adage goes, right?
"Judging a book by its cover"?

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Well, guess what; we all do it,
it's human nature, and the reason being

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is our brains, our imaginations,
first of all, are so powerful.

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Our brains are filled with data points
that become these preferences

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for how we perceive others
in that first encounter.

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Think about the minute
you first fell in love.

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That was your preference.

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It's incredible, as humans we will take

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an image,

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an object,

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a situation,

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and we will start to fill in the blanks


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based on what we see, what we don't see,

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or guess what, what you want to see.

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It's human nature; we all do it.

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So okay, you get it right?

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First impressions matter.

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But so does your personal brand,
and that matters even more.

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So what do I mean by personal brand?

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Well, I'm a brand.

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You're a brand.

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Collectively in this room we are a brand

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whether you are consciously
building it or not.

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In this case, your personal brand -
think about it - it's the intellectual,

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visual, and emotional impression
people have when they think of you.

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That would be their summary
of you in their mind,

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in an unspoken instance.

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Now, your personal brand can
be so powerful and impactful;

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it can sell you, differentiate you,
and set you apart from others.

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But you need to ask yourself:

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is the personal brand
that I have right now today

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the most accurate
and impactful one for me?

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See, here's the thing; we can all - 
you can do it, I can do it -

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we can all fake those first few seconds
of that first impression, right?

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We all know how to show up well
when we want to.

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We know how to do that,
so you can fake that.

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Don't ever fake your personal brand;
that has to be authentic to be accurate.

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It's got to be authentic to be accurate.

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And in this case you want
your personal brand

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to be the result of a sustained effort

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to be the very best version
of you that you can be.

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So, if you're at version 1.0,
how do you get to 1.5 and 2.0 and 2.5

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as you grow your career
and your personal life?

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All experiences that you will gain 
throughout your life

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is only going to add to your brand.

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So where do you start?

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Well, I'm sure you've all
researched a project this week,

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maybe some of you have
researched a recipe or a book.

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But how about you start
doing research on yourself?

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I'm going to share with you
a couple of questions

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that you can actually ask yourself
and start writing these answers down

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because they will be very leading

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into helping you identify
your personal brand.

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And it's only a subset
of what we can really dive into,

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but I think you'll get my point.

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So start with you first.

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And it's easy to say,
"What are you passionate about?"

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"I love red cars," well, no.
That's not it.

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What are you really passionate about?
What do you love doing the most?

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Think about that, because sometimes
it's not that easy to answer

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when you really think about what you
want to be passionate about in life.

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And then start thinking about
what are your strongest attributes.

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What sets you apart?

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What do you rock at?

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If I were to ask you to summarize you
in a little two minute story for me,

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what would you say?

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Think about that.

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Now I want you to take a step
outside of yourself for a second,

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and think about
how others will perceive you.

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Do they think you're as good
as what you think you're good at?

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Do they know what your passions are?

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How would they describe you
when you're not in the room?

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How would somebody summarize you
if they are referring you

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for a job or an opportunity?

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What would they say about you?

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Think about that: Have you ever 
thought about that?

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So here's what I will implore you to do:

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Go and seek the feedback

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from family, friends, work colleagues,
people around you that know you,

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and ask them to tell you
how they would describe you.

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That should give you a good summation
of what your current brand is.

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So you think about those questions,
you write those answers down,

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and you start describing yourself
as an own brand.

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You have to start doing this,
you have to start living it.

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And I mean really living it
because the more you practice,

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the better your ability is going
to get to tell your story.

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You got to be able to tell your story.

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But here's a word of caution:
I mentioned social media earlier?

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Please be consistent
across all your social media profiles

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in how you articulate you and your brand.

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Do not work on a professional brand

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and have your social media accounts
demonstrate something different.

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I think you know what I mean. Right?

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I say you are what you post.

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Be careful.

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Be smart.

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Think.

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And if you have any doubts,
don't hit that button.

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Don't post it.

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Think about it, but make sure,
please, across all these platforms -

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and we have so many
social media platforms -

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that you have a consistent profile.

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Your profile should very briefly describe
you and peak people's interest.

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And then the hard work starts

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because now you have to start
nurturing networks around you

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that are going to be
influential in your life.

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And people are going to refer to you, 


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because your brand is going
to become your trademark,

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and people will refer to you
based on what your brand entails.

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So take some time and assess
where you are with your current brand

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and start thinking of ways
that you can make it better.

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So now it's your turn.

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If ever you find yourself in a situation
like I did, and I'm positive you will.

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Make sure to take that deep breathe,
observe the environment around you first.

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Raise that conscious
awareness of yourself:

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social and situational smarts.

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And when you need to show up,
make a great impression.

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Be able to articulate your brand
based on experiences.

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And here's the thing;
life is just a series of moments.

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Here's what I ask of you.

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Show up well, build a brand
that is authentically you.

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If you do that, you can make
every moment count.

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Thank you.

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(Applause)