Many people I know tell me they wish they could write. I have begun to see that writing phobia is akin to my own math phobia — I see numbers and I instantly go brain dead. For others, it is the blank screen or a piece of clean paper.

And when I ask what it is they want to write they tell me “my life story” or “a memoir.” To which I can now say, Pilgrim, your search has ended………

The acclaimed memoirist Sue William Silverman has just come out with a book called Fearless Confessions: A Writer’s Guide to Memoir.” Full disclosure, Sue is on the faculty of Vermont College of Fine Arts where I am currently pursuing my MFA.One of the great beauties of this gem of a book is that it is aimed at beginning and more experienced writers alike. As Sue says:

Everyone has memories. Everyone has a story to tell. Too often those memories, those stories, remain silent, for lack of the right words to bring them to light. That’s why I wrote Fearless Confessions: A Writer’s Guide to Memoir, to help writers transform the fragments of memory into compelling stories. Writing can be lonely. Having a guide to lead you through the maze of memory and show you the power in being unafraid of revealing your secrets, can help you discover your true story. Fearless Confessions explores how to blend what actually happened, what I call the Voice of Innocence, with what those actions means, what I call the Voice of Experience. Combined with chapters on how to find the plot of your life, how to write with style and then market the final product, Fearless Confessions can help take your real life experiences form the scrapbook to the bookshelf.

Here’s Sue talking about the book:

Listen to Sue William Silverman talking about writing memoirs.

Memoir, whether short or long, just for you or for publication, has everything to do with one’s authentic, personal brand. And if there’s one book that can set you on this path, it’s this one.

Technorati Tags: memoir, sue william silverman, writing

I am preparing for a teleclass that I will be giving at noon today for the Downtown Women’s Club on personal branding as it relates to looking for a job. None of what I plan to say is brilliant, but all of it bears repeating.

Branding yourself is critical when looking for a job –whether you are just out of college, in mid-career, or transitioning later in life. I find in my consulting practice that most people spend way too time on their resumes and almost no time at all thinking about how they want to be perceived. How you are perceived is everything in this game; it’s the “what can you do for me” question that all potential employers are asking.

It’s your job to tell them!

Another way to ask this question is: what problem am I the answer to?

It is a pro-active, rather than a passive, approach. It does the hard work of synthesizing all of your experience for the person sitting on the  other side of the desk. In doing this, you appear confident and independent, two important qualities in any new hire.

So, how do you begin to formulate your personal brand? Start by asking yourself: (1) what makes me different from everyone else competing for this job? (2) How do you want potential employers to perceive you?

Armed with those answers, review your resume and make sure that it supports your brand. Now is not the time for modesty.

Technorati Tags: job search, personal branding, resumes

I’ve designed a special corporate Lunch and Learn Program that was created to bring the essential concepts of personal branding for employee success into the halls and conference rooms of medium to large businesses. In this 90 minute, highly interactive session, I’ll take employees at all levels through the steps of building a winning individual brand, one that furthers  learning and fosters employee loyalty, while at the same time offering tons of educational benefits. The cost is low, the time spent “away from one’s desk” is minimal, and participants walk away with ready-to-be-applied personal branding skills that will raise the level of professionalism through the organization.

What’s in it for you? Make an introduction for me to an HR manager of your choice and in return you can choose between a 45 minute individual brand coaching session with me or a personal resume critique. Your choice!

Just drop me an email and I’ll take it from there!

Technorati Tags: personal branding. human resource managers

I quite literally tripped over a nifty little online gadget the other day It’s called The HBS Elevator Pitch Builder.

None other than the Harvard Business School has designed a tool to help you with The Art of the Pitchcraft.

I even like the word PITCHCRAFT — could we take a vote and ban the phrase elevator speech entirely? Please?

Not known to give anything away for free, or heaven forbid, to anyone who didn’t go to the “B” school as it is known around here, this, wonder of wonders, is free! No password, no shopping cart. Free!

Whether you are trying to raise capital, promote your business, or promote yourself, this mini-site tells us, YOU HAVE ONE MINUTE TO SAY IT ALL.

And that’s what it does–in a series of screens, drawing out key words and concepts, putting them together, and then saying, OK, that was 15 minutes / Go back…..or, that was 3 seconds/try again. You get the idea.

Check it out, if for no other reason than it is the only freebie you’ll likely ever get from Harvard.

Technorati Tags: branding, elevator pitch, elevator speech, harvard business school, harvard business school career services

I’ve got it. I know why so many talented people can’t find jobs. Their resumes suck.

That’s not a word I use very often, but in this case it is the only way to describe what I’ve seen of late. I sent out an offer to my email newsletter subscribers to take a look at their resumes for free–to give them a quick diagnostic on what’s working and what’s not.

Suffice it to say that very little was working. Here is a list of the most egregious (and simple to fix) errors:

1. Too much information

Why do we feel we have to throw-in everything but the kitchen sink? It doesn’t matter what you did in high school or the fact that you enjoy reading and bungee jumping. Stick to the brand you are trying to convey. Remember that all great brands convey a single message. What’s yours? Then build your resume around it.

2. Not enough “white space”

I mean, how many places can your eyes goes at any one time? Give me a clean, well laid out, organized precis that leads me to a single conclusion: you’re the person I MUST hire.

3. Lack of a compelling theme or brand

How should I think about you? How do you want to be perceived? Once you’ve answered this question, choose words that support your message.

4. Too many/ not enough use of bullets

Show me that you can write in full sentences, but give me bullets under the major headings. Packing in too much dense narrative studded with buzz words only gives me a headache.

5. Lack of confidence

You are your own best evangelist. Remember this. No one else is going to promote your unique skills and talents better than you co. Don’t be afraid to use words like “experienced” and “leading.” Take credit for your accomplishments.

Want a quick take on your resume? Just send it along……..

Technorati Tags: careers, job hunting, resume

What are we to make of our new President as he shuttles between Jay Leno and 60 Minutes ? Is there any such thing as too much exposure? Or is it that we are so accustomed to George II hiding out in his highly-fortified bunker that we consider it un-Presidential to joke with late night talk show hosts?

According to The Daily Beast’s Christopher Buckley in a piece entitled Bonfire of the Inanities,

Shows like Leno’s have been de rigueur venues for politicians for almost two decades now, so there is no point any longer in wringing one’s hands about that. I remember in the ’90s watching Vice President Al Gore go on the Letterman show with a top 10 list of why it’s fun to be vice president. Reason No. 1—drum roll, please—was: “Secret Service code name: Buttafuoco.” (I’ll let you Google Buttafuoco; it’s too depressing to explain.) I laughed at the time, but I remember thinking, “OK, but let’s not hear any more from you about ‘Respect for the office.’” Indeed, by the end of the Clinton administration, that phrase was pretty much dead on arrival.

But Obama’s appearance is the first time a sitting president has made the late-night show rounds. His comment about being a Special Olympian bowler was just one of those things, and he duly, and ritually, apologized. If any deeper good comes of the gaffe, it would be a cessation of such appearances. It seems as good a time as any to ask: Ought a sitting president be cozying up to late-night comedy show hosts?

I know, I know—I feel like a fusty old crank merely posing the question. (Maybe it’s this darned flu.) But it’s hardly as though the president of the United States lacks for venues, and such appearances have a way of trivializing any issue. Try, if you will, to imagine Dwight Eisenhower or JFK or Lyndon Johnson or, for that matter, Ronald Reagan chin-wagging with Jack Paar or Johnny Carson. Richard Nixon did, famously, go on Laugh In in 1968, but as a candidate; and to his credit, he rued the day and hated every second of it.

I, for one, am tired of reading about Michelle’s biceps. I am, however, all for a transparent presidency. Just not too transparent, OK? I still want to be awed by the office, by the supreme being-ness of it, which means that you can open the kimono just so far.

Technorati Tags: jayl eno, obama

I don’t know about you, but I am immediately suspicious when I sit down at a restaurant and am handed a menu the size of a daily newspaper. You know the ones — they’re so tall you can’t see over them and when you open them up you knock something off the table.  And there, for your dining pleasure, is page after page of everything from appetizers to desserts — and while the waiter may be telling you about the specials, you’re already wondering how the chef has time to prepare anything that could be considered ’special,’ given that he/she has to turn out everything from onion soup to Baked Alaska.

My point? As the economy continues to wreak havoc on small businesses in general, and professional service firms in particular, the temptation is strong to widen the net in hopes of snagging work that would normally be outside of one’s core competencies. I’m seeing this happen with my clients at an alarming rate, clients whose brand was water-tight before the recession hit and whose list of services now read like the six page, laminated menu above.

It is more important than ever to stay true to your brand, to reinforce what it is that you are known for. Otherwise, like the all-purpose restaurant, you will be perceived as a jack of all trades, but the master of none.

I listened this weekend, as I often do, to NPR’s Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me, an amusing radio game show  spoofing current political events. This week’s guest was Chuck Todd, NBC’s Chief White House Correspondent and political director.

In a conversation about what really goes on in the White House press room, Todd said of Obama press secretary Robert Gibbs: “His job is not to make news but to move message.” You can listen to the  exchange here.

Which got me to thinking about how important it is for everyone — in these dark, unpredictable and downright scary economic days — to stay on message. When the going gets tough, our tendency is to widen the net, expand our services, until we eventually become like those enormous multi-page menus that always make me suspicious. I would much rather go to a small restaurant with just a few entrees, knowing that all of their talent and energies are going into making those few discrete dishes the best that they can be.

So, circle the wagon trains and hit your sweet spot. Keep your message tight, compelling and  customer-centric.  One strong, memorable message is infinitely better than a dozen flabby cousins.

In my next life, I want to come back as the White House Press Secretary, the C.J. Craig of a Martin Sheen administration. I want to do daily battle with the insatiable media beast, to stand alone at the podium in the White House press room and live to see another day.

It’s one of the hardest jobs imaginable and I admire anyone who takes it on, the Marlin Fitzwaters of history not withstanding. The incoming press secretary, Robert Gibbs,  went to work for Obama’s Senate campaign in 2004 and was communications director while Obama was in the Senate.

One critic called Gibbs “the bland face of brazenness” when he said Obama’s decision to resign from his church amid the controversy over the Rev. Jeremiah Wright was “a deeply personal decision, not a political decision.”

Others were surprised when he called Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly a “bully” and asked Sean Hannity, “Are you anti-Semitic?” in response to the TV commentator’s questions about Obama’s relationship to William Ayers, a 1960s radical.

A former roommate who worked with Gibbs on Capitol Hill said Gibbs has been a successful press secretary because he combines top-notch political skills with a quick wit.

Compare this to outgoing WHPS Dana Perino,the fourth and final Press Secretary for the Bush 43 Administration who appeared on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart last night to say goodbye to her fans

 Other Media: Download

Technorati Tags: cj craig, dana periono, jon stewart, martin sheen, white house press secretary

Yes, folks, it’s that time of year for lists — best ofs, worst ofs, and all ofs in between. I’m sick of lists myself. A soon as a book hits Oprah, it loses all appeal for me. Sure, if I’m in an airport or waiting for the dentist then I MIGHT scan a list or two, but chances are I either don’t agree, don’t want to relive the “defining news event,” or have never heard of the movie.

However, I simply love The Top 10 quotes of 2008, as compiled by the editor of the Yale Book of Quotations. I list them here for your reading pleasure:

1. “I can see Russia from my house!” — Comedian Tina Fey, while impersonating Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin on the TV comedy show “Saturday Night Live,” broadcast Sept. 13.

2. “All of them, any of them that have been in front of me over all these years.” — Palin, responding to a request by CBS anchor Katie Couric to name the newspapers or magazines she reads, broadcast Oct. 1.

3. “We have sort of become a nation of whiners.” — former Sen. Phil Gramm, an economic adviser to Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, quoted in The Washington Times, July 10.

4. “It’s not based on any particular data point, we just wanted to choose a really large number.” — a Treasury Department spokeswoman explaining how the $700 billion number was chosen for the initial bailout, quoted on Forbes.com Sept. 23.

5. “The fundamentals of America’s economy are strong.” — McCain, in an interview with Bloomberg TV, April 17.

6. “Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.” — the Treasury Department’s proposed Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, September 2008.

7. “Maybe 100.” — McCain, discussing in a town hall meeting in Derry, New Hampshire, how many years U.S. troops could remain in Iraq, Jan. 3.

8. “I’ll see you at the debates, b——.” — Paris Hilton in a video responding to a McCain television campaign ad, August 2008.

9. “Barack, he’s talking down to black people. … I want to cut his … off.” — Rev. Jesse Jackson, overheard over a live microphone before a Fox News interview, July 6.

10. (tie) “Cash for trash.” — Paul Krugman discussing the financial bailout, New York Times, Sept. 22.

10. (tie) “There are no atheists in foxholes and there are no libertarians in financial crises.” — Krugman, in an interview with Bill Maher on HBO’s “Real Time,” broadcast Sept. 19.

10. (tie) “Anyone who says we’re in a recession, or heading into one — especially the worst one since the Great Depression — is making up his own private definition of “`recession.’” — commentator Donald Luskin, the day before Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy, The Washington Post, Sept. 14.

What’s your favorite?