Thanks everyone who joined me at the May Take on Board breakfast and, in particular, to our fabulous speakers Jacinta Carboon and Vicky Papachristos for their informative, insightful and interesting stories and tips.
Summary of key points
- Back yourself! (Even if people say you have ‘no chance’!)
- Do a practice interview before the real thing; consider working with a coach.
- Practice your elevator pitch, based on your personal brand.
- Your sponsors might include those you have worked for and with.
- It can be a long journey – get people on the journey with you. Build relationships.
- You need people around you – those you have worked for; those you have worked with. Use them as sponsors, a source of information on organisations, people and opportunities.
- Build your contribution – do something to help and contribute.
- Listen to what others are saying and build your message around what you hear, which might not be what you want to hear.
- Be proactive and back yourself!
A sample of the feedback from breakfast
- Love the chat around personal brand. The speakers were excellent. Fabulous, interesting, insightful.
- Great to hear personal journey – inspirational, interesting, exciting.
- It worked well that there was lots of time for questions! It would have been good to have more time to move around the room and talk to more people – hard around the tables.
- I would like to see a panel set up with questions submitted in advance by the audience. Insightful, informative, knowledgeable.
- Great speakers – thanks! Structure, time keeping, questions all worked well. Maybe it could have been longer? Dare I say start earlier?! Informative, uplifting, motivating.
- Receiving the booklet in advance is a great idea. Fun, informative and great for connections.
- It is so wonderful to be in the presence of so many wonderful women! Inspiring and empowering.
- Great work! So well organised and lovely breakfast – also great mix of people. Inspiring and encouraging.
- Short, sharp sessions – really well managed. Buzzy, inspiring, authentic.
- The speakers were great – excellent, inclusive and informative.
- I wish I could meet everyone! It was the first time I attended – it just means I’ll have to come to the next one!
- The panel worked well; more time for questions would have been good. Overall, interesting, inspiring, informative.
