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You're going to get so much out of this episode with 7 essential questions to ask yourself as you refresh your brand story. Whether you’re leaving a corporate job to become an entrepreneur, looking to expand your existing brand, aspiring to be a...
You're going to get so much out of this episode with 7 essential questions to ask yourself as you refresh your brand story.
Whether you’re leaving a corporate job to become an entrepreneur, looking to expand your existing brand, aspiring to be a speaker or thought leader, or a corporate professional ready to transition to the next level, this conversation is for you.
My guest is Elayne Fluker, who is an experienced coach to executive women and a prolific podcaster (over 700 episodes), with her podcast called Support is Sexy.
Elayne is also the author of “Get Over ‘I Got It’: How to Stop Playing Superwoman, Get Support and Remember that Having It All Doesn’t Mean Doing It All Alone” – published by HarperCollins Leadership and named a Forbes Book of the Month.
Elayne and I share with you how you can re-brand your brand with 7 essential questions.
We explore actionable strategies for reinventing your brand in today's ever-changing landscape and discuss how we’ve both helped our clients successfully navigate their rebranding journeys.
Our conversation is packed with insights and inspiration to help you elevate your brand and make your next move with confidence.
This episode is the audio from a live show we did on September 10, 2024. You can watch the video at https://youtube.com/live/43vUGQ2qQsU.
Links:
Show notes at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/410/
Elayne’s website: https://www.elaynefluker.com
Discover your Speaker Archetype by taking our free quiz at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/quiz/
Enroll in our Thought Leader Academy: https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/academy/
Connect on LinkedIn:
Carol Cox = https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolcox
Elayne Fluker (guest) = https://www.linkedin.com/in/elaynefluker/
Related Podcast Episodes:
Episode 408: Connecting Your Personal Brand and Your Thought Leadership
Episode 340: Can I Tell It's You? What a Brand Voice Is and Why You Need One
It's time to escape the expert trap and become an in-demand speaker and thought leader through compelling and memorable business presentations, keynotes, workshops, and TEDx talks. If you want to level up your public speaking to get more and better, including paid, speaking engagements, you've come to the right place! Thousands of entrepreneurs and leaders have learned from Speaking Your Brand and now you can too through our episodes that will help you with storytelling, audience engagement, building confidence, handling nerves, pitching to speak, getting paid, and more. Hosted by Carol Cox, entrepreneur, speaker, and TV political analyst. This is your place to learn how to persuasively communicate your message to your audience.
Carol Cox:
Here are seven ways to rebrand your brand
with your brand story with my guest, Elayne
Fluker. On this episode of the Speaking Your
Brand podcast.
More and more women are making an impact by
starting businesses, running for office and
speaking up for what matters.
With my background as a TV political
analyst, entrepreneur, and speaker, I
interview and coach purpose driven women to
shape their brands, grow their companies,
and become recognized as influencers in
their field. This is speaking your brand,
your place to learn how to persuasively
communicate your message to your audience.
Hi and welcome to backstage with Speaking
Your Brand. I'm your host, Carol Cox.
This is our live show where we take you
behind the scenes to tell you how all the
magic happens, whether it's about public
speaking, how to get speaking engagements,
and today we're talking about personal
branding. Maybe you feel like it's time for
a brand refresh, and we're not talking about
necessarily your logo or your brand colors
or the way that your website looks, although
although obviously you can also do that as
well. But today we're really talking about
those essential questions about your brand.
So this is your personal brand, but also how
it comes across in your business as well.
If you have your own business, how do people
know who you are, what you stand for, what
matters to you?
Because all of those things get wrapped
around into your brand story.
So if you're leaving a corporate job to
become an entrepreneur, if you're looking to
expand your existing brand, if you're an
aspiring speaker or thought leader, which if
you're listening to this, you probably are,
or if you're a corporate professional ready
to transition to the next level.
My conversation with my guest, Elayne
Fluker, is for you.
Elayne is an experienced coach to executive
women. She's a prolific podcaster.
Over 700 Episodes blows my mind with her
podcast called Support is Sexy.
I was a guest on it way back in the day.
Actually, Elayne's been a guest on this
podcast also way back in the day.
She's the author of the book Get Over I Got
It, published by HarperCollins leadership
and was also named a Forbes Book of the
month. Elayne, thank you so much for being
here.
Elayne Fluker:
Thank you so much, Carol.
You know, I'm always so happy to be with
you.
Carol Cox:
Well, likewise.
And if you're watching us live on LinkedIn
or YouTube, please say hi in the chat.
We also want to take your questions along
the way, so don't be shy.
Let us know what's on your mind.
So as we mentioned, we're talking about
reinventing your brand.
Things change all the time.
I know that for myself.
When ChatGPT launched at the end of 2022, I
have a background in tech.
So I was all over artificial intelligence.
I wanted to get my hands on it.
So I've integrated that now, not only into
my personal brand, but also for what we do
and speak with speaking your brand.
So that's a great example of integrating and
adjusting your brand with what's going on.
So, Elayne, let's first talk about what does
it mean to you to have a personal brand.
How do you define that?
Elayne Fluker:
Yes, absolutely.
So this is one of my favorite conversations.
You and I talk about this online or offline
on podcasts or podcasts.
Right. This idea of a brand for me, your
brand is really your reputation.
So I talk a lot with, as you said, executive
women, women in leadership at fortune 500
companies as coach and then women who have
their own businesses. And usually they're
thinking of their brands as themselves.
Right. So not necessarily a physical
product, although obviously that's a brand
as well. But really, what is your
reputation? And as you said, sometimes your
brand, your reputation needs a refresh, not
necessarily because something has gone
wrong, but sometimes you're going in a
different direction. So maybe in some of the
women I work with, it's a new job or it's a
new position at the same job, or it is a new
business or a new part of your business,
like working with Carol and becoming a
speaker and deciding you want to be a
thought leader or known more as a thought
leader. Right. So you want that to be a part
of your brand. So that's really how I look
at it. Your brand is about your reputation
and what you want people to know most about
you.
Carol Cox:
Fantastic. I want to say hi in the chat here
to Monica, Diane, Murtaza and Brittany.
So great to have you here.
And Brittany. I actually met recently at an
in-person workshop we did here in Orlando,
Florida, where I live, and she is all about
the brand as far as the look of it.
She's an incredible graphic and web
designer, so check her out if you need that
side of it, because that is definitely not
my wheelhouse.
Elayne Fluker:
I know mine either, but I do need a new
website. So Brittany, I might be reaching
out to you.
Carol Cox:
Yeah, definitely. So. And of course, Diane
works with me here speaking to your brand
and then. Hi, Monica.
Pier powerhouse woman show.
So nice to have you here as well.
All right. So let us know in the chat.
If you're here, let us know what questions
you have along the way.
So Elayne, we've talked a little bit about
why maybe we need to rebrand or refresh our
brands. So let's think about what are some
of the questions that we can ask ourselves
when we're thinking about refreshing our
brand story, or kind of making it more
consistent with some of the things that we
do now, which may not have been the case
back when we last did this exercise.
Elayne Fluker:
One of the questions that I always like to
ask clients when we first get started, which
is funny enough, one of the hardest
questions who are you?
Who are you? Who?
Who do you say you are?
Right? People always like, um.
Well, it's almost like asking someone to
write their own bio, right?
There's stuff you want to put in. Should you
put that in things you forget about?
What do you want to say? And one of the
things I heard on a podcast many years ago,
Carol, I wish I could remember it might have
been the James Altucher Show.
I can't remember which podcast it was, but
someone, the person speaking said that they
happened to read. Matt Mullenweg, the
founder of WordPress.
They met this and he this person, you know,
Matt was their hero and they were so excited
to meet him. And they went up to them.
They were talking and of course they could
talk all day about WordPress.
But then when Matt said to this, this guest,
oh, what do you do?
Or what are you up to? The person said, he
just, you know, fanboy babbled and didn't
know what to say and didn't know how to
communicate who he was and what he was up
to. And that was an opportunity to share
with not only just share with someone else,
but someone who is your idol, who you
respect, who might be able to give you some
advice. And a lot of us don't take the time
to think about who am I today?
Right. So if we're talking about a rebrand,
what you were doing yesterday or what you
were up to yesterday might not be what you
want to communicate today.
One of the things that that podcast
interview that came out of it, they said,
Matt said to him, you should be able to say
in ten words or less who you are.
And we talked about that before, ten words
or less. Right. So I will tell you all, I
practiced this before I came on.
I was like, I think I have it down to
because I've always it's been years if I
think about that. So I coach high performing
women transitioning to their next level.
Carol Cox:
Well done.
You got it in ten words.
Okay, I'm gonna go practice.
Okay. All right.
So we got two lanes. Now, for those of you
who are here live or coming back in the
replay, I want you to practice in the chat
as well. Just just off the cuff.
Think about what yours would be.
I also want to say hi to Amber.
Holly. I haven't seen her in forever.
She was our emcee for our live virtual
summits we did during the pandemic.
So, so great to see that.
All right, so let's think about okay.
Who. So I usually say something like I'm the
founder and CEO of speak.
Yeah. So that's a lot.
All right.
Elayne Fluker:
No, stay. Say it. I'm going to count for you.
I'm the founder.
Carol Cox:
Okay. No, no, no, let's back up.
I'm going to say, what do you focus on?
Elayne Fluker:
What do you do or like for who you are, like
who you are or what you do or something
very, you know, concise.
Because if you try to say, I am this and I
do that, it's obviously going to be longer.
Okay, ten words I.
Carol Cox:
Usually say, like I run a business that
provides public speaking, training and
coaching for women.
Elayne Fluker:
Okay, that was 12.
Okay. So you instead of say I run a
business, you could say I provide coaching,
speaking and training.
Training. What do you say for sure.
Carol Cox:
Yeah. Oh well, I said public speaking
coaching and training for women.
Elayne Fluker:
I provide coaching speaking training And
coaching for women.
Carol Cox:
Something like that.
Elayne Fluker:
I get all of them. I say I.
Carol Cox:
Don't love it, right? Because I feel like.
But I'm also a podcaster.
I'm also a public speaker.
Right. So it's yeah, it's hard.
Elayne Fluker:
That's a no. I'm so glad you mentioned that.
That's a great point. So what I always like
to tell people is it depends on the
conversation you're having.
So if you're talking to someone that you
think might, it might be more important for
them. So you can have multiple sets of ten.
Let me say that right. Ten doesn't sum up
the sum of who you are. Obviously, we all
could say thousands of words about who we
are, right? But depending on your
conversation, you might be.
If you're at a podcasting conference or
you're speaking to someone who might be a
potential guest, you might have your ten
words ten or less of what you do as far as
your podcast or, you know, I have a podcast.
My Speaking Your Brand podcast brings on
thought leaders to share their wisdom or
whatever that looks like.
You know, something short and concise about
that. If you're talking about your your
coaching or your speaking academy, it might
be those ten words about that.
For me, I'm talking about executive
coaching. It's one thing, as I just
mentioned, working with high performing
women. If I were talking to someone about my
book or writing, it would be something else
where I talk about the kind of stories or
the women I connect with.
Highly successful women learning how
learning, having it all doesn't mean doing
it all alone is part of my messaging or that
kind of thing. So it's sort of a fun it's a
good thing to have in your mind, right?
And you're not going to count it out when
you talk to people, but it helps, I think
Diane mentioned with having being concise,
right. Being concise with your messaging,
having this idea, especially when you're
going into networking kind of settings or in
a meeting or whatever that looks like where
you're having conversations and someone
says, what do you do?
Right. That question always, who are you?
Or what do you do? Is more likely it trips
us up this way.
You have those in your pocket, right?
It's like having your I don't want to say
holsters, saddlebags on the side.
That could be right.
Might not be politically correct.
We don't want that. Having your saddlebags.
Having those in your saddlebags on the side
and being able to pull them out.
So who are you? Is one of the first
questions you want to be able to answer?
Carol Cox:
I love that. Okay. So we have some women who
are trying this. I'm going to bring them up
here on the screen. All right.
So we have April Peters.
Hers is I help people mission map.
I like the words mission map their lives to
meaningful work and relationships.
Elayne Fluker:
April, you show off.
That's great.
Right?
Carol Cox:
Yes, I love that.
Elayne Fluker:
I love April's two, Carol, because it also
makes people say, tell me more.
Or what does that mean? What is mission?
That's another thing to think about, too.
Sometimes you're not trying to sell the
whole story, right? What you really would
love if people become curious about what you
said.
Carol Cox:
Excellent, I love that.
Okay, now we have Amber. Holly, I help neuro
spicy business owners get shit done.
Come on.
Elayne Fluker:
Neuro spicy.
I love it, Amber.
That's great, I love it.
That's great.
Carol Cox:
But then again, the next question is.
Well, tell me, tell me, tell me what?
Neuro spicy.
Elayne Fluker:
Right? What kind of shit are we getting done?
Like all that is good, I love it, so good.
Carol Cox:
All right, now we have Stacy Champagne.
Okay. I coach women into positions of power
in cybersecurity.
Elayne Fluker:
Wow. You know what?
All these powerhouse women in here, I love
it.
Carol Cox:
You're so bold.
Elayne Fluker:
I love it, that's great.
Carol Cox:
Yes. All right, we have Jenny Murphy.
Here we go. Okay. Uh, she said this was one
she came up with recently.
My career is headed there.
I'm the advisor for millennials navigating
wealth for the first time.
Elayne Fluker:
That's great. Jenny.
That's great. And that's great.
We'll get into later. But being specific
about your target and your audience.
Right. Who are you speaking to?
That's that's excellent.
I love that too, because you're
incorporating that in there as everyone is.
Carol Cox:
Brittany. Let's do one more. Here's Brittany.
I help women elevate their brands through
compelling design.
Yes she does.
Elayne Fluker:
Yes you did. You did that, Brittany.
Yes. Excellent.
Carol Cox:
All right. And we got one more.
We got Diane here. She says I help women
make an impact through public speaking,
which she definitely does.
Yes. All right, I love it.
Elayne Fluker:
That's great. Everyone says in here, laugh
out loud. No to saddlebags, I know.
Amber, help me out. What what.
Carol Cox:
What.
Elayne Fluker:
Pockets? I could have just said pockets.
Right That's.
Carol Cox:
Great. We need our. We need our handbags.
Like our.
Elayne Fluker:
Something. I just needed something.
You could draw it out really quickly.
Yes. That's excellent. Okay, those are
great.
Carol Cox:
So we have our who are you?
Which is a lot, I must say, a lot easier to
write out than it is to say, off the cuff
with no preparation.
So you all did a great job.
All right, let's do the second question,
Elayne, which is what do you want to
communicate about who you are and what makes
you so what makes you unique?
Tell us about that one.
Elayne Fluker:
Yeah. What makes you unique?
You know, sometimes I think we forget that
we get focused, I should say, on how am I
better than this? Right?
I need to communicate how I'm better at this
on social media, or I'm better at this with
my speaking, or I'm better than.
Well, I believe it's more so thinking about
how are you different, right?
Maybe it's your niche.
If you're doing something with business,
maybe it's your technique.
If you're in a leadership position at your
company, maybe your approach to something
you're doing in business is different than
the previous leader did. You're trying
something different. You're bringing
something different as an idea or a
technique or a strategy that you're using.
Maybe it's your message or your approach.
Right? So there are a lot of ways to be
different. And sometimes different is better
than better. Now if you've heard that before
right. So better is and better is so
subjective different.
You can kind of say this is different than
that. So I always try to say if you're
communicating, you know, how do you
communicate how what you're doing that's
different than what's out there now by
different don't do something that doesn't
make sense or that's crazy, you know, just
for the sake of, oh, but it's different.
You want to still be able to have your
reputation or what you're offering or about
your brand be something that resonates with
your audience, which we'll talk about more.
So keep that in mind.
But still, like, sit for a moment and think
about what's different.
And that might take time and massaging.
Just like your message.
You try it sometimes and I always say that
what we just did, the other exercise, say it
out loud a few times too, before you know it
sounds great in your head. Then you say it
out loud and you fumble over it.
It's one of those things like a muscle.
You got to practice and keep flexing it.
The same thing about what's going to be
different about you. You kind of test here
and there and get into the groove of what
you think will be what you want to be
different All right.
Carol Cox:
So let us know in the chat.
What do you think makes you different or
unique with the work that you do?
And I'm going to ask Elayne now.
Elayne how do you answer that?
Elayne Fluker:
I think what's different about me in respect
to my coaching is I unapologetically focus
on women who see themselves as successful.
I think sometimes, you know, we can get into
the reasons why. But sometimes women are
meant to be ashamed of success or of being
ambitious, right? You know, I'm all about
ambitious women and women who not to say
that they're quote unquote better, right?
But there is an audience out there of women
who, yes, they are successful, but they
still need to.
And I know we talked about this. My next
book, learn how to have safe to be soft or
to be vulnerable, or to say, I'm scared or I
don't know what to do. Or, you know, I've
had women get on coaching calls with me and
they're in tears because sometimes it's not
even a sad thing. It's just a release
because they feel like they don't have any
other place where they can share what's
going on with them, and whether it's at work
or at home, because there the quote unquote
strong one to everybody else.
Right? So my thing is really making sure
that those women who are often leaders in
organizations or leaders in politics or
leaders in business, leaders in all kinds of
different areas, so important, just as are
women who aren't in leadership, but
important. They need to have a space where
they're able to say, I don't know what's
going on, or these are the microaggressions
I had to deal with today, or this is a
problem that I'm having.
So I unapologetically focus on those women
who are ambitious, successful, but still
need to be reminded oftentimes that they
need a space to be soft and to share what's
going on as well.
Carol Cox:
Oh, I love that, Elayne.
And I know that you do such incredible work
with them, so that is fantastic.
All right. So if you. What about you?
Yeah. Okay, so for those of you watching
again, let us know in the chat what makes
you different or unique. So I would say that
because we are very women focused with the
work that we do, 98% of the clients that we
work with are women is that we take, you
know, kind of the approach to public
speaking. That's very different than how
it's traditionally been done, which is, of
course, we know if you think of a speaker on
a stage, what image comes to mind?
Usually a dude who's standing there because
that's historically what has been
represented as speakers.
So there's also a certain style of speaking
that we think we have to put on in order to
be a successful speaker.
Like, we have to act like the guys on stages
and we don't. I really see speaking as a two
way conversation with your audience, not
necessarily because they're talking out loud
to you, but it's an energy exchange and you
are understanding them, empathizing with
them, bringing that back to you.
And I feel and this is again painting a
broad brush. But I feel like that, like the
sage on the stage where it's the ego talking
to the audience and lecturing them and
letting them know how things are done.
Versus my approach is very much like, let's
have this conversation and this journey
together.
Elayne Fluker:
I love that, that's beautiful.
I say that something similar to when just
talking about coaching, right? Right.
Being the empathetic friend as opposed to a
finger wagging expert.
Right. Right. I love what you're saying.
Is sage from the stage and this idea that
it's an exchange, right?
It's not just outward.
You just giving out whatever your your
expertise, so to speak, is you're having an
exchange with the audience.
Carol Cox:
Exactly right. That's why we're such big
advocates of people sharing their personal
stories, their personal journeys, because
that's how you connect with your audience.
I love it. All right.
So I love it. Okay.
So we have some people in the chat.
Diane says what makes her different?
She can see how to thread the person's
personal story through their talk.
Yeah, exactly. So how I can connect on the
emotional level.
And then Janet says that she focuses on
first generation grads who are the first in
their family to build wealth.
So she's actively doing it in her personal
life. Yes.
Good. So, yeah, walking your talk.
That's great. Love it.
Let's see. And we have Amber here.
Who says that?
She's a neuro spicy therapist and a
former.com marketing operations
professional. She can help her clients
address the emotional, psychological things
holding them back.
Yes, because you can see all those
perspectives. Love it.
All right. You all. You all are so good at
this. All right. Love it.
Elayne Fluker:
Yes. And I love all of those are fantastic.
And I think for Amber, it shows too.
Sometimes that's the thing that might make
you difference is how you connect with your
audience. Right? Maybe you've been there.
I think a lot of people now are starting to
talk about, yes, we can look at, you know,
the sage on the stage or the guru or those
people who are, you know, thousands of steps
ahead of us. But a lot of us like to know
what did the people who are just a few steps
ahead of us, what are they doing?
How did they get through this thing?
Right? Or they recently went through it, or
overcame it, or learned about it, or that
kind of thing that we can learn as much from
those people, if sometimes not more, because
it's, you know, as I call real time
learning. I need to fix this thing now, and
I need to know how this thing works, not
when I get ten points down the line.
So that's great.
Carol Cox:
Yes, they're more relatable to where their
clients are in their journey.
Right? Yes. All right.
Let's go to the third question.
Elayne, do you want to share that one with
us?
Elayne Fluker:
Yes. What are you up to?
So we've sort of been touching on this with
the other ones, but what are you up to?
What are you excited about?
Right. This is a conversation or a question
I ask people a lot of times when I'm
networking and just having like, oh, what
are you excited about these days?
What are you up to? What's new with you or
reconnecting? Carol and I reconnected again
recently, and sometimes the email is just,
hey, just checking in on you, seeing what
you're up to, right?
So a lot of times we don't remember.
We don't share what we're up to, which is,
again, what our brand is about, and letting
people giving people a sense of what do you
want to walk? Want them to walk away from
you knowing right when they when you share
what you're up to. As we've talked about the
who you are, knowing what makes you
different. If that person walks away and has
a conversation with someone else and says,
oh, I just met Carol over there, you know
she does. Can they fill in that blank?
Right? Can they say what you're up to or
what you're excited about?
And again, I like this this question because
the idea of we all have so much we can
share, so many things that we're up to,
right. So again, it depends on the
environment, what you want to want to
communicate in that time.
But what are you up to and what are you most
excited about? Helps you gain focus when
you're having that conversation.
So that's something to think about with your
brand. What are you up to? What are you.
So for me, for example, with with coaching,
right. And branding like this is the thing
I'm excited about, this is how I want to
help women. This is what I want to continue
to write about.
So these are the things I'm going to make
sure I communicate about my brand around
this idea when I'm speaking about executive
coaching, because that's what I'm up to and
what I'm excited about.
And sometimes I will tell you all, we make a
change or a transition.
So people have known me as a podcaster now
have known me working in media 100 years
before, but then as a podcaster, right.
Transitioning and doing video and some other
things. But as far as being an executive
coach, that might not be something that
people who've known me for a long time,
usually it's the other people, right?
Knowing me for a long time, oh, I didn't
know that you did that. I didn't know that
that's what you were up to. So my LinkedIn,
for example, reflects what I'm up to right
now, which has information about a coaching
or, you know, clients or companies I've
worked with and those kinds of things, and
creating a even on Instagram.
Having coach at coach Elayne Fluker, I'm
like, I'm going to focus on coaching on this
one as opposed to my personal one, which is
like, I went to Martha's Vineyard, I did
this, you know, I'm working out great, but
that's not what you know.
So how do you align all your, your, the
things you want to communicate and what you
have out there about your brand?
How do you put forth what you're most
excited about? So that's the what are you up
to? Question number three.
Carol Cox:
Oh, that's such a good point.
Also about LinkedIn and social media is
making sure that your followers, your
audience know what you're up to.
I know when we work with our clients and the
Thought Leader Academy, one of the sessions
that we do with them is on the business of
speaking and making sure that at the
minimum, on their LinkedIn profile, they put
speaker or keynote speaker in the headline.
And then obviously in the about section,
mention topics that they speak on and then
in their experience section as speaker or
workshop facilitator or keynote speaker.
Because, you know, when people come to their
profile, if you don't tell them that you're
a speaker, they don't put two and two
together.
Elayne Fluker:
Exactly. And also from an SEO.
You know this as a tech person from an SEO
or search engine optimization standpoint.
A lot of clients for me come through
LinkedIn, but they get to the LinkedIn
because they've done a Google search for a
coach, and the LinkedIn comes up because I
have those terms. So if someone were looking
for a speaker, for example, they might do a
Google search first. And more than likely it
might bring them to your LinkedIn.
And then, as Carol said, you want to have
that in there multiple times.
Where have you spoken? Even if you're not
speaking yet, you're a speaker and you
aspire to speak at these places or this is
your topic. What are the things you can
share with people? Again, for them to know
what you're up to. And I think that's what
people don't think about either, especially
with, at least for me, LinkedIn is the one
that comes up the highest in search, but
probably because people are looking for that
specific term that I have, you know, all
throughout my my profile.
Carol Cox:
Yeah, that's for sure. It works.
I've gotten paid speaking engagements from
people finding me on LinkedIn.
Our clients have gotten paid speaking
engagements from people finding them on
LinkedIn. Yeah. So if you haven't done that
already, for those of you watching and
listening, go do that now.
All right. We're going to go to our next
question. So for those of you who are
watching, continue to follow along as we
give you the prompts, but also let us know
if you have any questions for Elayne or
about anything that we're talking about.
We're happy to answer those.
So Elayne, let's go to question number four
for the seven essential questions to ask
yourself when you're thinking about your
brand story.
Elayne Fluker:
Yes. So the next question is what do you want
to communicate about what you're up to.
Right. So we say who you are.
What do you want to communicate?
What are you up to? And then what do you
want to communicate about that?
So one of the things I remember in my from
my editorial days when I used to work at
magazines, right, we'd have to come in and
pitch a story around the tables.
I think you should do a story. I was an
entertainment editor for a while.
I think you should do a story on this
person. You know, this Alicia Keys person.
She's going to be really big.
That was one of my pitches, actually.
And she was. Or she is.
Um, but there's people like that you'd have
to pitch. But at the time, the editors
especially, I was one of the younger editors
at the time, they would be like, why should
people care? This is new.
This is New York editorial.
So there were no feelings and all this
stuff, right? No politically correct
business right? So why should people care?
But that's something that always stuck with
me when I thought about sharing about your
brand. Right. What you're up to.
But then why should people care?
So to put that in a nicer context, just how
are you serving people?
Most of us have brands, whether we're
speaking or we're in a different position at
a company, or we have our own businesses or
whatever that looks like, a lot of us are in
some way right, servicing people or giving
someone else, as we said, maybe it's a new
strategy or a new technique or whatever,
something new that you're offering.
Why should people care?
What's in it for them? Right?
How will it support them in what they're
trying to accomplish?
So speaking from a coach, of course, I think
about what is the outcome that I want people
to know that they're at least aspiring to
obtain by working with me.
Right. This is why they should care.
These are the things that others even have
experienced in working with me.
That would be a reason why they would care.
So that's something to think about for your
brand, right? What's in it for?
For the people, my audience, whatever that
audience looks like, what's in it for them?
How am I serving people and why should they
care?
Carol Cox:
Okay, that's a good. So this is a good one.
Elayne, let me let me run by you.
What? How I would answer that question and
see if I'm on the right track or not.
And then we'll take Janae's question.
So how I would answer that is that I talk
quite a bit on the podcast about this idea
of the expert trap that as educated,
accomplished women we lead with our
expertise and our expertise has been
rewarded in our careers and our businesses
and very for very good reason.
And as I always say, your clients or your
workplace need your expertise, right?
So do it there. But when it comes to being a
speaker and being a paid speaker and a
premium speaker, experts are commodities
that are interchangeable.
Instead, you need to elevate into thought
leadership, which requires you getting out
of teaching and training mode and into big
picture vision mode.
So that I talk about this idea of escaping
the expert trap into thought leadership.
So is that something about like why people
should care about the work we do or about
why we do the work we do?
Elayne Fluker:
Well, what do you think when you say escape?
I love that escaping the expert trap.
How does that. What does that look like in
the world? Like, how does that manifest?
Does that mean the way that people speak,
the way they they structure their speech,
will be different than someone who's just,
as you said, speaking as an expert?
Is that is getting out of the expert trap,
that exchange that you talked about, or is
that like the content of our of our speech
itself?
Carol Cox:
Yeah. So it's both content and delivery of
their talk. So the content in the sense of
it's not just teaching and training, it's
not like here are, here are three ways to do
XYZ, but it's more like how are you helping
the audience think differently about your
topic, having them see something from a
different perspective.
And then how does your personal story, your
personal journey, inform why this matters to
you, and then why it matters to the
audience? So that's the content side.
But then the delivery side is what I call
like active storytelling.
Like using your body, using your voice,
using the stage.
It's not just about you.
Like behind the podium, like gripping,
gripping in and reading your notes or
reading your slides.
But it is. It's a little bit of edutainment,
like you are there also to entertain the
audience in a sense, because that's how we
remember and that's how we learn.
And then you want to be memorable as a
speaker so that you get those future paid
opportunities.
Elayne Fluker:
Yes. I think your, your, your technique
answers the, the what's in it for them kind
of thing, right? As you said from the
content side. But then luckily yours also
answers the how right the how do I do that?
Then how do I deliver?
How do I connect in that way to let them
know it's about transformation.
It's about them thinking about something in
a new way, and you're giving people the idea
of the best way to deliver that and to make
that connection with the audience.
So Carol's giving you a double whammy there.
Okay, great. All right.
Carol Cox:
Well, thank you for that. Let me we have a
question here from Janae.
Let me put it up on the screen.
So she asks what content should career
professionals share to keep their activity
current if they're still in the learning
phase of their career?
So not yet in mastery.
Elayne Fluker:
That's great. And I would imagine this is on
LinkedIn, probably because that's what we
were talking about or just maybe overall
social media where you are. Yes So one of
the things I think is a great technique that
I've actually been using is sharing other
people's content.
Other other people.
Right. Opc, I guess other people's content
and sharing ideas. But putting so on
LinkedIn, for example, I might share a video
that's from someone else. Of course.
Give credit. Right? Say where you got it
from, but then give your commentary on it
based on your experience or your technique,
or sometimes even posing a question to your
audience of what do you think about this
video about? So, for example, I just posted
recently with Whoopi Goldberg, someone
interviewed her and asked her, oh, what do
you love about working here at ABC or
something? And she said, getting paid.
And the person, of course started laughing
like, oh, okay. She's like, I do love a
paycheck. So I thought it was funny.
And I posted it on Friday.
You know, it's sort of careerist.
And I said, you know, sometimes the thing we
love about the job is getting paid, and
that's okay, right?
It's okay to love the fact that your company
pays you. So that's just obviously a silly
example, but it's not something that's a
deep, you know, deep knowledge about
anything. It's something that I thought was
relative, but still something I could share
and just sort of ask the audience or engage
the audience in a way that's not too heavy
for you to feel like you have to be giving
some expertise. I think going back to what
Carol said, sometimes we feel like and
because of, you know, the way things are set
up now with social media, everybody's an
expert. Everybody is a coach, everybody's a
guru, right? Everybody's a specialist, no
matter their level of experience.
What you got to be aware of.
But sometimes the sharing is just a sharing.
Or sometimes the sharing is asking a
question of your audience.
Or sometimes it might just be elevating
something. Maybe you see a post of someone
who you follow, who you really, you know,
like what they are doing or what they're up
to. And it's putting a post like, oh, I
really love to see so-and-so doing this, or
congratulations, what? You're doing it as a
new post and not just as a comment, right?
So I'm thinking now that's just LinkedIn
focused. Obviously other platforms are
different, but there are a lot of ways to
still engage. And I will tell you, I'm I
have a couple of courses on LinkedIn, one on
soft skills, one on what's the other one,
how to deal with a difficult boss.
I have a new one coming up, how to choose an
executive coach and another one on effective
workplace communication.
And one of the things that's important with
that is knowing how to be able to have
people see what you're what you're up to and
what you're doing.
As we've mentioned, these different kinds of
things with being able to engage with you in
different ways.
And LinkedIn, actually, I get information
from LinkedIn directly, and they say things
like posting once a week, I think three no,
taking three actions at least a week
elevates your profile.
And those actions could be a post, could be
commenting. Right?
Could be sharing. So there are three kinds
of engagement on LinkedIn according to
LinkedIn, right? This isn't my own.
According to LinkedIn, they send us
different things about what ways to engage.
So that's something to look at too.
So, you know, whether you have a course or
you're just commenting or sharing
information, that's something that could
also help elevate your profile.
Carol Cox:
That's a great idea, Elayne, to think about
sharing other people's content, because
number one, it gives you something.
It's a piece of content to share, but then
also you're tagging them.
So then hopefully you're getting on their
radar, especially if it's something that you
look up to or someone who you want maybe to
not to ask them of something, but, you know,
to like, diversify your network or enlarge
your network so that they are now part of
it.
Elayne Fluker:
Yes. Sometimes it's a book that you've read.
I've done that before. I've shared like I
put three books down, take a picture of it,
shared about those books, tag the authors.
Sometimes they've gotten back to you and
they comment. There's a lot of different
ways to do it that don't have to be, as you
said, about your your, you know, mastery in
a subject, but still your interest in a
certain subject.
Keeping your brand in mind, though, so it
could all be things that align with what
you're interested in or what you want to
portray right now.
Carol Cox:
Mhm. Okay. So let's go to question number
five because this one is so good.
Let's share this one with us Elayne.
Elayne Fluker:
What message do you want to.
This is your expertise right.
What message do you want to put out into the
world? So I say, what do you want people to
say about you even when you're not around?
Right. So this sort of what we mentioned,
your reputation. When people walk away,
whether they're talking about you from
across the room or they're being an advocate
for you in rooms that you're not within.
Right. So we can talk about the sponsorship
conversation. Right. The mentorship
conversation. It's important that people be
clear on your brand so they can communicate
about your brand when you're not around.
So this goes back to, again, that
reputation. Your brand should sustain your
reputation when you're not in that room.
So that's the thing of thinking about what
message do you want to put out in the world
and all the ways we talked about before,
right. How is it helping people?
What are you up to?
And then what is that actual message that
you want to put out there?
Carol, give us yours.
I know you got a good one.
Carol Cox:
Yeah, well, you know, I would say that
because of Speaking Your Brand has been
around for almost nine years now.
The podcast has been around for seven and a
half years. So I feel like number one, we've
had a lot of content out there and different
formats. The podcast, the summits, write
emails different, you know, LinkedIn.
And I feel like one thing we've done really
well is consistency in our message.
We've always been about empowering women to
find and use their voice to tell the stories
that need to be told for positive change.
That basically is kind of our tagline, and I
know that I hear from so many women that
they definitely pick up that message.
It's very clear to them that that's what we
stand for. That's our mission in the world.
And I love it when I have podcast listeners
come to me and say something like, Carol, I
really appreciate you talking about
feminism, you know, on such and such podcast
episode because, you know, it's important to
me to find women who are supportive of other
women and empower other women and understand
not necessarily not just our unique
challenges, but how we want to show up in
the world.
Elayne Fluker:
Mhm. Yes, absolutely.
Yep. So that's important.
So thinking about your message, what message
do you want to be out there. What do you
want to be known for.
What is your reputation when you're not
around. So you shouldn't have to be in
someone's face all the time, right.
For them to know who you are and what you're
up to, whether that's in corporate spaces.
Right. In those meetings, maybe you're not
in a certain meeting, but at least someone
will know what you're up to.
Or maybe so and so can do this.
Or this is the way opportunities and those
kinds of things come up, because people are
clear about who you are and what you're up
to and how and what's in it for them or the
audience that you're serving.
Carol Cox:
Elayne, what do you want people to say about
you when you're not around?
Elayne Fluker:
Oh that's good.
She tried. She's getting me back because I
didn't have to prepare for that first one.
What do I want people to say about me?
Well, in relation to my my coaching, I am
most I'm most honored when someone comes to
me and says they were referred by someone
who says what a great experience that they
had, and that they are still using some of
the tips or advice or insights that I may
have shared with them from before.
So the main thing for me is that they did
experience that transformation that they
were seeking. And sometimes, you know,
another thing I will say, just in general,
transformation doesn't necessarily have to
be this sort of 180 right of your life, your
business or whatever you're doing, your
career, whatever you're up to.
Sometimes that transformation can be
something gradual, a new way of thinking.
At least this is my perspective, a new way
of thinking about something, a new approach
to something, someone. Sometimes people come
and they've been trying to, you know, build
this relationship with someone on their team
or they've been having a lot of times
there's a lot of conflict resolution that
has to go on, whether it's manager to
direct, report or between two team members.
I've been brought in for situations like
that. A lot of times it's a misunderstanding
and not an effective way for them to be
communicating with each other.
They have different communication styles and
you know everything's a problem.
Everybody's offended, everyone's emotional.
So for me, I really would love people to say
for me that they experienced that
transformation. That was part of my
intention.
Carol Cox:
Mhm I love that. Yes, transformation is the
key and I agree it doesn't have to be like a
wholesale change where all of a sudden the
person is like totally different than they
were before.
And I think sometimes we, that's, that's how
we think things are supposed to turn out.
Elayne Fluker:
Exactly. I have one real quick.
One last thing. I had a client, for example,
who talked about everyone keeps saying,
everyone's saying I'm direct, I'm too
direct, I'm too direct. And I'm like, are
you too direct? Or do we want to not be
direct? Or do we want to think about ways to
be direct? So maybe direct is, you know, in
context, are you direct and correcting
someone in front of a group of people?
People can have an emotional response to
that. People might be triggered by that.
There are a lot of reasons. Are you direct
in a way that it will help if you preface?
Hey, I heard that you said this, and I just
want to make sure this is clear.
This is what I'm thinking or that, you know.
So there are different ways to make change
without completely changing who you are.
If you know who you are is not the problem.
And that is something that is part of
transformation.
Carol Cox:
Oh yeah, that's a great example.
All right Elayne, question number six.
Oh, this is a good one too.
Elayne Fluker:
What are you really, really selling.
What are you selling?
Right. So, Mike, we just talked about it.
I'm selling transformation.
Not really coaching. Right.
Executive coaching is what I do.
Working with high performing women is what I
do. But really, it's the transformation that
is part of the quote unquote sell.
So everything I communicate.
Janae, you were talking about everything I
communicate on LinkedIn, even, you know, my
funny things and those kind of things, I
still offer a way of thinking about
something. It's a new way of thinking about
something or a different perspective.
Or I ask other people what they think.
But still, overall, it's about the
transformation ways you can make change.
I shared another one that was about
workplace communication.
It was a video of saying, I used to say this
and now I say that. And that post just went
crazy when people were talking about it.
But I talked about effective communication
in the workplace. A lot of times this is the
thing that brings up the issue.
So that connects with people.
And then saying, here's a way to make some
some small adjustments, right, to have
transformation. So for me, for example, what
I'm really, really selling or offering.
Right. If you're not selling a product or a
service, what are you offering to your team?
What's the offer that you're giving your,
you know, your organization?
If you're in an organization?
What? Think about that. What am I really
really selling.
Mhm.
Carol Cox:
And Elayne so yeah I want to chat with you
about this Diane made a good comment.
She said Starbucks doesn't sell coffee.
They share connection and community.
Yes. That third place.
Elayne Fluker:
Example that look how even in Mexico.
Carol Cox:
Right. Oh there you go.
They are everywhere.
You cannot avoid them no matter where you
go.
Elayne Fluker:
I know I walk into the store, they're like,
Hola, Elena. Like, Hola, chai, please.
You know. So yeah, that's.
Carol Cox:
Yeah, that's a great one. Well, and Starbucks
has been having some problems lately, so I
think they need to get back to what they're
really, really selling because I think they
got distracted by the 200,000 different
variations people can order for their
coffees. Yeah.
Seriously?
Elayne Fluker:
Oh, I didn't know that.
See, now, that's a that's a branding
problem. Trying to do too much.
That's a whole other conversation we could
have, right. But I think what the questions
we've been talking about have hopefully been
helping you think of how to get focused.
So concise right focused.
Because especially nowadays, a lot of us can
only handle information in small bites.
Carol Cox:
Mhm. Mhm. Okay.
So I want to hear from you in the chat.
What are you really really selling.
Let us know in the chat what that is.
And so Elayne said she sells this idea of
transformation like helping the women that
she coaches to get what they want right.
In a way that's going to best serve them and
those around them. And so if I think about
what the work we do at speaking your brand,
so like we have this, you know, our
framework with the poster board, with the
post-it notes, where we map out our clients
talks from beginning to end.
And it's so fun. And they light up when they
see all of their ideas come in this, you
know, this beautiful structure that they
then can present. And so, yes, we give them
those tangible deliverables, but we know
what we're really, really selling is that we
validate their ideas and we give them belief
and confidence in themselves that to put
themselves out there in a bigger way.
Elayne Fluker:
Yes, confidence was the first thing that came
into my mind. So if you weren't in the room,
for example, as we talked about, right.
I would if I were talking about now I know
more, but confidence was the first thing I
would say if someone said, what is Carol
really selling? Right? Which no one would
phrase it that way, but confidence and
helping, you know, women get up and be able
to deliver their message and know that their
message matters. And being able to connect
with their audience, those would be the kind
of things I would say and have said when
you're not, you know, not around.
But I think that's that's an excellent
example.
Carol Cox:
All right. Here's some examples from women in
the chat. So April, Peter says that her
company, Landing on Purpose, sells clarity
and confidence in decision making.
Elayne Fluker:
Excellent. Yes.
Which we are all looking for today in a time
of such uncertainty.
Carol Cox:
Yes. All right.
And so Janae Murphy says that she is really,
really selling the ability to make her
clients conceptual future a reality through
comprehensive financial planning.
Elayne Fluker:
That's a good. One.
Carol Cox:
Yes. Making the future a reality.
Yeah. Because she's like, we have this, like
vision in our future or but it kind of like
we can see it, but it's also kind of vague
how we're going to get there.
But Danny helps people get it done.
Love it. All right.
Anyone else want to share? Let us know in
the chat. And so Elayne, let's go to our
seventh and final question.
When you're thinking about rebranding or
clarifying your brand story, what does that
seventh question.
Elayne Fluker:
Yes, that seventh question would be what
action do you want people to take when they
hear about you or your brand?
Right. So what's that?
What's that action? Where do you want them
to go? Maybe you're leading them somewhere,
right? What action do you want them to take?
Maybe they're clicking on something and
they're going to your website.
Maybe it's a buy kind of action you want
them to take. Or if you're again, if it's
not a product or service that you're quote
unquote selling, if you're within an
organization, what action are we taking
after this meeting? Right. It's sort of
having those action steps after me.
What are we doing?
Are we just walking away from this and not
having any kind of direction?
No, I would not advise that.
Right. But what's the action?
What's the plan? In fact, one of the ways
the best ways to do that is to start the
meeting with setting the intention, not just
an agenda. What is the intention of the
meeting? Right. Overall, our intention in
this meeting is to find out whatever is to
discuss this project or is to come to a
solution on. So people kind of know.
Then you have the agenda, which is what the
points are. Then at the end, what are we
doing once we walk away?
What is the action? So in my case, my action
when I talk to you might be to go to the
website or to schedule, more importantly, to
schedule a discovery call so we can talk and
see if we can work together or whatever the
other action looks like. If it's someone
that I'm meeting who's a new person when I
actually coach people, the action is I send
follow up notes after every meeting.
Carol. And these are the commitments you
made before we speak next time.
So it's not like homework.
It's just like, hey, these are the things we
said we're going to try because I'm outcome
focused, right? I want you to have a good
outcome and be able to say, we tried this,
it worked. Or we tried this and it didn't
work. So having some sort of action or plan
of action, this is what I want people to
know, that some of the actions I know that
they're going to take based on their
interaction with my brand, whether they're
already a client or a client, a possible
client.
Carol Cox:
Mhm. Okay. That's I love that.
And I think for, for me here speaking your
brand is to listen to the podcast, because
so many of our best clients have come from
podcast listeners because of course they get
to know us really well.
Our approach, our values, our methodology,
the women we work with, why we do the work
we do. And so I always try to point people
to the podcast to.
Elayne Fluker:
Get media research shows that podcast
audiences usually are the most active, like
they're the people who take action, who will
buy the book, who will make, you know, click
the link. Who will take the action.
So that's that's understandable.
That's great.
Carol Cox:
Yeah. All right. We have Monica sharing about
what she really, really sells.
She says she sells her clients boldness in
telling their story.
Yeah I love that word bold boldness I love.
Elayne Fluker:
That love that Monica.
Right.
Carol Cox:
Yeah. Yeah, that was Monica.
And then Janet says that she loves the
podcast. Well, thank you so much for being a
listener. I appreciate that.
I always love hearing from listeners.
All right. So those were our seven essential
questions. I'm going to read them again real
quick as a recap for everyone.
So question number one who are you?
Boy that was a hard one okay.
Elayne Fluker:
Like 30 minutes on it.
Carol Cox:
Yeah. Seriously.
Number two what do you want to communicate
about who you are. So what makes you
different and unique?
Number three what are you up to?
What's new or exciting with you and your
brand? Number four what do you want to
communicate about what you're up to?
In other words, why should people care?
Number five what message do you want to put
out into the world?
What do you want people to say about you
even when you're not around.
Question number six.
What are you really, really selling?
And number seven, what action do you want
people to take when they hear about you or
your brand? Elayne, I love these questions.
These have been so helpful.
Like they are they're very comprehensive,
but yet they're also very doable.
Elayne Fluker:
Yes.
Carol Cox:
Yeah. So all right.
So then thinking about let's well, let's
give our audience some action steps.
What do you recommend that they do next
based on what they've listened to us here
today.
Elayne Fluker:
I recommend that you go through these
questions, especially if you're someone
who's rethinking your brand or wanting to or
maybe just tweaking, you know, again, your
personal brand, right? We're not necessarily
talking about a product. What what are the
what are the steps that you would go
through? What are the answers? I should say
that you would give to these questions if
you were thinking through. Even if I will
say this, here's the challenge.
Even if you're not rebranding, right.
Even if you're not rebranding, are you clear
with the brand that you have on these
different steps, especially the who are you?
Question. So I would say just go through
them, jot them down, think about them
practice them out loud, and then try them
out. Whether it's boardroom events, wherever
you are, kind of have conversations with
people and test out the ways that you talk
about who you are and your brand.
So that's that would be the action step.
Go through the questions and then test it
out. Give it a test run.
Carol Cox:
Yes, definitely practice it out loud I agree.
And you know grab a friend, find someone
even whether it's in person or over zoom,
and just practice out loud because it really
does. Like it takes shape as literally as
the words are coming out of your mouth.
Elayne Fluker:
That's right. Absolutely.
Carol Cox:
Well, make sure to connect with Elayne on
LinkedIn if you're listening on the podcast,
the audio of this on the Speaking Your Brand
podcast, links to Elayne's website and her
LinkedIn profile are in the show notes, so
be sure to connect with her there.
Elayne, thank you so much for coming back on
the podcast.
It's been such a pleasure to have you.
Elayne Fluker:
Thank you. Always a pleasure.
Carol Cox:
And until next time, thanks for listening.