Last week I had the opportunity to attend a Boot Camp for Business put on by David and Carl over at InterviewToWinBootCamp.com. They recently increased the class to be a two day class with the first day starting at 6:00 PM. We got started with a networking exercise where we traded game cards with the other attendees to collect cards that best matched who we are as an employee. After doing the exercise we learned about the DISC-overy work/personality styles.
D – Dominance
I – Influence
S – Steadiness
C – Conscientious
It was a bit odd for me since I was evenly split between the styles, which made for an interesting conversation. Check out DiscoveryStyles.com if you want to learn more.
The second day, we started at 8:00 AM and started learning about what it takes to have a great personal branding statement. You may know these as an Elevator Pitch or a 30 Second Commercial. It was a great exercise for each of us to give our 30 second commercial and have it focused and precises. Then the fun came… it was time to expand the 30 Second and go for a full 2 minutes. Did I mention that we were doing this in front of a video camera?
As many know, I do regular presentations in front of crowds of up to 200 with only a small amount of anxiety. OK, it is really more excitement due the passion that I have for my topic. I mention this since I was having a real problem getting in front of the camera and talking about myself for 2 minutes. I have not been that nervous since I was giving a speech in front of 250 of my peers and their parents when I was 18 years old.
I made it through the video recording after about 4 takes. I was having a bit of a synchronization issues with my tongue and lips.
For me, the big issue was that we were to add a bit of personal information or specifically a “Wild Card” to our talk. Something that most people did not know about us, something that made us unique or stand out from the crowd.
It was neat to hear some of the others in the class as to what there special thing was. One Lady was the Dallas Public Speaker of the Year, another was an avid water skier. For me, I mentioned my being the 7th Texan to receive the Gold Congressional Award for Achievement, Initiative and Service.
My takeaway from the class was that I need to bring more personal information into my communications. Letting a bit of my personal side out is a good thing when communicating my message. Stories are king, when talking to people, tell a story and they will remember. I’m camera shy, probably due to my being behind them for most of my life.
Would I recommend the Boot Camp for Business to others? But of course! Carl and David have many years of experience in management and team building. They convey some great real world examples of success in implementing the training that we learned in the class.
Carl also provides one-on-one coaching which I am going to have the opportunity to do in the near future. I’ll try and give you some feed back on that once it happens. In the meantime, check out his site at www.concepts3inc.com.