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Enhance your credibility – ask smart questions
| DATE: 28 August 2012 |
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| BY: Donna Rachelson |
Asking smart questions is a key way to enhance your personal brand, whether it’s in the boardroom, in a team meeting or when you’re applying for a job.
Your personal brand is often evaluated by the quality of questions you ask. While we often look for opportunities to air our opinions or demonstrate our knowledge, we are generally evaluated more on the questions we ask. By asking good questions, you demonstrate that you are engaged with what is happening. In fact, asking the right question can be far more important than having a ready answer.
Here are my six top tips on asking smart questions to enhance your personal brand’s credibility:
1. Prepare before every meeting. Take time to think about the questions you may need to ask on the subject being addressed.
2. If you are meeting with a prospect or networking contact, do your homework and then try to think through the key questions that might assist you to better understand their situation and where you can add the most value.
3. Even if you are sitting in a meeting, asking a simple question like, “What do you think?” is very powerful in terms of bringing others into the discussion.
4. Listening is a rare skill. We say we listen, but do we really hear? By truly listening, you are in a wonderful position to summarise your understanding of what everyone has said and then ask a thought-provoking question.
5. Question assumptions and the very meaning of words that people take for granted. You might be surprised at what you uncover.
6. Even just asking at the end of a meeting “What have we decided today?” will help to put your personal brand in an extremely good light.
About Donna Rachelson
Rachelson is a branding and marketing specialist who uses her passion and 25 years of experience in strategy, marketing and change management to empower people and teams to achieve breakthrough results.
She is the founder of Branding & Marketing YOU. The company offers keynote presentations, workshops, strategic marketing consulting, coaching and support services. She is also author of the best-selling book Branding & Marketing YOU, the first South African based personal branding and marketing book.
For more information on Rachelson or Branding & Marketing YOU, visit: www.brandingandmarketingyou.com.
