Archive of ‘Ultimate Blog Challenge’ category

What Success Can Look Like

I don’t love public speaking, but I’m told that I’m better than I think. I once took a class where we were videotaped giving a speech in front of the group. I was surprised to see that while my heart was pounding on the inside, no one could see me sweat. I never let on how nervous I was and seeing it for myself was a game-changer.

This came in handy recently on the way to a job interview, I went over the presentation in my head. I was feeling confident about my slides and prepared for whatever follow up questions would come my way. My accomplishment stories were solid, and I was proud of the two writing pieces they assigned to me. Everything was just about ready to go.

But I had one problem. I didn’t have an opening line. I’m a communications professional, and for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out how to kick things off. If I wanted this job, I needed a hook. Something that would grab their attention and hang on my word. Something that would make the senior leadership stand up, embrace me and say, “where have you been all my life?”

I went through the presentation in my head as I drove to their office. Nothing sounded right, and now my palms were sweating. I had that nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach. The voice inside my head was screaming at me.

“How could you be so stupid,” it said. “You worked so hard on this presentation. Why did you think that something would just come naturally? Or magically?”

I pulled into the parking lot with 20 minutes to spare. I had a few ideas floating around in my head, but I grabbed my laptop and downloaded my presentation hoping inspiration would strike.

Finally, I took a deep breath and asked myself: What am I trying to say? What do I bring to the table that they desperately need?

And then, out of the blue, it came to me. I am a storyteller, and people love to hear a good story. Stories are powerful things. They spark emotion. They inspire others to act and to give generously.

I finally had my opening line and made my way into the office.

* * *

Whenever you are ready,” the CEO said.

I stood up and even though my heart was beating a mile a minute, I remembered my public speaking class. I took a deep breath and walked to the front of the room. My hands were no longer sweaty. I was back in control.

“Thanks again for inviting me here today. Again, my name is Elisa, I’m a sucker for a great story.”

At the end of the presentation, I thought it went well. The opening line was well received, and it looked like people connected with my ideas. Of course, one can’t be too sure about these things. Maybe I did terrible, and they were just being polite.

But, here’s the best part.

During my one-to-one with the CEO, her first question was this.

“Do you train people to speak in public?”

I was floored. I guess they never saw me sweat.

Best compliment ever!

 

Reading Professionally

Whenever I head off to a conference for work, I typically leave room in my suitcase – not for souvenirs – but for books. And while I’d love to say the books I buy come from exploring and supporting the local indie bookstores, it is more likely that you will find me in the exhibit hall buying the book of a speaker who just inspired me.

Basically, the better the conference; the more books I bring home.

As a result, I have built my own library of professional development books. And I admit while a few have been read, there are a bunch more that have collected a good amount of dust.

But, not anymore.

I don’t know whether it is the quarantine or the smell of disinfectant wipes that have gone to my brain, but I gave myself another challenge this month.

In addition to the Ultimate Blog Challenge, I am selecting books I’ve purchased at these conferences to read and post articles about on LinkedIn. I might as well put my time to good use. I did pay for them with my hard-earned money after all, and honestly, I could use a little inspiration and career advice right now.

And while I’m typically a fast reader, these books come with exercises to work through in order to get the most out of their message. Therefore, I’m giving myself two weeks to read and work through each one.

If this quarantine has gifted me anything, it has been the gift of time. So, I have no excuses to meet both the UBC and my LinkedIn reading challenge.

If you are interested in these reviews, leave me a note in the comments and I will send you my LinkedIn page so we can connect.

Whatever you are reading during this crazy time, I hope it brings you joy. Happy reading!

A Sign of the Times

Welcome to Life Without A Manual. Aren’t we all living that way these days? This global pandemic has caused us to rearrange our lives and discover new and creative ways to work, parent, live and, most importantly, survive. It has affected everything from the most mundane of tasks to the milestones we want to celebrate–all at a safe social distance.

I have always felt that I’m living my life without a manual. The origin story of my blog name is the perfect example of this philosophy.

For instance, I have two teenagers and parenting them is a carefully woven combination of structure and chaos. While my kids are self-sufficient and can entertain themselves, we are working through a roller coaster of emotions for what I can only describe as a grieving process. They have to adjust to this new normal of online learning instead of enjoying the interaction of a classroom setting. They maintain friendships and relationships through the magic of texting, FaceTiming and social media instead of hanging out at the mall or in someone’s home. They are suffering a loss of certain freedoms they used to enjoy like driving and staying on campus. It would be nice to have a map to help guide them through these troubled times, but there is no map and no manual.

As for me, it’s been difficult to set boundaries between working from home and living here. I’ve had to set up shop at my kitchen island which is the highest traffic area in my home. There are constant distractions, and I find it difficult to ignore the dishes and the laundry. Doesn’t this give new meaning to the term work/life balance?

The only one who seems to be thrilled with this new arrangement is our dog, and she demands constant attention. But, so does my boss. It would help to have a company handbook to show us the rules of the road. But there is no handbook and no manual.

There are so many aspects of life that have changed and who knows how it will be when this is all over. While I don’t want every post this month to be about this pandemic, I also can’t ignore it. We are living a part of world history, and it should be documented – even in this small way. And if this isn’t living life without a manual, I don’t know what is.

So I’m here to support you, and let you know you aren’t alone. I’ll share my experiences with you – the good, the bad, and the anxiety. And so I know you are with me, I hope you will comment on these posts to let me know how you are and what you are doing to get by in these crazy times.

We are all in this together. This is the Ultimate Blog Challenge – 30 days, 30 posts.  Let’s do this!

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