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Loreta Tarozaite is a marketing communications consultant and executive coach with a background in news anchoring. She helps business owners and executives improve their on-camera and on-stage presence, particularly in using video as a medium. Loreta...
Show Notes
Loreta Tarozaite is a marketing communications consultant and executive coach with a background in news anchoring. She helps business owners and executives improve their on-camera and on-stage presence, particularly in using video as a medium. Loreta emphasizes the importance of personal branding, especially on platforms like LinkedIn, and encourages the use of video to build rapport and trust with the audience. She advises starting with simple videos, such as recording oneself describing the scenery or talking through a cooking process, to get comfortable with being on camera. Loreta also offers coaching on presentation skills for both on-camera and on-stage appearances.
- Loreta helps business owners and executives improve their on-camera and on-stage presence, particularly in using video as a medium.
- Personal branding is crucial, especially on platforms like LinkedIn, to build visibility, authority, and trust.
- Starting with simple videos, such as recording oneself describing the scenery or talking through a cooking process, can help build comfort with being on camera.
- Loreta offers coaching on presentation skills for both on-camera and on-stage appearances, emphasizing the differences between the two mediums.
Connect with Loreta on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/loretatarozaite/
onnect with Barnaby on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barnabycook/
Join The Exit Plan mailing list: http://eepurl.com/iC8sIY
Creators and Guests
What is The Exit Plan: Mergers and Acquisitions for Creative Entrepreneurs?
The Exit Plan is for business owners that are interested in learning more about how to sell their business. Each episode Barnaby Cook interviews someone who has bought or sold a business - either a creative agency, or a production company. The conversation gets under the skin of why they wanted to sell, or were looking to acquire, how the deal was structured, how they agreed upon a valuation and what lessons they learnt along the way.
Actually, I am seeing the glare from my
lights, so I'll remove the glasses.
and I'll also I'll send you the recording
afterwards so you can have a listen back
and.
do that because I will also do the same,
you know, extract snippets linked to your
full version of the recording, you know,
when it goes live.
Okay, cool.
Yeah, sounds good.
Okay.
So tell me, are you going to do the intro
right now?
Do you normally record that after?
Like, how do you normally do that?
Can you cue me up?
Okay.
a little intro and drop it in.
And then, yeah.
So I guess best place to start is to just
ask you to introduce yourself, please.
Okay, okay.
My name is Loretta Tarazaita.
I'm a marketing communications consultant
and executive coach on camera, on stage
presence, and on media, for media.
So I've been in the industry cumulatively
for about 20 years.
Started as a news anchor back in Lithuania
in my home country, also was a news
reporter for a while.
and then converted that business when we
moved to the United States into first
video storytelling, then broader
communication consultancy business.
Okay, and how did you sort of get into the
executive coaching side of things?
It all comes from the background of being
a news anchor myself.
When I moved here and when I started my
video business, I realized at that time
when I started working with smaller
business owners first, how really...
Difficult it is for them, or it was for
them, to communicate via video as a
medium.
And that was way back when in 2010, when
YouTube was just up and coming and video
was such a new medium for a lot of people.
And I just happened to realize that, hey,
I have all this background.
I was a news anchor on TV.
Nobody officially taught me how to be a
good news anchor.
There were no coaches in Lithuania where I
grew up in that environment.
but I kind of self -taught and I knew the
cues and I know how to work the camera.
So I ended up realizing that, hey, I'm
coaching all these business people and
they're taking the advice and they're
getting better and better.
And then when I worked in corporate
environment, again, with executive
leaders, C -suite and VPs and director
level people,
I also realized that they don't have that
hand holding for them where somebody
literally tells them how to crystallize
the message, how to be clear, concise, and
how to improve their presence, even what
clothing to wear on camera.
This is still a big question even right
now that people are like, well, what
should I wear?
So that's how I started.
To summarize, it comes from my news anchor
background and through the experience of
being a video producer and director and
interviewer, you know, I was coaching
business leaders, executives, you know,
and corporations and, and, and help them
get better in using video as a medium.
that's it.
So were you kind of producing corporate
videos at one point?
I was a producer.
Yes, I was producing corporate videos for
a long, long time, for about, I don't
know, about seven years.
I still do.
I still do.
You know, this is the medium that I love.
So I still do when I have an opportunity
to produce, you know, produce videos and I
do the interviews.
That's where my strength is.
You know, I don't necessarily run the
camera.
I kind of hone in on the story.
I try to understand what the story is and
help, you know, people that I interview.
get that story out clearer.
So I help them with communication as well
as how they communicate on camera.
How do they come across convincing or
authentic as themselves and not be fearful
when they see the red dot turn on.
Yeah, I mean, it's amazing.
I hate it being in front of the camera,
like having been the other side of it a
long time and, you know, done that
interviewing thing and trying to make
people feel at ease and getting them to
use the question in the answer and all
that kind of stuff.
And then someone points camera at me and
I'm like, but like what?
Yeah, I was gonna, I was gonna ask like,
what do you, so if you're doing an
interview with a C -suite executive, do
you kind of do a little session with them
beforehand or?
Or how do you kind of run that?
no, it depends on the time restrictions,
right?
Sometimes executives have the time to do a
little bit of upfront coaching.
And usually we do upfront coaching when,
let's say there's a big event and we know
that there's going to be media exposure,
right?
So we do a little bit of that coaching in
advance, but let's see if it's, executive
communication within executive
communications programs, right?
normally they just come into the studio,
they show up on the, on set and that's
where you do the coaching.
And I've had all levels of executives be
really good, really hone in on the tips
that I give them.
And some of them just never go through it
and they never wanna be on camera anymore.
So I've had all levels, and it takes time
to get good on camera.
Like you just said yourself, you're good
at interviewing, but the moment the camera
turns on you, you're like, what am I
doing?
It is a medium, you know, even though I do
understand sometimes I'm also like, you
know, I'm going to be interviewed on
camera.
That's why I asked, is it a camera
interview or is it an audio?
Right.
Sometimes, you know, that voice is in my
head as well, but I just happen to know
the medium and I know how to work it.
And with executives, again, going back to
your question, in corporate world, when
executives climbed the career ladder,
the higher they are in the food chain, the
more coaching they receive, right?
Because you can't have really an executive
at the C -suite level not know how to talk
to media, not know how to be presentable
on stage, using virtual and cameras on
set.
So they go through that coaching.
But people in middle level, the director
kind of level, aspiring to be VP or...
or advance in their careers, that's where
that gap is.
They don't really get that personalized
coaching.
And especially in the tech field and the
engineering, where technologists are
really struggling and communicate the
story better, and elevate their presence,
be visible inside the organization and
outside.
So that's where the biggest value at, I
guess, for those types of people, where I
come in and where I can help.
to help them understand how to gain more
visibility by using more visible mediums.
Yes.
Okay.
So that I think that's the really
interesting thing that I'd like to ask you
about, because I'm sort of from agency
world.
And I, you know, interact with a lot of
agency owners, a lot of the time.
And I think, yeah, it'd be interesting to
talk about, like, you know, a lot of
people are kind of listening to this
podcast, thinking about preparing their
business for a sale.
But this sort of idea of visibility, and,
you know, the difference between
the sort of agency brand and then the kind
of personal brand of the owner is a kind
of interesting interaction.
I think that's changed a lot with LinkedIn
as well.
Like there's a lot of people out on
LinkedIn, you know, kind of promoting
themselves and then their brand is kind of
secondary to that.
But yeah, I'm kind of interested in that
aspect of the sort of personal branding
space.
mm -hmm, personal branding.
Yes.
So as you pointed out, LinkedIn is huge
when it comes to personal branding.
And I believe video is still massively
underutilized when it comes to LinkedIn.
Yes, there's more in there and more, but
still it's very heavy on written posts,
on, you know, carousels, on downloads of
some sorts, a bulleted post, a quote and
an image.
But video, because people...
are shy in using it, they're still not
using it enough, in my opinion, even on
LinkedIn.
Obviously platforms like TikTok,
Instagram, Twitter, they're more video
focused, but the professional world, where
if you're an agency owner and you're
trying to sell your organization, the
first place that people will go seek you
out will be LinkedIn.
At least that's what I do.
I go to LinkedIn, am I going, who's this
person that I'm going to be talking to?
What do they do?
What is, what do their posts look like?
What kind of content are they publishing?
What does a career track look like?
Everybody in a professional world.
Okay.
I shouldn't say everybody majority in the
professional world, go to LinkedIn first
to assess, you know, the level of, of that
presence.
And if you're not visible there, or if
your profile is,
is skinny, so to say, and not interesting,
then it gives a certain perspective about
you.
Unfortunately, it's a negative perspective
sometimes.
What could be a positive if your profile
is well -polished?
So it is very important, no matter which
part of your career you're in or what
field you're in, that personal branding
these days is crucial.
to that visibility, to that authority
building, and to actually building the
trust with those who actually want to do
the business with you or who want to buy
your company.
So, yes, go ahead.
Sorry, no, I carry on.
Yeah, yeah.
And so I always advise, no matter which
path you take, which platform you choose,
try to use video.
Because that's the face, the body language
you see, I use my hands.
So it builds a little bit of that rapport
about you as the business owner, as the
leader.
And when people meet you, they feel like
they already know you.
So it's a very...
kind of logical thing and to be aware of,
but a lot of people still don't think this
way, unfortunately.
It's really interesting actually, because
I'm from a video production background and
a lot of people in my network are video
production company owners.
And I can't think of many of them that are
actually using video of themselves on
LinkedIn.
You know, it's a real sort of blind spot.
But like, what do you think sort of good
looks like?
Like if, what kind of video content do you
think people should be putting out?
And I guess what are some sort of tips and
tricks for...
for how they can present themselves well
on those videos.
Yeah, you know, if we talk about the
creative agency, you know, and exit plans
for creative agency, that's the podcast,
right?
The exit plan.
The creative is already in the word
creative agency, right?
I think there are so many opportunities
for agency owners to show what they do.
Again, I'm not saying it's easy.
A lot of times why people do not do it
because it requires time, it requires
commitment.
And same, let's say even with your
podcast, it is your time, it is your
commitment to add value to your audience.
And it is difficult to sustain for some
because the motivation gets lost.
Right.
And, and you get overwhelmed by seeing
others doing so much and you're doing bare
minimum.
And then you start comparing and it
becomes, it's like, you know, who even
cares what I have to say.
And honestly, when I made a commitment to
myself about two years ago, I was also in
the same shoes like you.
I'm like, okay, well I come from video.
I should be doing more video on my, on my
LinkedIn.
You know, I should be elevating my own
presence.
I mean, I have background in, in, in TV.
So.
I know what to do.
I know how to talk about everything.
I know how I can present the marketing and
communication messages through video.
And then I committed only to one post per
week in general by saying post, I mean
written or visual per week and only one
video per month.
Because I knew that if I wanted to do
more, I will be demotivated if I said,
Every video every week I post a video or
every two days I post a video that just
was so unsustainable in my head that I
just made a commitment to myself at least
once per month.
I'll do a video.
I don't know what it's going to look like.
I don't know if it will be the recording
or if I'll find something online and I
will share that video format.
Right.
And I got into the habit of doing that one
video per month.
It became a.
a routine where I'm like, okay, I have
some ideas.
I'll just sit down, record them all at
once, and then release them every month.
So this gives me time to limit on the
editing, have I needed to clean anything
up, you know, or package it however way I
wanted to package it.
And again, I didn't do any major work on
the editing for that same reason that I
did not want to spend hours and hours
editing and perfecting because that would
have demotivated me.
So...
Currently LinkedIn and any other platform
is very forgiving, you know, because you
can just record a video on your phone as
long as you have good lighting, as long as
you have good audio, you can record a
video on your phone and get it out.
People are forgiving these days if you
have good content to share.
Now, I know I didn't answer the question
about how creative agencies could do that,
right?
You know, if you are, again, let's define
the...
the stage of where the agency owner wants
to sell the organization, why it is
important to elevate the brand presence
online.
Well, first and foremost, like I said
earlier, you're more visible, you become
more authoritative and you build that
trust.
deeper when somebody is searching about
you.
And again, you can choose as a creative
agency depending where your audience
resides or who those investors might be.
It could be Instagram platform for one
type of content.
It could be LinkedIn platform for your
personal branding.
The two could intersect nicely as well.
One key advice I give to anybody who
really wants to last.
long on social media is to not post
anything that I could be embarrassed down
the road about.
This is a rule of thumb that people should
be aware of.
Some people don't care about it, some
people do.
But it's a simple common sense.
Don't disclose anything that might hurt
your brand, might hurt you down the road.
What sounds cool and awesome right now
could be really looked down upon down the
road two years from now.
And it's hard to assess that balance
sometimes because we all want to come
across authentic.
We all want to be perceived as leaders who
connect on a certain level with our
audiences, but there's still a fine line
to walk.
And again, those who understand media
dynamics, media is always looking for
opportunities to say something bad about
you and uncover certain stories or even
for the investors.
They will always look for these.
red flags in what you have said or what
you have done.
So that would be one tip, you know, do not
post anything that would hurt your brand,
you know, you, your personal brand or your
company brand by extension and waste.
Yeah.
yeah, just a comment on that is, I sort of
get the requirement to think about what
you're posting.
But in another sense, I think a lot of
people don't post stuff because they're
scared about what people are going to
think about them, or they're scared about
putting themselves out there.
So there's this real sort of hesitation.
And if you then sort of introduce a like,
but don't make yourself look stupid
element as well, then that can hold people
back even more.
So it's hard to get that balance right.
Yes, 100%.
And what I advise normally, and I know
we're kind of honing in on video as the
way to go, but it doesn't have to be just
video.
I'm a fan of video.
I always will promote, you know, face
human connection through video.
But 100 % what you just said, the fear
factor is very, very big.
It's dominating.
That's why a lot of people don't even do
it because it's that historical element of
stereotypical thinking that whatever we've
seen on TV,
It's real, right?
So you can't erase it.
It's real.
Anybody can go back into the history.
But, you can prescript yourself of what
you want to see, right?
Sometimes I, you know, you probably too,
sometimes I walk, you know, around the
neighborhood and I'm like, I think about
something, actually, this could be a good
video.
So I make note of myself or write it down
for myself.
I'm like, I will record a video down the
road about it, right?
Where I will create a post about it.
So you get those ideas are always in your
head.
It's a matter of just.
just nudging yourself to put them out
there on your behalf, right?
Because that positions you as a leader,
that positions you as somebody who knows
what you're talking about.
So if you're a creative agency owner, you
know, how do you promote your work?
Obviously, there's customer testimonials,
there's client work, and, you know, visual
aspect of that client work.
But at the same time, show a little bit of
that behind the scenes, a little bit of
your thought process, you know, how this
project came to fruition.
You know, how did your team come together
to make it happen?
Right?
Why was it a successful process?
You know, so that whoever is looking at
you, they understand the layers that go
into the thinking to make things happen,
into the creativity, into your work ethics
even, right?
Depending how, like where you take your
stories.
This is very, very valuable, you know,
information for those who need to build
trust in you as agency owner.
So how much do you think people on
LinkedIn, particularly, should be posting
about, it's kind of partly tone and partly
subject matter.
So, you know, getting that balance of
like, you're talking about your work and
how you do it.
And I guess sometimes those posts can be
quite dry and not get a lot of engagement.
And then on the other side, you get kind
of people treating it more like...
Instagram or TikTok, or just kind of
posting like really quite personal stuff.
And often that stuff gets a lot, way more
engagement.
And I know I personally get a lot of like,
you know, my friends just taking the mick
out of me for the stuff that I post on
LinkedIn, you know, cause, but it's, it's
almost like the algorithm kind of drives
you to sort of, for it to be more and more
like Instagram like or Facebook like, and
yeah, it's kind of trying to find like,
Yeah, the balance between being yourself
and an individual, but then sometimes you
post stuff that's nothing to do with work
at all.
I don't know.
There's not really a question.
It's just a sort of thought.
social media expert or an algorithm
expert, you know, per se.
But I do agree, you know, sometimes you
would look at the post and you would be
surprised how much engagement it would
get.
But a lot of times visual posts get a lot
of engagement, too, even if it's not
related to your work.
If you share something that's cool.
or inspirational that you came across.
Right now, obviously, every platform, and
especially LinkedIn, I'm noticing is very
dominated by AI content, AI -generated
images, or AI -generated videos.
So by default, these get a lot of
engagement because it's something new,
it's something cool, it's something
mesmerizing.
Sometimes I see these types of posts as
chasing the...
Hmm.
kind of posts, you know?
There's no meat around them.
There's no really story one can tell, but
it's just that they're cool to watch.
They're cool to look at, right?
And kind of think about, I wonder how that
made, how was made?
You know, I wonder what, that's at least
the thought process that goes through my
mind, you know?
What prompts I wonder they put in, you
know, to generate that.
But to your point about finding that
balance, I can share from my experience
how I do it.
I was never a very open person when it
comes to sharing personal things.
So I personally drew the line.
I will never talk about my family, about
where I travel, what I do.
It's almost a personal commitment or
decision that you make.
If I see, for example, OK, I attended a
conference, well, that ties somewhat to a
professional environment.
And whatever learnings I got out of that
professional environment,
I say, hey, I just attended the
conference.
It says travel related, but it's not
leisure travel.
So it's again, my personal boundary, you
know?
And that's why, for example, when I post
things on Instagram and Facebook and X,
it's like those platforms are not
necessarily for me because they need to be
a little bit more warm and a little bit
more, you know, they're different.
They're different than LinkedIn, right?
That's why I personally chose LinkedIn
because I thought, okay,
I'm not going to talk about anything
personal.
LinkedIn is the only professional, and
that's where I will hang out.
And there's nothing wrong in sharing
personal stories if they resonate.
And I think a lot of times, through the
personal stories, also people can gauge on
the values that person has as a business
person.
It all depends how you tell that story,
obviously.
But to be honest, I don't know.
A lot of times if it's structured well,
right?
If it ties back to you, how you do your
business, it shows the value, the values
that you abide by, you know, in your life,
which by default, the connection comes to
business as well.
Right.
Because how we run our businesses stems
from our internal value system too.
Yeah, yeah.
Okay.
So, when it comes to, okay, so sort of,
you know, thinking about creative agency
owner, listening to this going, right, I
must do more video.
So where, where, where do you think, you
know, yeah, you've kind of suggested like
coming up with a few ideas, but have you
got any kind of practical, like tips for
how to kind of get better at it?
Or like how to start doing it?
Yeah.
How do you sort of go about, getting,
getting that set up?
Yeah.
If we, if we think about choosing video as
a medium, right.
And for somebody, let's imagine somebody
has never posted anything in their life.
I would never advise them to start with
video because, this will be that much more
difficult for, for them to get used to.
And it will continue building that fear of
even doing something on LinkedIn or
whichever platform of choice.
Right.
So I never advised to just jumping
straight into video.
And for several reasons as well.
It's a little bit more technical media,
right?
You have to understand certain rules, how
to place the camera, what to put it, if
you're doing on the phone, do you need to
get a good quality webcam like what I'm
using, you know, or the lighting.
A lot of things go into semi good quality
video.
That's still not, you know, requiring
professional production, but good enough
for social.
So basic things, you know, that I suggest
people do.
If you go on a walk, walking your dog or
with whoever you're hiking, one way of
sort of getting used to that medium is
just record yourself.
So for example, you're taking a walk, you
just record yourself and describe the
scenery that you're seeing.
Right.
And then listen back to this because the
biggest, how to say, sometimes people do
not pursue the video route because they
don't like seeing or hearing themselves.
They sound odd, they sound weird, they
look weird to themselves, right?
So it takes time for them to just first
get used to seeing and hearing themselves
on camera, you know?
And that comes only with practice, re
-watching, just randomly talking, babbling
things, you know?
You cook something, you kind of talk
through the cooking process.
What am I doing?
What am I taking right now?
I'm putting this ingredient into the pot.
It's just literally just that basic thing.
to get accustomed to yourself on camera.
Core basic.
Then, of course, when you are ready to
pull the trigger and when you're saying,
OK, I think I'm good enough.
I'm ready to post something on LinkedIn or
wherever, that is a video.
Try to obviously select the topic that
comes easily for you to talk about,
something that you can talk about day and
night.
Somebody wakes you up in the middle of the
night and you know exactly you're talking
points.
Right.
So choose the topic.
That's very easy.
Comes naturally to you.
You don't need a script.
You don't need a story flow for app for
that.
Just something that that is in you.
You know, the the the five points that you
want to make and just record that.
Obviously, there's technical aspects of
things like, you know, Barnaby coming from
that same background, right?
Lighting, audio, make sure you at least
invest a little bit into into, you know,
if you're using the phone hand hold, you
know,
stick, right, a selfie stick of some
sorts.
So that's at least somewhat stable, right?
If you're using the computer, do not use a
laptop camera.
Invest into a web camera.
Choose the room that's well lit with
windows or artificial lighting, ring
lighting that you can put on the computer.
And obviously audio.
Sometimes we use earbuds.
Like today I'm using earbuds just for
hearing you, but I have a microphone, same
like you, right, for actual audio.
So you don't need to go that advanced in
the beginning.
But having those basics in mind, good
lighting, no noisy environment, good
enough audio, just do that little snippet
and see how you sound, see how you feel.
And if you're brave enough, then you're a
publish.
If you still feel it's not good enough,
the video will never feel good enough for
us.
But sometimes we just have to make that
pull and push and say, OK, I think I'm
ready.
Another way, obviously, to assess your
video quality would be to share it with
somebody in your network.
Not with family because family will always
be nice, but somebody in a professional
network, you know, somebody who you trust
will give you an honest opinion and ask
for that opinion.
Hey, I'm thinking about posting this.
What do you think?
What kind of improvements do you think I
would make?
Do you think I will be, do you think it's
good enough to go right now?
Do you think I should record it?
Just get that honest feedback and we'll,
we'll build that confidence in you as
well.
Okay, yeah.
I had another question and now I can't
remember.
What was it?
Yeah.
Yes, yeah, yeah.
visuals, visuals of creative, right?
And a little bit of description.
Why this visual is impactful?
How did it help your client to achieve
whatever goals they had while they worked
with you?
So, visuals of your work are really
powerful as well.
And that's where you can do a little bit
of that write -up of the background.
you know, the how, how you made it happen,
to give meaning to that visual things
like, you know, inspirational quotes,
something again, that aligns with you,
with your values as a, as a person, you
know, also gives insight into, into how
you think, you know, what feels right to
you.
These, these, you know, inspirational
quotes are a good idea too.
Again, like you said, algorithm will do
its own thing.
And your posts will not always garner
millions and millions of views.
But it's more about that visibility and
presence online for those who seek
information about you, who want to know
more about you.
It's not everything is just about the
likes and being out there.
It's also about just being present there
and stand out among your competition
differently.
So what kind of success stories have you
seen from like people who've worked with
you, they've kind of improved their
skills, they've kind of posted more video
and kind of what results has that had for
people?
Yeah, so it's always a challenge to
persuade to do a video, right?
But when they start doing the video and
when they start getting more engagement
through video, then it becomes, I really
want to do more video now.
So it kind of reverses the psychology a
tiny bit because there's always a struggle
to to jump over that.
What do you call what's the what's the
terminology jump over the?
HURDLE?
Yep.
So it's always difficult to make that leap
to do anything online, to become more
visible.
And people, especially people who have
never done anything, for them even one
post seems a lot.
They start thinking, now everybody is
going to think I want attention.
I want like people are going to question
why all of a sudden I'm so present online.
Right?
There's all these thoughts always go
through the mind, especially for those who
are very, as I said, skinny, so to say, in
their content or none at all when it comes
to online presence.
But when they get a taste of it, when they
see people commenting, when they see
people reaching out and texting them
directly saying, hey, I'd really like to
oppose that you did.
We should reconnect and have coffee again.
You know, they start feeling more
connected and they start understanding.
the power and impact that being present
online gives to their business and to them
as a leader.
So when it comes to using video post or
social posts, that actually plays a
similar role.
Even if you're doing a post, the bare
minimum post, written post, and you gain
that visibility, it builds that confidence
in you, which then you can start adding
layers through video.
And video always will bring the most
engagement.
I know that LinkedIn actually recently
changed their algorithm, how they measure
engagement.
So a lot of people who were using video
have actually seen the drop, including me.
So I have not had time to analyze the
backend of what exactly is being
influenced, but algorithms always change.
So we should not be doing things for
algorithms.
We should be doing this for, like I said
earlier, to elevate yourselves, to bring
value to those who are...
you know, seeking information from you or
who want to understand what you do and
assess if they want to work with you.
So a lot of times, you know, just to kind
of summarize this is when they make that
leap, it takes a little bit of time for
them to see the results.
But when they start seeing the results of
being present online, take them to more
visibility and more authority, then they
want to do more.
Then, you know, the leaders are like, OK,
hey, Loretta, I saw that post on a
competitor.
How can we replicate something like that?
I want something similar.
You know how what should I do?
Right.
And again, I'm not a social media expert.
I look at everything more from.
How do we elevate you as an executive from
the personal branding perspective?
But there are social media experts who
know, you know, if you can strategize and
design the whole content strategy around
your value pillars, and I can chime in on
a communication standpoint, saying, OK,
now how do we communicate all of that
clearly?
How do we package everything nicely?
Is it a blog, maybe?
Is it a newsletter?
Or is it a video post?
Or is it a regular post?
So yeah.
Yeah, I think that's a very valid point
actually, and just kind of thinking about
my own experience on LinkedIn, it's
actually a very supportive community.
I think it's very, very rare to get, you
know, people kind of making nasty
comments.
I've not had that myself, you know, most
of the time, actually put content out
there, people are really positive.
And there's actually a really nice
community of people that are on LinkedIn
quite a lot, and you sort of start to get
to know people.
who you don't necessarily know in real
life and then you end up kind of meeting
them and yeah, there are lots of kind of
positives that come from it.
Yeah, definitely there is a difference if
you post something on Twitter and you have
a huge following, for example, you know,
you can get a variety of different, you
know, comments and opinions, right?
Whereas LinkedIn, you pointed out
precisely, it's a very welcoming
community.
Yes, there's some odd ducks in the crowd
where they would post something, you know,
that would be so controversial and garner
a lot of opinions on it, but they're rare.
They're rare.
A lot of time, people are supportive and
especially in your network.
I mean, you surround yourself with people
who support you anyway.
And one thing actually that I noticed
personally and that others noticed as well
is the more visible you become, the more
people you will attract that are not in
your audience, but who find you.
who resonate with your content, who follow
you, want to connect with you.
So you have to be selective, obviously.
You don't need to connect with everybody
who comes to you because I've noticed I,
in the beginning, was just accepting
everything.
I'm like, OK, great.
I'm expanding my network.
There's the resource maybe that I will use
down the road.
And then you get a lot of sales pitches.
So you have to be careful if you want to
protect the integrity of your network.
But that also comes with more visibility.
I definitely have seen personally and in
others, the increase of requests to
connect or offers of different services.
And it just becomes a very active inbox to
manage on LinkedIn that comes with more of
that visibility too.
have to ignore, I mean, you just have to
ignore it most of it, don't you?
Yeah, I, it's the ratio is probably one
message from a person to 20 sort of sales
messages.
Yeah.
And also, you will notice as well on
LinkedIn, I can recognize the patterns
already, what are automated AI responses.
So there's all strategies when it comes,
as you might know, to how to build that
engagement on LinkedIn.
And there's tools that can automate those
answers for you, that can post on your
behalf.
And.
It all depends on different persons level
of acceptance of that automated
engagement.
But I know to me, it's always a repellent.
It's like, hmm, a lazy way of building the
relationship.
You know, it's, I really don't feel like.
Yeah.
find myself like wanting to comment
something on someone's post and then
thinking that I sound like an AI.
So I sort of like have to find a way to
like make it sound a bit more like
personal, which is probably quite a good
thing.
You know, you've actually got a sort of,
well, sometimes you just want to
congratulate someone.
Sometimes you're just like, that's looks
like a really great project.
Congrats.
Okay.
Yes.
Okay.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Okay.
I, okay.
I understand where you're coming from.
I, I can tell you what I normally do
because yes, LinkedIn offers kind of like
tips, which were to use, right?
I always add something personal.
Yeah.
So that doesn't sound like a AI generated
single word that I just picked from the
selection that was given to me.
So think about it, LinkedIn as a
community.
I know it's all about LinkedIn right now
in video.
Hopefully this resonates with your
audience.
But LinkedIn as a community, I lost my
thought when I read that comment.
What did I want to say here?
We might need to edit this out because I
forgot what I wanted to say here.
yeah, so it's all about that quality
relationship building, right?
And when I started seeing recently a
little bit of that automation, a little
bit of that coldness that's seeping
through, to me, it's not as favorable of
environment, not environment, I should
say, but not as favorable of a direction
that they're adopting or allowing, you
know, because it's all about building
relationship,
expanding your network and that network
before any social media happened was all
in person, right?
You would build those connections in
person and online media just helped you
reach more people.
Social media helped you reach more people.
So when I see a little bit of that AI
seeping through, I think it's losing
authenticity a bit and realness to it,
which to me, you know,
my method of how I, how I work with
businesses in a, in a corporate marketing
communications functions, as well as
actually when I work with executives is
real relating lens.
So I have a six step process and real and
relating.
You know, to me is always going to take
priority over AI, you know, and, and, I am
trying to be authentic and truthful to my
own world.
but I do understand that technology
advances.
There's no way we will avoid AI in the
future.
There's just no way.
But how do we use it and still humanize
it?
That's where I think is going to be the
biggest challenge.
Right now, there's a lot of content that's
pure AI content.
And you can tell that it's AI.
So you have to think, what value does that
add to somebody who's reading or listening
to your content?
Yeah.
Do you do kind of presentation skills as
well?
So if someone's got a keynote to deliver
or a presentation to make.
Yeah.
Okay.
that I also go through in every step.
I go through the sixth, you know, step
process, kind of auditing what they look
like, understanding where the goals are,
aligning on those goals and then sort of
hitting on the plan and then implementing
and then assessing the impact of it all.
Right.
So so, yes, when when I coach executives
or leaders, I help them with on camera
presence as well as stage presence,
because those are two completely different
things.
And a lot of people.
think that if they're good on camera,
they're gonna be great on stage or vice
versa.
If they're great on stage, they're gonna
be perfect on camera.
And it's just wrong.
It's not the same.
And I can tell it from myself.
I am much more comfortable on camera than
I am on stage.
I know how to be on stage, but it's always
like, my God, so many people, who do I
even talk to?
Who do I look at?
And it's just a different medium.
You have to fill in the stage with your
presence.
You have to have...
Slides that are not crowded with words,
they're more impactful, they're almost
like just a small cheat sheet for your
storytelling versus a script of what you
have to deliver.
So yeah, so on stage presence is vastly
different than camera presence.
And I do help executives with both.
Again, that goes visual presence as well
as communications and that body presence
almost.
Great.
So where do people, where do people find
you if someone needs your help?
Where, where do they go to?
thank you.
Thank you for asking, Barnaby.
On my website, loretta .today, Loretta is
spelled with one T, loretta .today, you
can go to my website.
You will find LinkedIn link to connect
with me on LinkedIn if you wish to.
You can also actually download a presence
checklist.
It's a very valuable document where you
can take a bunch of questions.
It will give you the score at the end.
It's an interactive PDF.
So when you download it, you can just take
the...
fill in the answers and automatically
calculate your score and then see where
you fit within those scores for company
presence or executive presence or both
depending what's important to you.
And then see where the gaps reside.
And if there's any gaps that you feel you
need to be filled, then feel free to reach
out to me.
If you are not there yet, then just keep
that for your own knowledge.
And it's always exciting to see where
people...
score high, but can still realize, hey,
but I'm still not perfect.
I really would like to fill in these
little gaps, even though I scored quite
high.
And obviously those who score very low,
sometimes they get discouraged.
So we take step by step in how we tackle
the plan.
We don't just solve all the problems.
We say, what's the priority right now?
What do you think you're missing out the
most in your company or in your executive
presence?
And let's fix those small problems before
we tackle big ones.
That's great.
I might might do that myself.
Yeah.
Well, this has been a great conversation.
Thank you very much for your time.
And thanks for thanks for coming on.
Thank you so much, Marnami.