'I AM' ARE TWO OF THE MOST POWERFUL WORDS; BECAUSE WHAT FOLLOWS THEM SHAPES YOUR REALITY.'
If I said to you now, "You only have three words to sell yourself to follow 'I am...', which three words would you choose?
And as I say in my 'WHERE DID YOU LEARN TO SELL YOURSELF?' post, whatever words that follow 'I am...' could be something we're overly comfortable with in the privacy of our homes let alone confidently telling a potential employer. I've interviewed over 5000 teens and young people. I know the mistakes they make (and I share them on my 5 THINGS post).
Yet when you go to an interview, or, if you're like me and starting to prepare your teen for THEIR FIRST JOB (Holy $hit$tick$! That came around waaaay too quickly!), then you need to get used to teaching them to use sentences starting with 'I am...'. Not to mention making sure that what follows those 'I am...' statements is convincing and going to impress their potential employer. And that's not even tapping into strengths and weaknesses! In other words, they need to somehow stand out in a world overloaded with incredible technology (that they can no longer hide behind), getting back to basics like we did: THEY HAVE TO SELL THEMSELVES FACE-TO-FACE. As I always say, start by doing something. And I think 'I am...' is a brilliant, simple, and fun, even, start.
So this exercise I do on my courses is great practice for all of us. Try it at home, do it with your kids – even if they’re a little younger (never too soon to learn how to negotiate and sell yourself because if we get taught/learn these two skills, THERE IS NO JOB THEY/WE CAN'T GO AFTER ).
The “I am...” exercise goes like this:
1. Write down 20 things that you are – powerful, strong, independent, creative, kind, compassionate, loving, empathetic, generous, resourceful, considerate, accepting, willing etc.
2. Narrow it down to your top five
3. Choose one. Pair up with a friend or family member.
4. DESCRIBE your word in three sentences without using the word.
5. After sentence three, see if your partner can guess what the word is.
6. Once your friend has guessed. Write down the word you chose on an A4 piece of paper.
7. Have your friend grab a camera phone and video you.
8. You state your name, then say “...and I am (put your word in here).
9. Then do it in front of the mirror to get used to claiming who you are.
10. Watch the video (That’s what your interviewer, for example, is going to see).
11. Take turns with your friend.
And here’s a quickie video I did of me talking from the heart about a word that
resonates with me and 'I am' (and you can tell I am what I say I am...this blog
is evidence).
And GET READY TO BE FREAKED OUT: 'According to American recruitment firm THE LADDERS, ‘recruiters spend an average of SIX SECONDS LOOKING AT EACH RESUME that crosses their desk and Kiwis are making silly errors, costing them their dream jobs.’- APNZ, THE NZ HERALD, 18 Sept, 2014
As if that's not enough, there's teaching teens how to MAKE YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA WORK FOR YOU SO YOU CAN WIN WORK. It's like the chicken-egg syndrome-where do you start?
So in my courses (coming soon!), I'll be covering the all-important how to put a CV together and social media nightmare for you. Then there's the other usual suspects in preparing teens for the game of life: walking with confidence, communicating through clothing and their personal style, grooming, posing techniques for how to take a good picture (beyond the selfie), practicing interview techniques using television audition techniques & camera work (how else do you know what your interviewer sees?). Connect with me to find out more.
I am Amanda Betts. And I am...
Thanks for joining me! If you find stuff that could be useful to someone else, share it.
Until next time,
