We all know how each snowflake is different from the billions of others that fall to the ground. The same can be said for your fingerprints. Imagine the vastness of this picture. While each snowflake and fingerprint appear to be similar, they are in fact not.
In short, like snowflakes and fingerprints, you are unique.
With a show of hands, how many of you have been asked, “And so, what do you do for a living?”
That’s what I thought. Me too.
But have you ever given thought to what your answer might be?
Today I want to share with you tips on how to create a memorable, even outrageous five-second self-introduction.
The first step is to find out what makes you unique. You can do this by bravely sending an email survey to every person in your Rolodex file and ask them to answer some basic questions about what they perceive to be your character traits, personality strengths and/or weaknesses, to name a few. It’s a daring exercise but you’d be shocked with the responses you get. In fact, you might even learn a thing or two about yourself!
I can see a chorus of protests from long-time Adversity University readers, “But Stephen, aren’t you contradicting yourself? Several months ago, you wrote ”What Others Think of You is None of Your Business! “
Yes, I know I did, but stay with me on this……
The point of that article was not to care about what people are saying behind your back as you become more successful. You know, those time-wasters who have nothing better to do than to bring you down or belittle your dreams. That’s definitely none of your business.
What IS your business is knowing how you’re perceived by those you have come to know and trust over the years - people you believe have your interests at heart. You’re in the driver’s seat by selecting who you want to involve but be careful not to let your ego pick only those who will lap you up with lavish praise. You want to include people who will be downright honest if they know they have explicit permission to do so.
Having made myself clear, here’s a word of warning. You better have thick skin for this. Some of the answers you might get will be hard to swallow, especially if you give them complete freedom to give no-holds-barred answers.
Here’s what I wrote in the opening of my email survey:
“It’s is often difficult to evaluate my own strengths and weakness so I am asking you to answer a few questions that will help me understand how others like you perceive me. You are given complete freedom with your answers and I ask that you be totally honest without worrying about hurting my feelings. What you say will not do irreparable damage to our relationship so please don’t do any brown-nosing here. I’m not going to include you my will just because you told me what you thought I wanted to hear! No, just be yourself and answer them to the best of your ability. The results of this survey will assist me with the creation of my unique 5 second introduction for those times when people ask what I do for a living. I may also use some of your answers as keywords for my resume, blog, website, etc. Thanks for your time!
After that comes a handful of questions – feel free to add, modify or enhance them:
- What things about me seem to have made the biggest impact on you?
- What do you perceive to be my strengths? Weaknesses?
- How would you describe my character traits? For example, do I appear happy or depressed? Controlling? Centered? Hyper? Angry? Peaceful? Assertive? Docile?
- Would you do business with me if the opportunity presented itself? Why or why not?
- If you were to describe what I do for a living, how would you say it? Be creative, even outrageous!
- Anything else you can think of that I haven’t covered here?
As the results begin to pour in, you’ll begin to see an emergence of similar answers. When 2 or more people who don’t know each other are saying essentially the same thing about you, you can be pretty sure it’s an accurate portrayal of who you appear to be. Their answers will go a long way towards helping you create your 5 second self-introduction as well as provide you with keywords for whatever you use to market yourself.
If you’re an elementary schoolteacher, do you just say, ”I’m an elementary schoolteacher”?? Or do you spice things up and say instead, ”I make it a blast for kids to come to school everyday!”
A couple other examples I’ve seen:
- Divorce Attorney: “I make sure husbands and wives keep their children and their assets after a marriage is declared kaput.”
- Lawn care technician: “I take away the worry when it comes to lawn care.”
- Garbage Man: “I am a pro-environmentalist and pick up after people’s messes.”
- Professional Speaker (that’s me): “I make meetings and conventions more exciting.”
- Financial Advisor: “I help people make the green stuff grow.”
- Telephone Repairman: “I am a telephone doctor.”
- Beautician: “I wak and yak all day long.”
You get the picture. Okay, so how do you come up with one-liners like these?
While you collect survey responses, conduct a private self-analysis on your line of work. Ask yourself what clients should expect from you, why they would be better off if they hired you, etc. If you work for someone, substitute “clients” with “boss.” Here’s a sampling of questions pertaining to my career as a speaker:
- What do clients expect to get from me? (My answer: Increased awareness that it is possible to overcome adversity and achieve the “impossible.”)
- What changes could they expect for themselves after doing business with me? (My answer: They leave the meeting inspired to make things better for themselves.”)
- Why are they better off after selecting me to speak? (My answer: Increased productivity, better interpersonal relationships at work, more compassion for clients.)
- What is the best compliment I’ve heard from a satisfied client? (My answer: Made me realize if you can achieve a six-figure career, so can I!)
Throw everything you’ve learned together and whack it down to one sentence for starters, just one. Make it outrageous or at least memorable enough to make a total stranger take a double look at you and say, “Whoa, what do you mean by that?”
Practice it on friends, strangers, acquaintances, tweaking it along the way. Ask yourself if you’re comfortable with saying it. Does it feel right? And most importantly, is it truthful?
Food for thought: What is your five second self-introduction? I’d love to read yours here!
If you liked this post and you want to be notified of the next one, subscribe via Email or Full Text RSS Feed. I would love to have you as part of the community!
3:27 pm on November 27th, 2007 1
Stephen – This is a fantastically practical post. The first thing I love about it is that you gave us some specific tasks to do. So many people give generalities, sometimes, I just want to be told what to do.
The only other thought I had on this – is that the commercial we come up with has to be “natural” something that we can say, that the other person “gets.” So many times, thes trite “commercial” is just too trite.
I’m still playing with mine – but as of today, I answer the “What do you do” question with ” I create marketing strategies that get and keep customers” I keep wanting to add things like profitable, fun and a few other descriptive words – but it just comes off too trite.
I’d love to know your comments on that.
4:50 pm on November 27th, 2007 2
Ivana:
I know what you mean about the importance of giving practical advice. Thanks for letting me know you thought this was full of concrete tips. I appreciate it.
Yes, the “commercial” about your line of work has to be natural, that’s true. You’re on the right track with your 5 second commercial with “I create marketing strategies that get and keep customers.” But I think you should add some kind of emotion to it. It can still feel and look natural.
Have you ever tried sending out a survey to your Rolodex? If not, I would recommend that you do it because it will yield the missing piece of your “commercial.” In fact, I guarantee you’ll find the results VERY INTERESTING. It might spark some new ideas for you.
8:32 am on November 28th, 2007 3
For many years, I identified myself as a stay-at-home mom, even though I had some part-time jobs along the way. My signature line in forums was simply, “Karen, Mom to David, Lauren and Steven–the best job in the world.” I still use that in forums because that’s something I strongly identify with and pride myself on.
I like the creative one-liners listed here!
8:35 am on November 28th, 2007 4
Great article – this really got me thinking! The two immediate and slightly outrageous sentences that popped up were “I introduce people to their own Soul.” or “I hook people up with their Soul’s purpose.” I kind of like the second one.
My concern with this would be to come across as glib. You know, like the person who answers an honest and interested question with a joke or pun. That could be construed as annoying and off-putting. But if it’s about attention-getting, this would certainly work. Although maybe for me, saying I’m a “professional psychic” usually gets plenty of attention all by itself!
Thanks for this very thought-provoking post!
Blessings,
Andrea
11:09 am on November 28th, 2007 5
Thanks Stephen!
I’ve been in the financial services field a long time – most of the training I’ve attended talks about developing an “elevator speech” (puke). It never felt natural/sincere to me to lay this on someone.
Your approach makes much more sense.
Thank you.
12:05 pm on November 28th, 2007 6
I have a friend who said he was tired of people asking him what he “did.”
He was retired, which does not seem noteworthy, so he always answers,
“I’m a recovering entrepreneur.”
1:34 pm on November 28th, 2007 7
@Karen: More power to stay-at-home-moms!
@Andrea: I’m glad this article got you thinking! Whichever one liner you end up using, you’re guaranteed to get strangers to want to know more. It keeps their interest. I agree that a “professional psychic” gets a lot of attention – after all, how many professional psychics does the average person get to meet? Not many!
@Chris: I don’t know if you’re aware of this but I was also in the financial services industry for many years. Banker for 10 and stockbroker for 5 for a total of 15. Glad you thought this article made sense for you.
To all three of you: First, thanks for stopping by and letting me know you enjoyed this article. Second, have any of you ever attempted to send out an email survey to your contacts? If not, I urge you to try it. It will definitely yield you some interesting answers! Then come back here in the future and tell us what happened. It’d be cool to read the results.
1:35 pm on November 28th, 2007 8
Corinne: I love your friend’s one liner, “I’m a recovering entrepreneur.”! How innovative! What about you, what’s yours?
2:02 pm on November 28th, 2007 9
Yep, I’m aware of your background (I started at Merrill).
I admire what you have done and am grateful for what you do & the value you add….
2:11 pm on November 28th, 2007 10
Chris:
That’s cool so we both had our start at Merrill! And do you know what else is common between the two of us? (I checked your business website which is how I know the next thing I’m going to say). I onced lived in Michigan for 7 years, living in Harrison Township (east side of Michigan).
Just moved here to OH only 1.5 years ago for my histori flight training (now over).
I am GLAD to make acquaintence with you – thanks for being a part of the AU community.
4:45 pm on November 28th, 2007 11
Stephen, I don’t know what I would say I do if someone asked what I do. I guess it would be according to who was asking and what hat I had on at the time.
As you know, I am a blogger, life coach, writer, real estate broker, still do some travel for people, public speaker,event producer, editor.
They would either think I was a liar or a nut.
People are not used to the idea of multiple streams of income. It works for me. Something is coming in financially from somewhere. And somehow, the bills get paid.
For more information, if anyone is interested, they could read my article -
http://www.personal-growth-with-corinne-edwards.com/multiple-streams-of-income/
Excuse the self promotion but it does explain things!
5:03 pm on November 28th, 2007 12
Corinne:
That’s GREAT you have in place multiple streams of income! I’m still working on that myself. You’re in a great position because the bills are getting paid, thanks to those income streams.
It would be very interesting to see if someone, perhaps one of the readers here, could come up with a 5 second introduction for you, based on all those things you do.
Hmmmm…….I’ll see if I can think of one for you!
7:41 pm on November 28th, 2007 13
Wow, you have really hit a homerun with this one Stephen! I love it. I have never really thought about how many times I have to introduce myself with the same old boring introduction. I will definitely be taking something away from this article.
I have been so busy lately starting up a new site that I have some catching up to do. Keep up the amazing post!
By the way, I love the sidebar plug-in/widget that you are using, “Comment Champs”. Where did you get it?
http://www.JuiceofChampions.com
8:45 pm on November 28th, 2007 14
Brad:
It’s amazing how often people ask me what I do and how many times we give the same answer over and over. So we might as well make it lively and memorable, right?
Best wishes for your new site. I can’t wait to see it!
As for the comment champ sidebar, it’s actually called Top Commentators which can be found here: http://webgrrrl.net/archives/my-top-commentators-widget-quick-dirty.htm
I customized the title of the sidebar to draw attention to it. It rewards and encourages readers to participate by commenting and adding value to the conversation. It also has a linking feature linking back to the commentator’s site (if he/she has one) for some link love in return. A very neat feature here at WP, especially for bloggers like myself who really appreciate readers that participate in the ongoing conversation.
So Brad, what is your 5 second introduction? Have you come up with one yet?
1:57 pm on December 2nd, 2007 15
I am an adventure traveler.
2:58 pm on December 2nd, 2007 16
Glen:
Now, that’s the first I’ve heard! An “adventure traveler”? That’s very interesting! I bet you turn heads when you say that. In fact, I’ve NEVER heard anyone introduce himself that way.
“Adventure Traveler.” Hmmmmmmmm…….
7:27 pm on December 2nd, 2007 17
The interesting thing is that everyone can define themselves without reference to a social function. I wish more people would, even if only just in fun. It would have the effect of turning our social institutions into our servants rather than behaving as our masters.
8:31 pm on December 2nd, 2007 18
Glen:
Excellent, excellent point. The problem is we are so caught up in labels. We tend to get stuck in them. That’s why I like the idea of stirring the pot a little, to shake people awake. Help people realize it doesn’t have to the same old thing to please the social institutions.
6:25 am on December 4th, 2007 19
Hi Stephen,
I fell upon this article by chance and realized I do this without even thinking about it.
I have two sources of income and I choose to introduce myself in a way that is relevant to the situation I am in.
One thing I do is design. In that case my 5-second reply to “What do you do?” would be “I make your world a more beautiful place”. Since I tell them I have something to do with their world, they get a sense of personal involvement, and almost every time we immediately start to talk about where they might have seen some of my work. Works great as a conversation starter.
The other thing I do is implement management systems. Not quite as creative, and actually sounds a little dull. My reply in this case is “I bring order to chaos”. It’s pretty ambiguous, and most people I’ve met really wanted to know more about what I do.
Thanks for the great article Stephen.
7:12 am on December 4th, 2007 20
Skyum:
Fabulous, fabulous! I love “I bring order to chaos.” I’ve never heard anyone say that. That’s guaranteed to get a stare in the face response with, “What do you mean?” Then you can go a little deeper until you finally come to the real job description. Like I do with my motivational speaking 5-second introduction. I don’t tell people I’m a professional speaker until we’re several layers deep into the conversation.
What kind of design do you do? I love the other introduction “I make your world a beautiful place.” Wow. How creative! Would I be accurate by saying you do interior design? That would be my guess.
Thanks so much for stopping by with your heartfelt contributions. I really enjoyed hearing from you. I LOVED your self introductions – very creative.
8:30 am on December 4th, 2007 21
Stephen:
Indeed, I use the “I bring order to chaos” line first, and then go deeper with something like “I implement management solutions that save companies time and money,
and keep them safe from legal liability”. Sometimes I like to add “And I make the impossible, possible” to the first line. Works wonders if I’m trying to reel in a big corporate fish.
I always try and describe what I do adding more and more detail as I go along, rather than giving them my job title. I want “I’m a management consultant” to be the very last thing I say when telling people what I do, not the very first.
As for design, I used to do interior design, but when every client started asking me to do Feng Shui I got a tad bored with it. I’ve done all kinds of design. Urban decoration, textiles, web design, product design, retail packaging. You name it, I’ve probably done it.
8:56 am on December 4th, 2007 22
Hey there again Skyum:
Makes sense how you wade deeper into the “what do you do for a living” conversation. You’re a master at it.
Well, you sound like a very interesting, industrious kind of person. I’m surprised your name isn’t linked to a website for people to find out more about your line of work.
It’s my humble opinion that the Adversity University community would at least be curious (as I am) who you are, where you’re located and maybe see some of the work you’ve done. You’ve at least aroused curiousity in me!
Maybe next time you comment, you should put in your URL in the URL box so that we can visit you. If you’d rather not for whatever reason, no sweat. No pressure, no nothing, but I simply had to ask!
10:39 pm on January 22nd, 2008 23
Wow. This is a great in depth article. I stumbled this !
Deep Sea Monsters’s last blog post..Colorful Sea Star
8:26 am on January 23rd, 2008 24
Alex at Deep Sea Monsters:
Thanks SO MUCH for stumbling this article. I truly appreciate it.
Now that you’ve gotten on my radar with such an interesting name for your blog (which I plan to check out because curiously enough, I do hold some degree of fascination with deep sea creatures, especially if I can see them via colorful photos and/or videos). So you bet I will be checking your site out.
Meanwhile, I’d love to know what your 5 second introduction would be if asked what you do for a living.
Thanks again for stumbling me. I always appreciate that.
5:56 am on February 12th, 2008 25
I’ve only just recently been fully employed but have always struggeld with having to give long winded explanations to simple questions like what do you do? what are u studying? and where r u from? (I have a jumbled acent it’s usually the first question i’m asked very irritating).
I used to say I’m studying Biotechnology which either shuts ppl up cause ther intimitated, or they ask exactly what that means which is hard when they’ve never read a biology text book and the only thing the know about dna is that we all have it and it’s inherited.
with the where r u from question i usually go with shock value and say singapore as a white female with an americanized acent in australia at the moment the common response is but ur not chinese and do you speak the local language to which I have to reply yes cause it’s english. I have alos conciderd saying Im a globe trotter, global villager or alien. but that would require a bigger ego
As you can probably tell by now i struggle with ignorant ppl and need a one liner that’ll keep em intrested with out asking the stupid repetative questions
finally my curent job title is boring Research assistant but further description requires telling ppl i do experiments with mice which doesn’t usually go down well. any i way any ideas would be apreicated
12:21 pm on February 12th, 2008 26
Hi Debbie!
I’m glad you stopped by – welcome to the AU community! Let’s see – you do have a very interesting situation. I’ve dealt with ignorant people too and what I found to be helpful is that it’s best to ‘educate’ them in the least threatening manner.
Here are some questions for you to think about, which I hope will lead to your one liner:
1. You say you do research – what are you researching for? What are you testing when working with mice? Your answer could be the clue to the one liner. For instance, is it to eradicate luekemia or study the brain or what?
2. A globe trotter has a nice ring to it. Something like world traveler?
We’ll start with those for now and see where it leads. Once again, welcome!
10:42 am on March 20th, 2008 27
To the all time question “What do you do?” This will be my answer.
“I love that question ^_^ because what I do is to wake up people and ask if what they do align with their life purpose.”
Akemi – Yes to Me’s last blog post..Interview With Successful Entrepreneurs
10:53 am on March 20th, 2008 28
Akemi:
It’s fun, isn’t it? I love it when people ask me what I do because while I keep my response pretty much the same, I do vary it a little bit to see what kind of a response I’d get.
Thanks for stopping in!
6:38 am on June 28th, 2008 29
Stephen,
excellent and thought-provoking post. I’m in a bit of a place…trying to change my life, overcome self-doubt/self-sabotaging behaviors and stumbled here by chance.
I have a bit of an interesting situation, having many jobs, none of them bringing in much income yet.
First and foremost, I am a wife to a beautiful and inspiring creative genius. He is a user interface developer and a performing musician.
Next, I am mom to two wonderful sons, ages 5 yrs. and 18 mos. I work at home, so I am with them a lot, to the extent that I don’t have any time for meditation/visualization work.
I also blog. I manage my husband’s music career, booking shows and trying to generate publicity. I am a freelance writer. And I work a part-time job as a marketing director for a real estate agency.
Sadly for many years, I failed to value being a SAHM; when folks asked me what I do, I would say “Oh, I’m just a mom. But I used to be Director of Marketing for a high-tech firm.” I am ashamed I ever felt that way.
So, I’m in a bit of a quandry what I should tell people.
Also, I haven’t done the exercise; just read about it a few minutes ago. However, the thought terrifies me because I’m scared of what I would do with any negative feedback. I know my negative qualities or what I would say, but I’m having trouble fixing them, although I want to.
Dawns last blog post..William Tell
6:46 am on June 28th, 2008 30
Good morning Dawn!
First of all, your name is the same as my sister’s. Nice!
I certainly understand the fear of rejection – I’ve had to deal with that most of my life. The following quote sits onto of my desk to serve as a reminders of sorts:
“Face any situation fearlessly once you make a decision and there is no situation to face, it falls away of its own weight.”
In other words, just do it, like Nike says. I tell my life coaching clients to step up to the plate, feel the fear and just do it. The worst that can happen is some people won’t like it but then why should that matter? Yes, we want approval – we all do. But the key is to approve yourself – only you can raise your own self esteem and give yourself approval. Once you get there, you’ll be more willing to step outside the box and give it a shot.
With each succeeding step you take, the braver you become. You will never stop feeling butterflies – believe it or not, every time I step up on the stage I get them (even after speaking hundreds of times in the past). That’s normal. That’s adrenaline or “nervous excitement,” I call it.
You can do it – I can see that in you already, based on your description of what you do. You are POWERFUL.
11:41 pm on January 4th, 2009 31
This post makes me chuckle. I have been asked what “I do” and perplex people with unconventional answers. Although my answers (and your post technique) tend to catch people off guard, this may be precisely what people need to get-in touch with who they are. People rarely ask themselves why they do things. I am reminded of a line from a recent Spiderman movie. Spidy’s girlfriend said, “You are what you do,” implying that a person’s identity is reflected by his livelihood. I do not necessarily agree, but I do see value in reflecting on why we choose what we do. Human beings have choices to create a more meaningful life. Everyone has untapped inner power that can be accessed by learning to become aware of why we do what we do and what it says about how we feel deep inside. We send signals but do not always listen.
8:36 am on January 5th, 2009 32
@ Liara Covert:
I try not to identify with what I’m doing because then we get stuck with the relational thing. What if I no longer did what I used to do, then what? Who am I? But this exercise is for the purpose of putting a label on what we do so that people are given a measurement of understanding of what we do. We humans like to put a label on things so that’s one way of doing it.
But in the meantime, while I have my 5 second elevator speech down pat, I also know that I’m not anything I’m doing – I’m a spiritual being evolving on this planet, occupying this body for the time being, learning and experiencing along the way. But to tell that to people would freak them out. LOL.
12:27 pm on January 17th, 2009 33
I love Yoda (fr: Star Wars) who said, “do or do not, there is no try.”
By not being completely truthful with how you feel and what you experience, you are divert your journey from reconnecting with soul. When we fear we will “freak people out,” we already feel this way about ourselves at the core. You are not the only one. In fact, it is rather common. Why do people lie to themselves? Many people are unaware they do it and forget when this whole process began.
Regardless of who you thought you were before, your mission from this moment is what you decide that it is. Your purpose is your choice. You can change it or not. You can label it or not. What you belive matters. Everything else is already forgotten.
1:32 pm on January 17th, 2009 34
@ Liara Covert:
This gives new meaning to “free will.” We are all given that to do what we will. We have the power to alter our future. The key is to listen to our inner spirit and then take whatever action is necessary, which I believe will put a person on the appropriate spiritual journey.
11:45 pm on February 7th, 2009 35
How a person understands and applies free-will is limited by doubt and fear. Until you evolve to see these and other illusions for what they are, you do not move to transcend them or expand to discover what free will permits. Human beings undertake an evolving journey on conscious and unconscious levels. As you say, each person has power to alter their futures. The “what” (knowledge of potential) often arises as a revelation before you figure out how you will do it.
8:53 am on February 8th, 2009 36
@ Liara Covert:
The way people can alter their futures is by accessing the sub-conscious mind where there’s an answer for everything. Every single question has an answer. Every problem has a solution and we know what it is. The key is getting inside the subconscious mind. That’s the secret.
The 5 second introduction is mainly to satisfy the human need to put a label on things but spiritual speaking, we all know that we aren’t what we tell people we are.
4:48 pm on March 7th, 2009 37
I love your examples, particularly the divorce attorney: what marketing!
That we as individuals and our companies need to stand out now more than ever is a fact. One liners like these will make the first impression, that is so important, a good one. I’m getting ready for a trade show next month and will give this thought on both counts.
Thanks,
7:52 am on March 8th, 2009 38
@ Mike:
Best wishes with your trade show next month – having a 5 second introduction can prove useful – you just never know who you might meet and with the right intro, something magical could happen.
Glad you enjoyed this one.
11:15 am on April 5th, 2009 39
Regardless of what may be thought of a person and his character, There is always one quality that can seem lacking, Humility. As a people, we tend to worry and defend ourselves against all manner of seeming attacks
on our character This comes from a misidentification
of ourselves and just who we are. In essence, we are not this fearful and weak individual we see in the mirror. In fact, we are the grand and glorious eternal spirit dwelling within this animal body. Remember that when you
are confronted with a challenge to your character. There is nothing that has the power to defeat you.—Doug
4:45 pm on June 13th, 2011 40
That’s a cool article. A lot of my friends and I like to try and come up with one liners like this. It’s neat to test them on people. When you get people to stop talking about themselves you know youve got a good one! They work pretty well on business cards in a conversational tone instead of the normal corporate talk. thanks for the post.