Women Empowerment – Workshop 6 (Executive Presence)
The Appleton Greene Corporate Training Program (CTP) for Women Empowerment is provided by Ms. Tull Certified Learning Provider (CLP). Program Specifications: Monthly cost USD$2,500.00; Monthly Workshops 6 hours; Monthly Support 4 hours; Program Duration 12 months; Program orders subject to ongoing availability.
If you would like to view the Client Information Hub (CIH) for this program, please Click Here
Learning Provider Profile
Ms. Tull is a Certified Learning Provider (CLP) with Appleton Greene. She has over 25 years of experience in coaching, consulting and training CEO’s and executives. She specializes in the areas of personal and professional development and leadership. She is passionate about empowering women in the workplace equipping them with leadership skills and helping them to reveal their unique value, so they can reach their true potential and make a bigger impact. She has industry experience in the following sectors: Technology, Financial Services, Biomedical, Consultancy and Healthcare. She has commercial experience in the following countries: United States, Canada, England, Mexico and Sweden. More specifically within the following cities: Austin, TX; Houston, TX; Dallas, TX; Los Angeles, CA; New York City NY; St. Louis, MS; Virginia Beach, VA; Chicago IL. Her personal achievements include 17 yrs. as Founder/CEO of Silverlining Concepts, LLC where she empowers business owners and leaders to own their value and earn their worth, Certified Money Breakthrough Method Coach, Best-selling Author of a book about owning your value, so you can earn your worth in the workplace, Executive Contributor to Huffington Post, Biz Journals and Brainz Magazine, featured on the Brainz 500 Global list 2021. She also is a co-host on a national TV show- that focuses on bringing more light and positivity to the world. Her service skills include; leadership development, executive coaching, business strategy, sales and marketing strategies, mindset shifting and advanced communications and presentation skills.
MOST Analysis
Mission Statement
Enhance your Personal Presence and Professional Influence – Who you show up as each and everyday matters. Do people see you as an expert or as a leader? During this training you will learn how you can start showing up as the best version of yourself and as a powerful leader that can successfully guide and influence others. You will learn how to present yourself confidently in any situation by providing value and by being of service with your gifts. You will learn where your area of expertise lies and what you are the “go to” expert for. You will create your own personal power brand on and offline. We will teach you how to up-level your LinkedIn Profile, so that it represents you powerfully and allows you to shine as a leader and expert in your industry.
Objectives
1. Essence of Presence – The Essence of Presence is doing something for yourself that also benefits your community or the world. Learning to believe in yourself and your abilities. Feeling fulfilled simply by doing; put service ahead of ego. Becoming what you bring to the world in every aspect of your life. If you pile up all of your experiences (make a list), you will begin to recognize where you shine, where you belong, where you love to lead, and where you want to help others become like you and achieve An Essence of Presence. In this lesson, you will learn why presence is important in the workplace and in relationships and learn personal and group meditation techniques to help you get into the present moment.
2. Develop Presence – Executive presence is very much about how you control a room, how you make impressions, and how you affect the people around you. It is the way you communicate verbally as well as through your appearance and physicality. It’s not just about how you look, but also about how you communicate with people and convey your intentions. In this lesson you will learn key tips on how to develop your presence helping you to come across more capable, professional, and confident.
3. Online Presence – Having a powerful online presence is necessary in this day and age to be considered professional. Online presence or Web presence is the collective existence online of a company or individual. In this lesson, we explore the importance of online presence, ways to improve yours. We will also cover how to establish your own personal brand, so you can stand out in the professional world and further your career.
4. LinkedIn Makeover – LinkedIn has catapulted into the social media world as an essential means of effective professional networking over the last ten years. It is critical for a professional to maintain a strong online presence and brand. In this course you will learn how to use LinkedIn to brand yourself, 5 keys to building a rocking LI profile and 5 examples of great LI profiles.
5. Workplace Presence – Being more professional and being seen as more professional will definitely benefit your career and position with your organization. It will set you apart from others marking you as a leader. It will help you to develop the confidence you need to achieve results and build a widely respected image. To enhance your professional presence in the workplace starting now, there are some very basic things you can do. In this lesson, we will cover how to make a shift of personal presence in your organization and ways to increase presence in the workplace.
6. Professional Courage – Professional courage is a skill that is often overlooked, but it is essential for career advancement, happiness, and fulfillment. It is a fundamental component of leadership, whether you are in a formal leadership role or not, and it is critical to your professional and personal development. In this course, you will discover the science and nature of courage, the benefits of being courageous as well as, types of courage and how to apply them into your career.
7. Professional Appearance – Gaining respect in the workplace requires proper grooming and a professional appearance. The way you look and carry yourself makes an impression on the people with whom you work. Professional image is the image that a person projects about themselves based on their appearance and reputation. Professionalism can be conveyed through how you dress, how you speak, how you respond to others, and how others speak about you. It also can help in making a good first impression. In this lesson, we will share some great ideas for achieving a great workplace appearance.
8. Professional Values – Professional values are the core values and ethics that you adopt and showcase at work. These characteristics include skills, behaviors, and actions that many employers seek and desire in their employees. There are several professional values that must be demonstrated on the job. During this course, you will learn exactly what professional values are and what workplace values to adopt to further develop your role as a leader.
9. What’s Influence – In today’s workplace, developing personal effectiveness and influencing skills is critical as organizational hierarchies and layers diminish. Only through, with, and from others can success and outcomes be achieved. Influencing without formal authority is a necessary skill, and we cannot do so without confidence, clarity of purpose, and the ability to fully express ourselves. And, as leaders, we must draw on who we are as well as what we do to inspire and engage our followers. True influence is based on an emotional relationship. In this course, we will dive deep in influencing skills, influence styles and share examples of powerful influencers of our time.
10. Social Influence – Psychologists have spent decades researching the power of social influence and how it influences people’s opinions and behavior. Social influence, in particular, refers to how individuals change their ideas and actions to meet the demands of a social group, perceived authority, social role, or a minority within a group wielding influence over the majority. In this course, we will discover the difference between informative and normative social influence and the 5 most common social influence examples and how they impact us daily.
11. Grow Influence – One of the most important skills for leaders at all levels is the ability to influence others. It’s more art than science, and it can be difficult to grasp. However, the bottom line is that influence is important. And it will become more important as we continue to morph (at breakneck speed) into an interconnected, interdependent, increasingly global workplace. The person who wields power wields influence. To be a successful influencer, you must have both substance and style. In this lesson, you will learn the key traits of a powerful influencer and 5 simple steps to grow your influence.
12. Body Language – Did you know that our bodies speak louder than our words? Body language training can help you identify hidden emotions in others and even make you feel more powerful, attractive, and charismatic. In this lesson, you will learn the fundamentals of body language, including how to use it in your daily life, the most common gestures you’ll encounter, body language rules, and more!
Strategies
1. Learn a present moment meditation and how to lead a group meditation to instantly become more present.
2. 14 steps to develop a powerful executive presence.
3. How to create a strong personal brand statement and steps to develop your own unique personal brand.
4. Exact steps to give your LinkedIn Profile a makeover.
5. Tips to increase your workplace presence.
6. Strategies to strengthen your professional courage.
7. Ways to improve your professional appearance.
8. Implementing your professional values in the workplace.
9. How to influence by creating an emotional relationship.
10. Learn 10 key influencing skills.
11. Discover your influencing style.
12. Learn how to use body language to get what you want in life and at work.
Tasks
1. Go through the Study Guide and Distance Learning lessons first and make notes.
2. Identify the key relationships that need to be managed to ensure project success.
3. Schedule a meeting for the participants to meet and discuss the workshop within 30 days.
4. Identify current executive presence within your organization.
5. Participate in group meditation exercise.
6. Create your individual brand statements.
7. Give your LinkedIn Profile a makeover.
8. Participants will review Ted Talks by powerful influencers.
9. Participants will partake in the Feedback: Start, Stop, and Continue Exercise with their team members.
10. Participants will learn how to show courage in front of their fellow team members.
11. Participate the create a Magazine Story exercise to demonstrate influence.
12. Apply the body language techniques revealed in Course Manual 6:12.
Introduction
Executive presence is a dynamic executive’s combination of personality and character traits. It is the ability to inspire others to be assertive in their roles by demonstrating consistent confidence and clear leadership. Executive presence enables leaders to understand the needs of their team members in relation to the needs of the business.
Many individual characteristics that are necessary for good leadership make up an executive presence. When combined, they create an executive who can be the driving force behind a company. As a result, employees with executive presence skills are frequently in positions of leadership.
Individuals with executive presence are difficult to mistake on a factory floor, a construction site, a corner office, a research lab, or an academic institution. They command attention and motivate and inspire others to follow in their footsteps. They are leaders, to be sure, but they may not even have a title. They are regarded as supremely capable, competent, and confident in any situation that may arise. They represent the answer to the question, “Who’s in charge?”
Some experts believe that gravitas, communications, and appearance are the three most important characteristics that indicate strong executive presence. Other researchers have identified ten characteristics, including interpersonal integrity and the ability to put values into action. Other sources define three overarching themes – character, substance, and style – as well as the components that comprise each, such as character, wisdom, and assertiveness.
It all comes down to first impressions:
• Are you trustworthy?
• Do you exude confidence?
• Do you elicit trust?
• Do you exude sincerity?
• Do you show any concern?
• Do you discuss where you fell short and what you learned as a result?
• Do you involve your coworkers and motivate them to effect change?
• Do you have the right appearance?
Executive presence training assists you in identifying and honing your unique skills and talents so that when the opportunity to speak up and influence others arises, everyone pays attention.
According to Sylvia Ann Hewlett, author of Executive Presence: The Missing Link Between Merit and Success, “(Executive presence is) about what you signal about your readiness for the next big chance.” Who wouldn’t want a chance at the next big thing?
Assume you want the next big opportunity, but something is preventing you from taking it. Is it apprehension about public speaking? Do you exude skepticism about your abilities? Do you have great ideas but find it difficult to persuade others to share your vision?
When you have executive presence, it is easier for others to see, hear, and feel the value you can bring to your organization, company, or institution. You exude confidence and credibility, and you are a compelling speaker who can articulate and demonstrate a deep understanding of your expertise in an authentic and engaging manner. On top of that, you motivate others to share your vision.
This powerful executive presence training will help you better understand your unique skills, tap those talents more effectively, and supplement them with strategies and tips that will help you become the leader you’ve always wanted to be.
In the Executive Presence Workshop, you will learn what the essence of presence is, learn how to develop your executive presence in and out of the workplace, as well as your online presence. You will get access to powerful strategies to makeover your LinkedIn profile. You will clarify your professional values and learn how to level up your professional courage and appearance. You will discover what influence is and how you can grow yours. And finally, you will learn how to use body language to get what you desire both personally and professionally.
As a leader, we are constantly scrutinized by others. Executive presence practice allows you to shape the professional environment around you. You have the opportunity to lead with executive presence and build effective and respectful relationships with others no matter where you work. One of the most important building blocks for new opportunities for you as an executive is executive presence.
Executive Summary
Executive presence is one of the key differences between an effective and ineffective leader. Developing an executive presence is critical if you want to be a successful leader.
In essence, executive presence is your capacity to lead a group. This is determined by their willingness to follow you and your direction, as well as how you are perceived by the rest of the team.
Some of the benefits of executive presence are it strengthens company culture, it improves organizational performance, it helps leaders manage their teams, it improves customer relationships, it helps to facilitate leadership development and helps with promotions.
There are 4 key executive presence skills:
• Composure
• Confidence
• Charisma
• Clarity and Communications skills
These skills can be used as a guide to help you develop your own leadership abilities. Alternatively, you can use them to identify employees with potential for leadership within your organization.
The Executive Presence Workshop will uncover how executive presence can help you lead your team more effectively and achieve your organizational goals. We will explore how to be seen as an expert in your industry and how you can use your influence to better lead and inspire your team.
There are 12 courses (or focus areas) in the Executive Presence Workshop.
Here’s what we’ll be covering:
1. Essence of Presence – The Essence of Presence is doing something for yourself that also benefits your community or the world. Learning to believe in yourself and your abilities. Feeling fulfilled simply by doing; put service ahead of ego. Becoming what you bring to the world in every aspect of your life. If you pile up all of your experiences (make a list), you will begin to recognize where you shine, where you belong, where you love to lead, and where you want to help others become like you and achieve An Essence of Presence. In this lesson, you will learn why presence is important in the workplace and in relationships and learn personal and group meditation techniques to help you get into the present moment.
2. Develop Presence – Executive presence is very much about how you control a room, how you make impressions, and how you affect the people around you. It is the way you communicate verbally as well as through your appearance and physicality. It’s not just about how you look, but also about how you communicate with people and convey your intentions. In this lesson you will learn key tips on how to develop your presence helping you to come across more capable, professional, and confident.
3. Online Presence – Having a powerful online presence is necessary in this day and age to be considered professional. Online presence or Web presence is the collective existence online of a company or individual. In this lesson, we explore the importance of online presence, ways to improve yours. We will also cover how to establish your own personal brand, so you can stand out in the professional world and further your career.
4. LinkedIn Makeover – LinkedIn has catapulted into the social media world as an essential means of effective professional networking over the last ten years. It is critical for a professional to maintain a strong online presence and brand. In this course you will learn how to use LinkedIn to brand yourself, 5 keys to building a rocking LI profile and 5 examples of great LI profiles.
5. Workplace Presence – Being more professional and being seen as more professional will definitely benefit your career and position with your organization. It will set you apart from others marking you as a leader. It will help you to develop the confidence you need to achieve results and build a widely respected image. To enhance your professional presence in the workplace starting now, there are some very basic things you can do. In this lesson, we will cover how to make a shift of personal presence in your organization and ways to increase presence in the workplace.
6. Professional Courage – Professional courage is a skill that is often overlooked, but it is essential for career advancement, happiness, and fulfillment. It is a fundamental component of leadership, whether you are in a formal leadership role or not, and it is critical to your professional and personal development. In this course, you will discover the science and nature of courage, the benefits of being courageous as well as, types of courage and how to apply them into your career.
7. Professional Appearance – Gaining respect in the workplace requires proper grooming and a professional appearance. The way you look and carry yourself makes an impression on the people with whom you work. Professional image is the image that a person projects about themselves based on their appearance and reputation. Professionalism can be conveyed through how you dress, how you speak, how you respond to others, and how others speak about you. It also can help in making a good first impression. In this lesson, we will share some great ideas for achieving a great workplace appearance.
8. Professional Values – Professional values are the core values and ethics that you adopt and showcase at work. These characteristics include skills, behaviors, and actions that many employers seek and desire in their employees. There are several professional values that must be demonstrated on the job. During this course, you will learn exactly what professional values are and what workplace values to adopt to further develop your role as a leader.
9. What’s Influence – In today’s workplace, developing personal effectiveness and influencing skills is critical as organizational hierarchies and layers diminish. Only through, with, and from others can success and outcomes be achieved. Influencing without formal authority is a necessary skill, and we cannot do so without confidence, clarity of purpose, and the ability to fully express ourselves. And, as leaders, we must draw on who we are as well as what we do to inspire and engage our followers. True influence is based on an emotional relationship. In this course, we will dive deep in influencing skills, influence styles and share examples of powerful influencers of our time.
10. Social Influence – Psychologists have spent decades researching the power of social influence and how it influences people’s opinions and behavior. Social influence, in particular, refers to how individuals change their ideas and actions to meet the demands of a social group, perceived authority, social role, or a minority within a group wielding influence over the majority. In this course, we will discover the difference between informative and normative social influence and the 5 most common social influence examples and how they impact us daily.
11. Grow Influence – One of the most important skills for leaders at all levels is the ability to influence others. It’s more art than science, and it can be difficult to grasp. However, the bottom line is that influence is important. And it will become more important as we continue to morph (at breakneck speed) into an interconnected, interdependent, increasingly global workplace. The person who wields power wields influence. To be a successful influencer, you must have both substance and style. In this lesson, you will learn the key traits of a powerful influencer and 5 simple steps to grow your influence.
12. Body Language – Did you know that our bodies speak louder than our words? Body language training can help you identify hidden emotions in others and even make you feel more powerful, attractive, and charismatic. In this lesson, you will learn the fundamentals of body language, including how to use it in your daily life, the most common gestures you’ll encounter, body language rules, and more!
Curriculum
Women Empowerment – Workshop 6 – Executive Presence
- Essence of Presence
- Develop Presence
- Online Presence
- Linked In Makeover
- Workplace Presence
- Professional Courage
- Professional Appearance
- Professional Values
- What’s Influence
- Social Influence
- Grow Influence
- Body Language
Distance Learning
Introduction
Welcome to Appleton Greene and thank you for enrolling on the Women Empowerment corporate training program. You will be learning through our unique facilitation via distance-learning method, which will enable you to practically implement everything that you learn academically. The methods and materials used in your program have been designed and developed to ensure that you derive the maximum benefits and enjoyment possible. We hope that you find the program challenging and fun to do. However, if you have never been a distance-learner before, you may be experiencing some trepidation at the task before you. So we will get you started by giving you some basic information and guidance on how you can make the best use of the modules, how you should manage the materials and what you should be doing as you work through them. This guide is designed to point you in the right direction and help you to become an effective distance-learner. Take a few hours or so to study this guide and your guide to tutorial support for students, while making notes, before you start to study in earnest.
Study environment
You will need to locate a quiet and private place to study, preferably a room where you can easily be isolated from external disturbances or distractions. Make sure the room is well-lit and incorporates a relaxed, pleasant feel. If you can spoil yourself within your study environment, you will have much more of a chance to ensure that you are always in the right frame of mind when you do devote time to study. For example, a nice fire, the ability to play soft soothing background music, soft but effective lighting, perhaps a nice view if possible and a good size desk with a comfortable chair. Make sure that your family know when you are studying and understand your study rules. Your study environment is very important. The ideal situation, if at all possible, is to have a separate study, which can be devoted to you. If this is not possible then you will need to pay a lot more attention to developing and managing your study schedule, because it will affect other people as well as yourself. The better your study environment, the more productive you will be.
Study tools & rules
Try and make sure that your study tools are sufficient and in good working order. You will need to have access to a computer, scanner and printer, with access to the internet. You will need a very comfortable chair, which supports your lower back, and you will need a good filing system. It can be very frustrating if you are spending valuable study time trying to fix study tools that are unreliable, or unsuitable for the task. Make sure that your study tools are up to date. You will also need to consider some study rules. Some of these rules will apply to you and will be intended to help you to be more disciplined about when and how you study. This distance-learning guide will help you and after you have read it you can put some thought into what your study rules should be. You will also need to negotiate some study rules for your family, friends or anyone who lives with you. They too will need to be disciplined in order to ensure that they can support you while you study. It is important to ensure that your family and friends are an integral part of your study team. Having their support and encouragement can prove to be a crucial contribution to your successful completion of the program. Involve them in as much as you can.
Successful distance-learning
Distance-learners are freed from the necessity of attending regular classes or workshops, since they can study in their own way, at their own pace and for their own purposes. But unlike traditional internal training courses, it is the student’s responsibility, with a distance-learning program, to ensure that they manage their own study contribution. This requires strong self-discipline and self-motivation skills and there must be a clear will to succeed. Those students who are used to managing themselves, are good at managing others and who enjoy working in isolation, are more likely to be good distance-learners. It is also important to be aware of the main reasons why you are studying and of the main objectives that you are hoping to achieve as a result. You will need to remind yourself of these objectives at times when you need to motivate yourself. Never lose sight of your long-term goals and your short-term objectives. There is nobody available here to pamper you, or to look after you, or to spoon-feed you with information, so you will need to find ways to encourage and appreciate yourself while you are studying. Make sure that you chart your study progress, so that you can be sure of your achievements and re-evaluate your goals and objectives regularly.
Self-assessment
Appleton Greene training programs are in all cases post-graduate programs. Consequently, you should already have obtained a business-related degree and be an experienced learner. You should therefore already be aware of your study strengths and weaknesses. For example, which time of the day are you at your most productive? Are you a lark or an owl? What study methods do you respond to the most? Are you a consistent learner? How do you discipline yourself? How do you ensure that you enjoy yourself while studying? It is important to understand yourself as a learner and so some self-assessment early on will be necessary if you are to apply yourself correctly. Perform a SWOT analysis on yourself as a student. List your internal strengths and weaknesses as a student and your external opportunities and threats. This will help you later on when you are creating a study plan. You can then incorporate features within your study plan that can ensure that you are playing to your strengths, while compensating for your weaknesses. You can also ensure that you make the most of your opportunities, while avoiding the potential threats to your success.
Accepting responsibility as a student
Training programs invariably require a significant investment, both in terms of what they cost and in the time that you need to contribute to study and the responsibility for successful completion of training programs rests entirely with the student. This is never more apparent than when a student is learning via distance-learning. Accepting responsibility as a student is an important step towards ensuring that you can successfully complete your training program. It is easy to instantly blame other people or factors when things go wrong. But the fact of the matter is that if a failure is your failure, then you have the power to do something about it, it is entirely in your own hands. If it is always someone else’s failure, then you are powerless to do anything about it. All students study in entirely different ways, this is because we are all individuals and what is right for one student, is not necessarily right for another. In order to succeed, you will have to accept personal responsibility for finding a way to plan, implement and manage a personal study plan that works for you. If you do not succeed, you only have yourself to blame.
Planning
By far the most critical contribution to stress, is the feeling of not being in control. In the absence of planning we tend to be reactive and can stumble from pillar to post in the hope that things will turn out fine in the end. Invariably they don’t! In order to be in control, we need to have firm ideas about how and when we want to do things. We also need to consider as many possible eventualities as we can, so that we are prepared for them when they happen. Prescriptive Change, is far easier to manage and control, than Emergent Change. The same is true with distance-learning. It is much easier and much more enjoyable, if you feel that you are in control and that things are going to plan. Even when things do go wrong, you are prepared for them and can act accordingly without any unnecessary stress. It is important therefore that you do take time to plan your studies properly.
Management
Once you have developed a clear study plan, it is of equal importance to ensure that you manage the implementation of it. Most of us usually enjoy planning, but it is usually during implementation when things go wrong. Targets are not met and we do not understand why. Sometimes we do not even know if targets are being met. It is not enough for us to conclude that the study plan just failed. If it is failing, you will need to understand what you can do about it. Similarly if your study plan is succeeding, it is still important to understand why, so that you can improve upon your success. You therefore need to have guidelines for self-assessment so that you can be consistent with performance improvement throughout the program. If you manage things correctly, then your performance should constantly improve throughout the program.
Study objectives & tasks
The first place to start is developing your program objectives. These should feature your reasons for undertaking the training program in order of priority. Keep them succinct and to the point in order to avoid confusion. Do not just write the first things that come into your head because they are likely to be too similar to each other. Make a list of possible departmental headings, such as: Customer Service; E-business; Finance; Globalization; Human Resources; Technology; Legal; Management; Marketing and Production. Then brainstorm for ideas by listing as many things that you want to achieve under each heading and later re-arrange these things in order of priority. Finally, select the top item from each department heading and choose these as your program objectives. Try and restrict yourself to five because it will enable you to focus clearly. It is likely that the other things that you listed will be achieved if each of the top objectives are achieved. If this does not prove to be the case, then simply work through the process again.
Study forecast
As a guide, the Appleton Greene Women Empowerment corporate training program should take 12-18 months to complete, depending upon your availability and current commitments. The reason why there is such a variance in time estimates is because every student is an individual, with differing productivity levels and different commitments. These differentiations are then exaggerated by the fact that this is a distance-learning program, which incorporates the practical integration of academic theory as an as a part of the training program. Consequently all of the project studies are real, which means that important decisions and compromises need to be made. You will want to get things right and will need to be patient with your expectations in order to ensure that they are. We would always recommend that you are prudent with your own task and time forecasts, but you still need to develop them and have a clear indication of what are realistic expectations in your case. With reference to your time planning: consider the time that you can realistically dedicate towards study with the program every week; calculate how long it should take you to complete the program, using the guidelines featured here; then break the program down into logical modules and allocate a suitable proportion of time to each of them, these will be your milestones; you can create a time plan by using a spreadsheet on your computer, or a personal organizer such as MS Outlook, you could also use a financial forecasting software; break your time forecasts down into manageable chunks of time, the more specific you can be, the more productive and accurate your time management will be; finally, use formulas where possible to do your time calculations for you, because this will help later on when your forecasts need to change in line with actual performance. With reference to your task planning: refer to your list of tasks that need to be undertaken in order to achieve your program objectives; with reference to your time plan, calculate when each task should be implemented; remember that you are not estimating when your objectives will be achieved, but when you will need to focus upon implementing the corresponding tasks; you also need to ensure that each task is implemented in conjunction with the associated training modules which are relevant; then break each single task down into a list of specific to do’s, say approximately ten to do’s for each task and enter these into your study plan; once again you could use MS Outlook to incorporate both your time and task planning and this could constitute your study plan; you could also use a project management software like MS Project. You should now have a clear and realistic forecast detailing when you can expect to be able to do something about undertaking the tasks to achieve your program objectives.
Performance management
It is one thing to develop your study forecast, it is quite another to monitor your progress. Ultimately it is less important whether you achieve your original study forecast and more important that you update it so that it constantly remains realistic in line with your performance. As you begin to work through the program, you will begin to have more of an idea about your own personal performance and productivity levels as a distance-learner. Once you have completed your first study module, you should re-evaluate your study forecast for both time and tasks, so that they reflect your actual performance level achieved. In order to achieve this you must first time yourself while training by using an alarm clock. Set the alarm for hourly intervals and make a note of how far you have come within that time. You can then make a note of your actual performance on your study plan and then compare your performance against your forecast. Then consider the reasons that have contributed towards your performance level, whether they are positive or negative and make a considered adjustment to your future forecasts as a result. Given time, you should start achieving your forecasts regularly.
With reference to time management: time yourself while you are studying and make a note of the actual time taken in your study plan; consider your successes with time-efficiency and the reasons for the success in each case and take this into consideration when reviewing future time planning; consider your failures with time-efficiency and the reasons for the failures in each case and take this into consideration when reviewing future time planning; re-evaluate your study forecast in relation to time planning for the remainder of your training program to ensure that you continue to be realistic about your time expectations. You need to be consistent with your time management, otherwise you will never complete your studies. This will either be because you are not contributing enough time to your studies, or you will become less efficient with the time that you do allocate to your studies. Remember, if you are not in control of your studies, they can just become yet another cause of stress for you.
With reference to your task management: time yourself while you are studying and make a note of the actual tasks that you have undertaken in your study plan; consider your successes with task-efficiency and the reasons for the success in each case; take this into consideration when reviewing future task planning; consider your failures with task-efficiency and the reasons for the failures in each case and take this into consideration when reviewing future task planning; re-evaluate your study forecast in relation to task planning for the remainder of your training program to ensure that you continue to be realistic about your task expectations. You need to be consistent with your task management, otherwise you will never know whether you are achieving your program objectives or not.
Keeping in touch
You will have access to qualified and experienced professors and tutors who are responsible for providing tutorial support for your particular training program. So don’t be shy about letting them know how you are getting on. We keep electronic records of all tutorial support emails so that professors and tutors can review previous correspondence before considering an individual response. It also means that there is a record of all communications between you and your professors and tutors and this helps to avoid any unnecessary duplication, misunderstanding, or misinterpretation. If you have a problem relating to the program, share it with them via email. It is likely that they have come across the same problem before and are usually able to make helpful suggestions and steer you in the right direction. To learn more about when and how to use tutorial support, please refer to the Tutorial Support section of this student information guide. This will help you to ensure that you are making the most of tutorial support that is available to you and will ultimately contribute towards your success and enjoyment with your training program.
Work colleagues and family
You should certainly discuss your program study progress with your colleagues, friends and your family. Appleton Greene training programs are very practical. They require you to seek information from other people, to plan, develop and implement processes with other people and to achieve feedback from other people in relation to viability and productivity. You will therefore have plenty of opportunities to test your ideas and enlist the views of others. People tend to be sympathetic towards distance-learners, so don’t bottle it all up in yourself. Get out there and share it! It is also likely that your family and colleagues are going to benefit from your labors with the program, so they are likely to be much more interested in being involved than you might think. Be bold about delegating work to those who might benefit themselves. This is a great way to achieve understanding and commitment from people who you may later rely upon for process implementation. Share your experiences with your friends and family.
Making it relevant
The key to successful learning is to make it relevant to your own individual circumstances. At all times you should be trying to make bridges between the content of the program and your own situation. Whether you achieve this through quiet reflection or through interactive discussion with your colleagues, client partners or your family, remember that it is the most important and rewarding aspect of translating your studies into real self-improvement. You should be clear about how you want the program to benefit you. This involves setting clear study objectives in relation to the content of the course in terms of understanding, concepts, completing research or reviewing activities and relating the content of the modules to your own situation. Your objectives may understandably change as you work through the program, in which case you should enter the revised objectives on your study plan so that you have a permanent reminder of what you are trying to achieve, when and why.
Distance-learning check-list
Prepare your study environment, your study tools and rules.
Undertake detailed self-assessment in terms of your ability as a learner.
Create a format for your study plan.
Consider your study objectives and tasks.
Create a study forecast.
Assess your study performance.
Re-evaluate your study forecast.
Be consistent when managing your study plan.
Use your Appleton Greene Certified Learning Provider (CLP) for tutorial support.
Make sure you keep in touch with those around you.
Tutorial Support
Programs
Appleton Greene uses standard and bespoke corporate training programs as vessels to transfer business process improvement knowledge into the heart of our clients’ organizations. Each individual program focuses upon the implementation of a specific business process, which enables clients to easily quantify their return on investment. There are hundreds of established Appleton Greene corporate training products now available to clients within customer services, e-business, finance, globalization, human resources, information technology, legal, management, marketing and production. It does not matter whether a client’s employees are located within one office, or an unlimited number of international offices, we can still bring them together to learn and implement specific business processes collectively. Our approach to global localization enables us to provide clients with a truly international service with that all important personal touch. Appleton Greene corporate training programs can be provided virtually or locally and they are all unique in that they individually focus upon a specific business function. They are implemented over a sustainable period of time and professional support is consistently provided by qualified learning providers and specialist consultants.
Support available
You will have a designated Certified Learning Provider (CLP) and an Accredited Consultant and we encourage you to communicate with them as much as possible. In all cases tutorial support is provided online because we can then keep a record of all communications to ensure that tutorial support remains consistent. You would also be forwarding your work to the tutorial support unit for evaluation and assessment. You will receive individual feedback on all of the work that you undertake on a one-to-one basis, together with specific recommendations for anything that may need to be changed in order to achieve a pass with merit or a pass with distinction and you then have as many opportunities as you may need to re-submit project studies until they meet with the required standard. Consequently the only reason that you should really fail (CLP) is if you do not do the work. It makes no difference to us whether a student takes 12 months or 18 months to complete the program, what matters is that in all cases the same quality standard will have been achieved.
Support Process
Please forward all of your future emails to the designated (CLP) Tutorial Support Unit email address that has been provided and please do not duplicate or copy your emails to other AGC email accounts as this will just cause unnecessary administration. Please note that emails are always answered as quickly as possible but you will need to allow a period of up to 20 business days for responses to general tutorial support emails during busy periods, because emails are answered strictly within the order in which they are received. You will also need to allow a period of up to 30 business days for the evaluation and assessment of project studies. This does not include weekends or public holidays. Please therefore kindly allow for this within your time planning. All communications are managed online via email because it enables tutorial service support managers to review other communications which have been received before responding and it ensures that there is a copy of all communications retained on file for future reference. All communications will be stored within your personal (CLP) study file here at Appleton Greene throughout your designated study period. If you need any assistance or clarification at any time, please do not hesitate to contact us by forwarding an email and remember that we are here to help. If you have any questions, please list and number your questions succinctly and you can then be sure of receiving specific answers to each and every query.
Time Management
It takes approximately 1 Year to complete the Women Empowerment corporate training program, incorporating 12 x 6-hour monthly workshops. Each student will also need to contribute approximately 4 hours per week over 1 Year of their personal time. Students can study from home or work at their own pace and are responsible for managing their own study plan. There are no formal examinations and students are evaluated and assessed based upon their project study submissions, together with the quality of their internal analysis and supporting documents. They can contribute more time towards study when they have the time to do so and can contribute less time when they are busy. All students tend to be in full time employment while studying and the Women Empowerment program is purposely designed to accommodate this, so there is plenty of flexibility in terms of time management. It makes no difference to us at Appleton Greene, whether individuals take 12-18 months to complete this program. What matters is that in all cases the same standard of quality will have been achieved with the standard and bespoke programs that have been developed.
Distance Learning Guide
The distance learning guide should be your first port of call when starting your training program. It will help you when you are planning how and when to study, how to create the right environment and how to establish the right frame of mind. If you can lay the foundations properly during the planning stage, then it will contribute to your enjoyment and productivity while training later. The guide helps to change your lifestyle in order to accommodate time for study and to cultivate good study habits. It helps you to chart your progress so that you can measure your performance and achieve your goals. It explains the tools that you will need for study and how to make them work. It also explains how to translate academic theory into practical reality. Spend some time now working through your distance learning guide and make sure that you have firm foundations in place so that you can make the most of your distance learning program. There is no requirement for you to attend training workshops or classes at Appleton Greene offices. The entire program is undertaken online, program course manuals and project studies are administered via the Appleton Greene web site and via email, so you are able to study at your own pace and in the comfort of your own home or office as long as you have a computer and access to the internet.
How To Study
The how to study guide provides students with a clear understanding of the Appleton Greene facilitation via distance learning training methods and enables students to obtain a clear overview of the training program content. It enables students to understand the step-by-step training methods used by Appleton Greene and how course manuals are integrated with project studies. It explains the research and development that is required and the need to provide evidence and references to support your statements. It also enables students to understand precisely what will be required of them in order to achieve a pass with merit and a pass with distinction for individual project studies and provides useful guidance on how to be innovative and creative when developing your Unique Program Proposition (UPP).
Tutorial Support
Tutorial support for the Appleton Greene Women Empowerment corporate training program is provided online either through the Appleton Greene Client Support Portal (CSP), or via email. All tutorial support requests are facilitated by a designated Program Administration Manager (PAM). They are responsible for deciding which professor or tutor is the most appropriate option relating to the support required and then the tutorial support request is forwarded onto them. Once the professor or tutor has completed the tutorial support request and answered any questions that have been asked, this communication is then returned to the student via email by the designated Program Administration Manager (PAM). This enables all tutorial support, between students, professors and tutors, to be facilitated by the designated Program Administration Manager (PAM) efficiently and securely through the email account. You will therefore need to allow a period of up to 20 business days for responses to general support queries and up to 30 business days for the evaluation and assessment of project studies, because all tutorial support requests are answered strictly within the order in which they are received. This does not include weekends or public holidays. Consequently you need to put some thought into the management of your tutorial support procedure in order to ensure that your study plan is feasible and to obtain the maximum possible benefit from tutorial support during your period of study. Please retain copies of your tutorial support emails for future reference. Please ensure that ALL of your tutorial support emails are set out using the format as suggested within your guide to tutorial support. Your tutorial support emails need to be referenced clearly to the specific part of the course manual or project study which you are working on at any given time. You also need to list and number any questions that you would like to ask, up to a maximum of five questions within each tutorial support email. Remember the more specific you can be with your questions the more specific your answers will be too and this will help you to avoid any unnecessary misunderstanding, misinterpretation, or duplication. The guide to tutorial support is intended to help you to understand how and when to use support in order to ensure that you get the most out of your training program. Appleton Greene training programs are designed to enable you to do things for yourself. They provide you with a structure or a framework and we use tutorial support to facilitate students while they practically implement what they learn. In other words, we are enabling students to do things for themselves. The benefits of distance learning via facilitation are considerable and are much more sustainable in the long-term than traditional short-term knowledge sharing programs. Consequently you should learn how and when to use tutorial support so that you can maximize the benefits from your learning experience with Appleton Greene. This guide describes the purpose of each training function and how to use them and how to use tutorial support in relation to each aspect of the training program. It also provides useful tips and guidance with regard to best practice.
Tutorial Support Tips
Students are often unsure about how and when to use tutorial support with Appleton Greene. This Tip List will help you to understand more about how to achieve the most from using tutorial support. Refer to it regularly to ensure that you are continuing to use the service properly. Tutorial support is critical to the success of your training experience, but it is important to understand when and how to use it in order to maximize the benefit that you receive. It is no coincidence that those students who succeed are those that learn how to be positive, proactive and productive when using tutorial support.
Be positive and friendly with your tutorial support emails
Remember that if you forward an email to the tutorial support unit, you are dealing with real people. “Do unto others as you would expect others to do unto you”. If you are positive, complimentary and generally friendly in your emails, you will generate a similar response in return. This will be more enjoyable, productive and rewarding for you in the long-term.
Think about the impression that you want to create
Every time that you communicate, you create an impression, which can be either positive or negative, so put some thought into the impression that you want to create. Remember that copies of all tutorial support emails are stored electronically and tutors will always refer to prior correspondence before responding to any current emails. Over a period of time, a general opinion will be arrived at in relation to your character, attitude and ability. Try to manage your own frustrations, mood swings and temperament professionally, without involving the tutorial support team. Demonstrating frustration or a lack of patience is a weakness and will be interpreted as such. The good thing about communicating in writing, is that you will have the time to consider your content carefully, you can review it and proof-read it before sending your email to Appleton Greene and this should help you to communicate more professionally, consistently and to avoid any unnecessary knee-jerk reactions to individual situations as and when they may arise. Please also remember that the CLP Tutorial Support Unit will not just be responsible for evaluating and assessing the quality of your work, they will also be responsible for providing recommendations to other learning providers and to client contacts within the Appleton Greene global client network, so do be in control of your own emotions and try to create a good impression.
Remember that quality is preferred to quantity
Please remember that when you send an email to the tutorial support team, you are not using Twitter or Text Messaging. Try not to forward an email every time that you have a thought. This will not prove to be productive either for you or for the tutorial support team. Take time to prepare your communications properly, as if you were writing a professional letter to a business colleague and make a list of queries that you are likely to have and then incorporate them within one email, say once every month, so that the tutorial support team can understand more about context, application and your methodology for study. Get yourself into a consistent routine with your tutorial support requests and use the tutorial support template provided with ALL of your emails. The (CLP) Tutorial Support Unit will not spoon-feed you with information. They need to be able to evaluate and assess your tutorial support requests carefully and professionally.
Be specific about your questions in order to receive specific answers
Try not to write essays by thinking as you are writing tutorial support emails. The tutorial support unit can be unclear about what in fact you are asking, or what you are looking to achieve. Be specific about asking questions that you want answers to. Number your questions. You will then receive specific answers to each and every question. This is the main purpose of tutorial support via email.
Keep a record of your tutorial support emails
It is important that you keep a record of all tutorial support emails that are forwarded to you. You can then refer to them when necessary and it avoids any unnecessary duplication, misunderstanding, or misinterpretation.
Individual training workshops or telephone support
Please be advised that Appleton Greene does not provide separate or individual tutorial support meetings, workshops, or provide telephone support for individual students. Appleton Greene is an equal opportunities learning and service provider and we are therefore understandably bound to treat all students equally. We cannot therefore broker special financial or study arrangements with individual students regardless of the circumstances. All tutorial support is provided online and this enables Appleton Greene to keep a record of all communications between students, professors and tutors on file for future reference, in accordance with our quality management procedure and your terms and conditions of enrolment. All tutorial support is provided online via email because it enables us to have time to consider support content carefully, it ensures that you receive a considered and detailed response to your queries. You can number questions that you would like to ask, which relate to things that you do not understand or where clarification may be required. You can then be sure of receiving specific answers to each individual query. You will also then have a record of these communications and of all tutorial support, which has been provided to you. This makes tutorial support administration more productive by avoiding any unnecessary duplication, misunderstanding, or misinterpretation.
Tutorial Support Email Format
You should use this tutorial support format if you need to request clarification or assistance while studying with your training program. Please note that ALL of your tutorial support request emails should use the same format. You should therefore set up a standard email template, which you can then use as and when you need to. Emails that are forwarded to Appleton Greene, which do not use the following format, may be rejected and returned to you by the (CLP) Program Administration Manager. A detailed response will then be forwarded to you via email usually within 20 business days of receipt for general support queries and 30 business days for the evaluation and assessment of project studies. This does not include weekends or public holidays. Your tutorial support request, together with the corresponding TSU reply, will then be saved and stored within your electronic TSU file at Appleton Greene for future reference.
Subject line of your email
Please insert: Appleton Greene (CLP) Tutorial Support Request: (Your Full Name) (Date), within the subject line of your email.
Main body of your email
Please insert:
1. Appleton Greene Certified Learning Provider (CLP) Tutorial Support Request
2. Your Full Name
3. Date of TS request
4. Preferred email address
5. Backup email address
6. Course manual page name or number (reference)
7. Project study page name or number (reference)
Subject of enquiry
Please insert a maximum of 50 words (please be succinct)
Briefly outline the subject matter of your inquiry, or what your questions relate to.
Question 1
Maximum of 50 words (please be succinct)
Maximum of 50 words (please be succinct)
Question 3
Maximum of 50 words (please be succinct)
Question 4
Maximum of 50 words (please be succinct)
Question 5
Maximum of 50 words (please be succinct)
Please note that a maximum of 5 questions is permitted with each individual tutorial support request email.
Procedure
* List the questions that you want to ask first, then re-arrange them in order of priority. Make sure that you reference them, where necessary, to the course manuals or project studies.
* Make sure that you are specific about your questions and number them. Try to plan the content within your emails to make sure that it is relevant.
* Make sure that your tutorial support emails are set out correctly, using the Tutorial Support Email Format provided here.
* Save a copy of your email and incorporate the date sent after the subject title. Keep your tutorial support emails within the same file and in date order for easy reference.
* Allow up to 20 business days for a response to general tutorial support emails and up to 30 business days for the evaluation and assessment of project studies, because detailed individual responses will be made in all cases and tutorial support emails are answered strictly within the order in which they are received.
* Emails can and do get lost. So if you have not received a reply within the appropriate time, forward another copy or a reminder to the tutorial support unit to be sure that it has been received but do not forward reminders unless the appropriate time has elapsed.
* When you receive a reply, save it immediately featuring the date of receipt after the subject heading for easy reference. In most cases the tutorial support unit replies to your questions individually, so you will have a record of the questions that you asked as well as the answers offered. With project studies however, separate emails are usually forwarded by the tutorial support unit, so do keep a record of your own original emails as well.
* Remember to be positive and friendly in your emails. You are dealing with real people who will respond to the same things that you respond to.
* Try not to repeat questions that have already been asked in previous emails. If this happens the tutorial support unit will probably just refer you to the appropriate answers that have already been provided within previous emails.
* If you lose your tutorial support email records you can write to Appleton Greene to receive a copy of your tutorial support file, but a separate administration charge may be levied for this service.
How To Study
Your Certified Learning Provider (CLP) and Accredited Consultant can help you to plan a task list for getting started so that you can be clear about your direction and your priorities in relation to your training program. It is also a good way to introduce yourself to the tutorial support team.
Planning your study environment
Your study conditions are of great importance and will have a direct effect on how much you enjoy your training program. Consider how much space you will have, whether it is comfortable and private and whether you are likely to be disturbed. The study tools and facilities at your disposal are also important to the success of your distance-learning experience. Your tutorial support unit can help with useful tips and guidance, regardless of your starting position. It is important to get this right before you start working on your training program.
Planning your program objectives
It is important that you have a clear list of study objectives, in order of priority, before you start working on your training program. Your tutorial support unit can offer assistance here to ensure that your study objectives have been afforded due consideration and priority.
Planning how and when to study
Distance-learners are freed from the necessity of attending regular classes, since they can study in their own way, at their own pace and for their own purposes. This approach is designed to let you study efficiently away from the traditional classroom environment. It is important however, that you plan how and when to study, so that you are making the most of your natural attributes, strengths and opportunities. Your tutorial support unit can offer assistance and useful tips to ensure that you are playing to your strengths.
Planning your study tasks
You should have a clear understanding of the study tasks that you should be undertaking and the priority associated with each task. These tasks should also be integrated with your program objectives. The distance learning guide and the guide to tutorial support for students should help you here, but if you need any clarification or assistance, please contact your tutorial support unit.
Planning your time
You will need to allocate specific times during your calendar when you intend to study if you are to have a realistic chance of completing your program on time. You are responsible for planning and managing your own study time, so it is important that you are successful with this. Your tutorial support unit can help you with this if your time plan is not working.
Keeping in touch
Consistency is the key here. If you communicate too frequently in short bursts, or too infrequently with no pattern, then your management ability with your studies will be questioned, both by you and by your tutorial support unit. It is obvious when a student is in control and when one is not and this will depend how able you are at sticking with your study plan. Inconsistency invariably leads to in-completion.
Charting your progress
Your tutorial support team can help you to chart your own study progress. Refer to your distance learning guide for further details.
Making it work
To succeed, all that you will need to do is apply yourself to undertaking your training program and interpreting it correctly. Success or failure lies in your hands and your hands alone, so be sure that you have a strategy for making it work. Your Certified Learning Provider (CLP) and Accredited Consultant can guide you through the process of program planning, development and implementation.
Reading methods
Interpretation is often unique to the individual but it can be improved and even quantified by implementing consistent interpretation methods. Interpretation can be affected by outside interference such as family members, TV, or the Internet, or simply by other thoughts which are demanding priority in our minds. One thing that can improve our productivity is using recognized reading methods. This helps us to focus and to be more structured when reading information for reasons of importance, rather than relaxation.
Speed reading
When reading through course manuals for the first time, subconsciously set your reading speed to be just fast enough that you cannot dwell on individual words or tables. With practice, you should be able to read an A4 sheet of paper in one minute. You will not achieve much in the way of a detailed understanding, but your brain will retain a useful overview. This overview will be important later on and will enable you to keep individual issues in perspective with a more generic picture because speed reading appeals to the memory part of the brain. Do not worry about what you do or do not remember at this stage.
Content reading
Once you have speed read everything, you can then start work in earnest. You now need to read a particular section of your course manual thoroughly, by making detailed notes while you read. This process is called Content Reading and it will help to consolidate your understanding and interpretation of the information that has been provided.
Making structured notes on the course manuals
When you are content reading, you should be making detailed notes, which are both structured and informative. Make these notes in a MS Word document on your computer, because you can then amend and update these as and when you deem it to be necessary. List your notes under three headings: 1. Interpretation – 2. Questions – 3. Tasks. The purpose of the 1st section is to clarify your interpretation by writing it down. The purpose of the 2nd section is to list any questions that the issue raises for you. The purpose of the 3rd section is to list any tasks that you should undertake as a result. Anyone who has graduated with a business-related degree should already be familiar with this process.
Organizing structured notes separately
You should then transfer your notes to a separate study notebook, preferably one that enables easy referencing, such as a MS Word Document, a MS Excel Spreadsheet, a MS Access Database, or a personal organizer on your cell phone. Transferring your notes allows you to have the opportunity of cross-checking and verifying them, which assists considerably with understanding and interpretation. You will also find that the better you are at doing this, the more chance you will have of ensuring that you achieve your study objectives.
Question your understanding
Do challenge your understanding. Explain things to yourself in your own words by writing things down.
Clarifying your understanding
If you are at all unsure, forward an email to your tutorial support unit and they will help to clarify your understanding.
Question your interpretation
Do challenge your interpretation. Qualify your interpretation by writing it down.
Clarifying your interpretation
If you are at all unsure, forward an email to your tutorial support unit and they will help to clarify your interpretation.
Qualification Requirements
The student will need to successfully complete the project study and all of the exercises relating to the Women Empowerment corporate training program, achieving a pass with merit or distinction in each case, in order to qualify as an Accredited Women Empowerment Specialist (AWES). All monthly workshops need to be tried and tested within your company. These project studies can be completed in your own time and at your own pace and in the comfort of your own home or office. There are no formal examinations, assessment is based upon the successful completion of the project studies. They are called project studies because, unlike case studies, these projects are not theoretical, they incorporate real program processes that need to be properly researched and developed. The project studies assist us in measuring your understanding and interpretation of the training program and enable us to assess qualification merits. All of the project studies are based entirely upon the content within the training program and they enable you to integrate what you have learnt into your corporate training practice.
Women Empowerment – Grading Contribution
Project Study – Grading Contribution
Customer Service – 10%
E-business – 05%
Finance – 10%
Globalization – 10%
Human Resources – 10%
Information Technology – 10%
Legal – 05%
Management – 10%
Marketing – 10%
Production – 10%
Education – 05%
Logistics – 05%
TOTAL GRADING – 100%
Qualification grades
A mark of 90% = Pass with Distinction.
A mark of 75% = Pass with Merit.
A mark of less than 75% = Fail.
If you fail to achieve a mark of 75% with a project study, you will receive detailed feedback from the Certified Learning Provider (CLP) and/or Accredited Consultant, together with a list of tasks which you will need to complete, in order to ensure that your project study meets with the minimum quality standard that is required by Appleton Greene. You can then re-submit your project study for further evaluation and assessment. Indeed you can re-submit as many drafts of your project studies as you need to, until such a time as they eventually meet with the required standard by Appleton Greene, so you need not worry about this, it is all part of the learning process.
When marking project studies, Appleton Greene is looking for sufficient evidence of the following:
Pass with merit
A satisfactory level of program understanding
A satisfactory level of program interpretation
A satisfactory level of project study content presentation
A satisfactory level of Unique Program Proposition (UPP) quality
A satisfactory level of the practical integration of academic theory
Pass with distinction
An exceptional level of program understanding
An exceptional level of program interpretation
An exceptional level of project study content presentation
An exceptional level of Unique Program Proposition (UPP) quality
An exceptional level of the practical integration of academic theory
Preliminary Analysis
Do you have the presence of a leader? Executive presence is a crucial skill in business and life: the ability to connect with others by making your case and communicating genuine emotion, even in the most intimidating situations. You can learn to combine your breath, your voice, your body language, your passionate belief in what you’re saying, and your authentic self so profoundly that people won’t be able to look away, whether you’re leading a team meeting or giving a formal presentation to a large group.
When your employees develop a strong executive presence, this will result in significant changes in the company’s culture, leadership, productivity, and retention. The Executive Presence Workshop will provide a proven process to develop the executive presence and influence of your women team members, so they can be more composed, confident, charismatic as well as, improve their communication skills. This will lead to becoming a more effective leader in the organization.
Opportunity for Change
As women continue to advance their careers and take on more leadership roles, they must have a strong executive presence to allow them to effectively lead, influence and inspire their team.
The Women Empowerment Leadership Program is a method of accelerating women’s professional development at work. Women have made significant strides in the workplace, but there is no doubt that they continue to face challenges in climbing the corporate ladder. This program provides the necessary support and tools to ensure that these women have everything they need to succeed. This will in turn benefit the overall growth and profitability of the company.
Workshop 6 – Executive Presence focuses on Personal Presence which the third step in the Women Empowerment Transformation Process.
Preparing for the Workshop
Participants are encouraged to continue to show up with an open mind and be ready for a transformation from the inside out. Once again, there will be a lot of mindset work that involves being open to change. You will also need to be ready to learn new skills and start adopting them into your current role in the company.
Be sure to assess your organizations current stance on leadership development this will be helpful before you start making significant changes to its structure.
Take a look at your current processes and infrastructure.
Participants should also ensure that they are familiar with the major people-related processes of the company. All participants should be familiar with the processes of performance management, recruitment, talent assessment, and talent development. The workshop’s goal is not to change these processes, but rather to supplement them with the 5 Step Women’s Empowerment Business Transformation Process (Mindset Shift, Leadership Development, Personal Presence, Advanced Communications Skills and Creating and Implementing an Action Plan) to improve their effectiveness. Participants compile a list of their most recent successes and failures in each of these processes. The list will be useful later on when discussing how to integrate the process into the existing model.
It may be advantageous to the participants if these processes are also examined from the perspective of the employees. One or two of the participants should meet with a few key employees to discuss the success of the processes. The effectiveness of these processes, rather than the method itself, should be the focal point of these discussions. When discussing the efficacy of the process, it is critical to consider the outcomes from the perspective of the people it is supposed to help. Ineffective processes, regardless of their efficiency, fail to meet the expectations of the customer. The Women’s Empowerment Business Transformation Process will be able to fill in the gaps discovered by identifying flaws in these procedures.
The sixth workshop in our Women Empowerment Program – Executive Presence will demonstrate how executive presence can help you lead your team more effectively and achieve your organizational goals. We will explore how to be seen as an expert in your industry and how you can use your influence to better lead and inspire your team. This workshop will provide all the tools and strategies to help you develop these skills.
How this will be achieved, is by implementation of the following strategies:
1. Learn a present moment meditation and how to lead a group meditation to instantly become more present.
2. 14 steps to develop a powerful executive presence.
3. How to create a strong personal brand statement and steps to develop your own unique personal brand.
4. Exact steps to give your LinkedIn Profile a makeover.
5. Tips to increase your workplace presence.
6. Strategies to strengthen your professional courage.
7. Ways to improve your professional appearance.
8. Implementing your professional values in the workplace.
9. How to influence by creating an emotional relationship.
10. Learn 10 key influencing skills.
11. Discover your influencing style.
12. Learn how to use body language to get what you want in life and at work.
Sources/Resources –
Course 6:1 – Essence of Presence
Meditation Scripts
{Download of – 8 Guided Meditation scripts]
Course 6:6: Personal Appearance
Case Study: The Cognitive Consequences of Formal Clothing – Michael L. Slepian, Simon N. Ferber, Joshua M. Gold, Abraham M. Rutchick, 2015 (sagepub.com) ]
Course 6:8: Professional Values
Explore Personal Values Exercise – 17 Effective Leadership Activities and Games (That Work Online Too) | SessionLab
Course 6:11- Grow Influence
Read more at: https://www.scienceofpeople.com/increase-influence/
Top 3 Books on Influence:
• Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini
• How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
• Captivate: The Science of Succeeding with People by Vanessa Van Edwards
Course 6:12 – Body Language
Body Language | Science of People
https://www.scienceofpeople.com/category/body-language/
Truth and Lies Exercise: https://www.workamajig.com/blog/team-building-activities
Preliminary Plan
It’s important to have a plan to start implementing the processes learned throughout the workshop. Here are the steps to get this “project” started.
• Define the scope and objectives. Why is this project being initiated? …
• Define the roles and responsibilities.
• Next, you need to identify the project stakeholders – the ones who are responsible for its success.
• Set milestones and create a timeline.
• Then, it’s time to break down the work that needs to be done into manageable blocks. …
• Hold regular meetings to check in on the progress.
Course Manuals 1-12
Course Manual 1: Essence of Presence
Presence. The word is powerful on its own, but the concept is even more so. This concept, also known as executive presence, can make or break a leader’s success.
What exactly do we mean when we say someone has a strong “presence”? I mean, what exactly does it mean? If you poll 100 people (which the Latimer Group did), you might get 50 different answers. To different people, a strong presence means different things. And when you force people to define it, you end up with high-level, intangible concepts like “confidence.” Then, when you offer to let someone off the hook for their attempted description by simply saying, “we’ll know it when we see it,” they smile and enthusiastically agree.
We recognize it when we see it, don’t we? But, more specifically, what is it?
It CAN mean a variety of things. And “it” can be had by people of all shapes, sizes, ages, and attitudes. Tall and short people, slender and heavy set, young and old, male and female, executive and not… have all had a strong presence. A person’s presence can come from a variety of sources.
At The Latimer Group, they describe presence as the sum total of lots of seemingly small things. All aspects, while each seemingly insignificant, eventually add up to something noticeable. Things like the way we stand (up straight? facing the room?), the way we look people in the eye, our rate of speech, the polish in our words, the way we dress, the way we collaborate, the way we treat others, the questions we ask, the things we show an interest in, the things we speak about… we could go on and on. Each of these things contributes towards our presence.
When we stand (or sit) up straight and face the people we’re speaking to; when we look people in the eye; when we dress for the job we want, not necessarily the job we have; when we speak with enough polish that we sound intelligent and well-informed; when we pause occasionally and don’t appear to be in a huge rush and frantic all the time; when we ask questions and listen to people’s answers; when we speak about “executive issues” and don’t get stuck in People take notice when we can do all of these things. They recall who we are and what we have said.
So, take your time and think about it. What draws your attention to people? What is it about their names and what they said that makes you remember them? What makes a person’s presence memorable to you?
And, while you’re thinking about the presence of others, consider your own presence. Is it what you truly desire or need it to be?
In this lesson, we will unravel the presence mystery and help you to identify your personal presence.
The Meaning of Presence
At its most basic level, presence is awareness.
Nothing ever truly changes. A timeless, Eternal sense of Beingness is at the heart of everything. This “Is-ness” is universal energy, the very fabric of energy that holds everything together.
You are already (and will always be) a part of this timeless, eternal essence because you exist. When we talk about presence, we’re referring to your awareness of this fact. Thus, presence reflects your own awareness of your true, eternal essence.
When you are truly present, you release your pain body and live a life of joy rather than suffering. You become more loving, compassionate, and understanding of your relationship with All That Is.
If you pile up all of your experiences (make a list), you will begin to recognize where you shine, where you belong, where you love to lead, and where you want to help others become like you and achieve An Essence of Presence…
The Present Moment vs. Presence
The concept of presence differs from the concept of the present moment. The Eternal Now, or simply The Now, is another name for the present moment.
The Now is a portal to presence, but it is not presence itself. For example, you can exist in The Now without being aware that you are doing so. Presence is the recognition of The Now.
What exactly is an Essence of Presence?
What if you could be happy simply by being the same person in all of your interactions and relationships with family, friends, the community, and yourself?
Not having to hide your affection, love, words, and intentions. When you are at peace with yourself and surrender to the desire to live your life with Passion, Purpose, and Play…every life experience, conversation, and emotion becomes a part of who you are.
If you pile up all of your experiences (make a list), you will begin to recognize where you shine, where you belong, where you love to lead, you can help others become like you and achieve an Essence of Presence.
When you discover what makes you happy and what fulfills you and you’re willing to go above and beyond to use it to serve others this allows your presence to shine!
“Presence is the key to freedom, so you can only be free now.” Eckhart Tolle
Present Moment Meditation
Here is a very simple meditation you can use to center yourself in the present moment. It only takes 5 minutes and is a great technique for beginners and experienced meditators alike. The practice is one of recognizing: “Now, I am breathing in. Now, I am breathing out.” Take 5 minutes to concentrate on taking slow deep breaths.
“One conscious breath in and out is a meditation.” Eckhart Tolle
Reminders for the Present Moment
The key to remaining present in the moment is to return to your state of heightened awareness. I always say that becoming present is not a difficult act. The difficulty lies in our ability to put it into practice as we go about our daily lives.
One technique for assisting with this is to create a series of present-moment reminders. This can range from scheduling a daily meditation time to carrying a gemstone or other symbol with you and remembering to focus on presence whenever you touch it. The point is to create actions that will remind you to be present, and then use simple breathing exercises or mindfulness techniques to help you do so.
Another effective strategy is to concentrate on ways to simplify your life. When you declutter your daily routine, you create more space and time for yourself to reflect on your inner joy. You will be able to stay present more consistently if there are fewer external distractions.
Workplace Presence Training
Work can be one of the most difficult places to practice presence. When confronted with a situation in which we frequently need to balance external, worldly goals and ambitions with people we may or may not enjoy the company of, it is an excellent opportunity to learn how to let go of your ego’s desires and learn how to be present and live in the now by focusing on love, appreciation, and gratitude.
Improving Relationship Presence
One of the most important practices to master if you want to deepen presence in your close relationships is learning to identify the demands your ego places on the relationship.
Even when we are dealing with people we care deeply about (perhaps especially when we are dealing with people we care deeply about), our ego has a tendency to make subtle demands. Without realizing it, we condition the love we express, causing pain and separation in many cases in a very subtle way because our love is conditional. Our ego forces us to become engrossed in pain. The path out of that suffering is through presence.
To deepen your connection with others, you must practice letting go of your expectations of them. This can be a very intense and intimate process of honoring another’s true calling and seeing how they are striving spiritually through the experiences of this world, just as you are.
(Use the Letting Go Process from Workshop 2 – Course Manual 2:2 Limiting Beliefs)
“Presence is when you’re no longer waiting for the next moment, believing that the next moment will be more fulfilling than this one.” – Eckhart Tolle
Case Study on Executive Presence:
(Provided by CKB Consultants)
I shared about the qualities required to project Executive Presence. Now, let’s look at someone who demonstrates it.
Last week I observed a recently hired senior leader participate in an all-hands meeting with her new organization’s team – about 120 people from all over the country. How did she display executive presence?
Instead, she started with a short story about arriving at a recent Leadership Conference as a newbie. It was personal and it drew her audience in. She began her story with a clear, strong voice, and direct eye contact (helping to ensure she had the audience’s attention). She then talked about what she learned at the leadership conference (everybody wants to know what goes on at those conferences). She also included people in the audience by name – not easy to do since she didn’t know many of these people well. But she made the effort, and that effort was clear to everyone.
She ended her presentation telling one more story. It was about her transition into her new company. Again, it was a personal story. She recounted how she had told her husband about the Leadership Conference, and he asked her: Do you realize what you just did? You started referring to your colleagues as “we,” not “them.” And then she gave the audience big smile. It was a simple but powerful statement.
The Power of Group Meditation
An organized meditation with a group is an opportunity for those who might not practice alone to show up. If the group mediates together overtime, this is likely to have a positive impact on the individual meditation habits of each group member. Meditating with others creates a sense of connectedness.
Our world is more connected than ever before. Connection is at our fingertips, from shared social media to the rapid dissemination of news and information. Talking to someone on the other side of the world has never been easier and staying up to date on world events is just as simple.
However, while these rapid modes of communication benefit us in many ways, many of us feel isolated, disconnected, and alone. We may share a lot of information, but we often struggle to connect on a heart level with those around us.
Group meditation allows us to counteract some of the negative effects of our paradoxically connected and solitary experiences. It touches us in ways that most other activities do not because it allows us to share meaningful space with others. Among these advantages are the following:
Habit formation can be aided by group meditation.
An organized group meditation provides an opportunity for those who may not practice alone to participate. If the group meditates together over time, it is likely to have a positive impact on each group member’s individual meditation habits.
Meditating with others fosters a sense of community.
Meditation may be perceived as a lonely experience by some. We aren’t always good at sitting quietly and mindfully in a world full of distractions. A group meditation, on the other hand, provides the benefits of both the inward, personal experience and the shared experience. We practice individually but collectively, each working toward a common goal.
Group meditation broadens our understanding of how to share space with others.
The modern Western world tends to assume that social gatherings must involve food, drink, and/or entertainment. Meditation groups disagree with this assumption. We become more comfortable sharing space without distractions as we experiment with new ways of being together. We begin to feel more at ease being authentic, open, and honest.
Group settings allow us to share our experiences and feedback.
If we have any questions about our meditation experience, others in a meditation group can offer support or feedback. We strengthen our own practice and encourage the growth of others by sharing techniques, trials, and triumphs.
Who facilitates group meditations?
So, while group meditation appears to be a good idea, who organizes and guides them? Given the adaptability of mindfulness and meditation to a wide range of settings and scenarios, there are no hard and fast rules. However, some of the people who frequently benefit and succeed from leading group meditations are:
Educators
Mindfulness teachings can be incorporated into lessons at any level. There are numerous ways to explore meditation with youth, ranging from incorporating simple breathing techniques into physical education to reading meditation scripts for relaxation. The practices and scripts chosen will be determined by the class’s age and maturity.
Professionals in Health and Wellness
Health and wellness professionals are another group of people who frequently lead group meditations. Yoga instructors, social workers, and coaches, for example, may use guided meditation scripts to help those they work with. This could be done in a group setting in workshops, schools, conferences, or any other appropriate setting.
Corporate Leaders
Bringing mindfulness into the workplace can help employees reduce stress while also increasing their well-being and productivity. These types of sessions may be led by corporate leaders or human resource professionals who have received training. Regardless of formal training, scripts for mindfulness meditation can assist in guiding employees through these practices.
Parents
A group can also be as small as a family. If you are a parent, using guided meditation scripts for kids can help you bring more peace, happiness, and presence into your children’s lives. In this case, look into age-appropriate meditations, starting with something short and sweet for the youngest family members.
How to Lead Meditation Groups
It takes more than a script to guide others through mindfulness and meditation practice. You can tailor the following suggestions to the needs and goals of the group you’re working with:
1. Learn about the backgrounds and goals of those you’ll be working with.
Leading a youth group in meditation is very different from guiding adults in anxiety-relieving practices. Knowing who you’re working with and what they’re looking for will help you choose the right script. Relaxation meditation scripts are a good place to start, but make sure the language, length, and techniques covered are appropriate.
2. Select a relaxing and soothing environment.
You should also think about your environment. In some cases, you will have more control over where the session takes place than in others. In any case, keep temperature and lighting in mind, as well as your ability to adjust them. Take note of the props that are available. Are there any chairs or cushions? If not, what are you able to bring with you to promote peace and relaxation?
3. Think about what kinds of tools you’ll need.
In addition to the last point, feel free to incorporate any helpful tools into your guided meditation. Music and singing bowls, for example, are beautiful tools that can contribute to a collective sense of peace. If you’re thinking about using aromas or essential oils, make sure no one in the group is allergic to them. Also, keep in mind that an extra set of hands may be just what you need. Consider having someone assist you or collaborate with you from the start.
4. Be aware of the space you occupy, as well as the tone and pace of your voice.
Finally, it is critical to remember that meditation is not a comfortable experience for everyone. While one person may feel at ease in these group settings, others may feel out of place. Warmly greet everyone, checking in before and after the sitting to see if anyone requires additional assistance. Make sure your tone and pace of speech are also soothing.
Exercise 6:1: Group Meditation- Practicing Being Present
Alleviate Stress with Three Simple Breaths [Download and Print Script Here] Source: (mindfulnessexercises.com)
When guiding groups, this simple guided meditation for deeper breathing is a great place to start. It includes positive affirmations to redirect the mind as well as mindful breath awareness. This script also includes time stamps to indicate how long to hold pauses for.
Here’s The “Alleviate Stress With Three Deep Breaths” Guided Meditation Script:
[voice at the beginning of the session is serious yet calm and soothing, speaking at a slower yet comfortable speed] (words that are underlined should be emphasized and said with great passion)Begin by taking a deep breath and hold it for 5 seconds…(pause for 5 seconds)…exhale and relax…(pause for 5 seconds)…take another deep breath, as deep as you can, and hold it, count for 5 seconds…(pause for 5 seconds) and as you exhale just imagine blowing out all of your stress…(pause for 5 seconds)…take a third deep breath and hold it…(pause for 5 seconds)…and as you exhale you blow out any stress you’ve been holding on to, saying to yourself “relax now”
[pause for 3 seconds, speaking now with confidence and at a normal pace of speech]This is your new solution to stress.
Whenever you become stressed in the future, you simply take 3 fully in and deep breaths, holding it at the top of the inhalation for 5 seconds, and when you exhale, blow out any stresses that you feel.
And on the third breath as you exhale you simply say to yourself, relax now.
[Pause for 5 seconds] [speaking slowly with a soothing and gentle voice] [Body Scan Induction]Begin by slowly blinking your eyes, and with each number I say, blink once. (pause for 3 seconds in between each number) 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, and 0.
Allow your eyes to gently close, and when you do this you feel a wave of relaxation sweep over you.
[speaking even slower now]Now I’d like for you to focus on the sensations at the top of your head.
Just notice how the very top of your head feels.[Pause for 5 seconds]
And now let your focus move down to your eyes.
Just notice how your eyes feel and ask them to relax even more.
The little movement in your eyes is called rapid eve movement and is completely normal.
Open up discussion to share about the experience.
Couse Manual 2: Developing Presence
Executive presence is an excellent quality to have as a leader, but business owners and employees of all positions and levels can cultivate this important trait to use throughout their careers. While executive presence can lead to promotions and professional advancement, it can also inspire others and increase workplace productivity.
How do you define Executive Presence?
Executive presence is a learned set of behaviors and personal characteristics that enable you to command respect and authority. It creates a perception of your ability to lead in any situation, which can have an impact on yourself, your team, and the company for which you work. Executive presence is frequently defined by how one acts, speaks, and appears, and while it may come naturally to some, executive presence is a quality that can be strengthened, grown, or created.
Executive presence is very much about how you control a room, how you make impressions, and how you affect the people around you. It is how you communicate verbally as well as through your physical appearance and physicality. It’s not just about how you look, but also about how you communicate with people and convey your intentions. The question is not, “Are you a supermodel?” “Are you dressed appropriately, and do you look put together and powerful, and are you wearing clothes easily and authentically, or do you perhaps need to step up to signify your power and presence?” It’s similar to what I say about reputation: If you have great presence, people will feel the remnants and echo of what you left behind when you leave a room — “Wow, I enjoyed what that person had to say, and I will take some action because of it.”
“It’s our choices that show what we truly are far more than our abilities.” – JK Rowling
Why is it important to cultivate a strong executive presence?
Developing executive presence is important because it demonstrates to others that you are a skilled professional capable of leading others and making significant contributions to a company, business, or organization. It can also boost your confidence and professional worth regardless of your position, role, or career path.
Making an impression is not a choice; it is inevitable. Whether you realize it or not, eyes will be on you, and you never know who is watching you. You can leave a positive, negative, or neutral impression. Social outings are opportunities to meet new people, and if you don’t make an effort, you’ll miss out. There’s also an opportunity to make a good first impression, and those who are aware of how they appear at first have an advantage in terms of executive presence. In unfamiliar situations, you can offer to introduce someone to someone they don’t know who can assist them; you can make someone feel valued, and that person will value you in return. They will remember how much they admired and appreciated you when you leave. Executive presence is something that anyone can learn; it’s more about being aware.
How can individuals begin to cultivate their own executive presence?
When it comes to executive presence, you want to give people the impression that you have their back and can handle whatever “it” is. It doesn’t mean you have every superpower; some things you’ll be great at, while others you’ll just get by with.
Face the thing you are terrified of – Example:
Mary is not good with numbers. She was at a new job overseeing a department of 70 people, and they called her in and told her everything she would be doing, and then they told her, “You’re going to also have to do the budget.” And she said, “No problem.” But when the meeting was over, she went into the stairwell and started hyperventilating. She thought about all the things she could do specific to her talent, and there she was focusing on the one thing she was going to be uncomfortable with. she was hyperventilating and crying, and she was a wreck.
But then she calmed herself, went to her department assistant and said, “Who is the person who deals with expense reports?” She found that person and asked if she had worked on budgets, and she said yes. I said, “Tomorrow we’re going to set aside three hours to work on the budget,” and she said, “No problem.”
All of us feel like imposters at one time or another. None of us wants to feel judged. But having executive presence is about making people feel you can handle things and that you’re smart enough to know your strengths, and for the things you don’t know, you can figure it out or seek help in figuring it out.
Communication is another factor to consider when developing executive presence. Do you engage in eye contact with others? Is there any warmth coming from you? Are you saying things that will help or inspire people? Or are you looking over their shoulder to see if there’s someone “better” you should be speaking with?
This also contributes to the concept of gravitas. Consider a swan gliding across the water. When you think of a swan, you imagine a creature that is elegant, composed, and flowing smoothly, but beneath the surface of the water, there are little webbed feet paddling furiously. When you’re in command, you don’t let anyone see those furiously paddling feet. This is where gravitas comes into play. A strong leader possesses gravitas.
How do men and women develop their executive presence differently?
“Think about the leader you admire and the leader you want to be, and act like the leader you want to be,” I tell women and men. The more you practice, the easier it will become.
Women rarely do anything unless they are 100 percent certain they can, whereas men only need to be 60 percent certain. However, if a woman and a man take the same exam, the women will perform equally well or better. It’s easy for women to avoid situations that make us nervous, but we should develop the mindset of “I’m going to say yes,” and then go freak out in my office or stairwell and figure out how to make it happen. Yes, please. Act as if you want to be the leader you want to be. Whether you’re a man or a woman, it’s critical to know your material, be prepared, and then present it authoritatively.
Recently, the phrase of the moment has been “authentic selves.” Is this in any way incompatible with executive presence?
Authenticity is extremely important because people can detect inauthenticity quickly. You should be a positive person who wants to do a good job. I truly believe that the best combination for success and leadership is warmth and competence, but if you’re all warmth and fuzziness, people may not always believe you know what you’re talking about or may perceive you to be lacking substance. And competence without warmth can come across as cold and arrogant. Combining warmth and competence will result in great executive presence for both men and women. People will like and trust you, and they will want to follow you.
“No matter what the situation never let your emotions overpower your intelligence.”- Kushandwizdom
14 Steps to Develop a Strong Executive Presence
1. Establish your personal executive presence.
Knowing who you want to be as a leader can help you get there. Investigate your work style, leadership style, and career goals, and devise a plan of action to achieve them. Make sure your goals, timelines, and milestones are reasonable and attainable. Developing any skill takes time, and executive presence is no exception.
2. Maintain a positive attitude and mindset.
Rather than focusing on skills you may not yet have, believe in yourself and your abilities. Developing an optimistic mindset is essential for remaining motivated and focused on developing executive presence. Also, keep in mind that part of leadership is knowing when and where to delegate tasks or connect with those who have specialized knowledge, so you don’t need to know how to do everything to demonstrate executive presence.
3. Shift your focus.
Be deliberate in your attention and focus, whether in large meetings, conference calls, one-on-one conversations, or even when reading and responding to emails. Consider every interaction as a chance to connect rather than a transaction or task to complete. It can assist you in developing your reputation as a personable, dependable, and genuine leader while also cultivating your executive presence.
4. Pay attention to your breathing.
Use your breathing to center your awareness, release tension or anxiety, and aid in concentration. Taking a deep breath and exhaling before making a phone call about a difficult topic, for example, can subconsciously relieve nerves and put you at ease. This simple exercise can help you relax, think strategically, and set the appropriate pace for your day.
5. Think about your habits and background.
Take some time for personal reflection and be honest about your strengths and areas for improvement. Sometimes our habits and personality traits are influenced by our experiences or upbringing, such as shyness, body language, or voice volume. Consider having introspective conversations with those who know you well in order to identify areas for improvement and gain motivation for exploring activities and exercises that will help you break or create new habits as you develop executive presence.
6. Get support.
Inform a colleague, mentor, or friend that you are working on improving your executive presence and solicit their assistance. People frequently want to help, and you can share ways they can, such as providing feedback, acting as a practice partner, or simply being a source of encouragement.
Support from people you respect and admire can help to reinforce what you’re doing well, boost your confidence, and accelerate your progress. It may also lead to additional opportunities to practice and hone your executive presence, such as being invited to speak in front of a larger audience, lead a project, or connect with other industry or executive contacts through your network.
7. Hone your public speaking skills.
Consider practicing your public speaking skills whenever possible. Use routine tasks, such as showering or driving to work, to speak aloud and experiment with your voice’s pace, tone, and sound. The repetition aids in the formation of a habit and speaking aloud provides more exercise and practice than simply reviewing thoughts mentally.
8. Take video of yourself.
Consider videotaping yourself giving a speech, presenting, or leading a meeting and watching it back to take notes on things like body language, voice control, breathing, and presence. You can learn a lot about how you look and sound by recording yourself multiple times. This allows you to track your progress in developing executive presence.
9. Pay attention to others.
Examine how others walk, talk, dress, and behave, especially other leaders you admire. They could be company leaders, other industry professionals, or well-known business role models. Look for nonverbal and visual ways they communicate, as well as their voice control, such as volume, speed, breathing, and how they use silence or pauses when speaking. Effective observation and research can teach you best practices from successful people who demonstrate executive presence and provide positive reinforcement as you develop your own.
10. Take advice from those you admire.
While observation can teach you a lot, consider connecting directly with those you admire, whether they are public figures or industry mentors. Inquire about their personal journey to developing executive presence or read books on leadership that they have written. This can help you save time by focusing on effective techniques rather than trial and error learning.
11. Make use of body language.
Recognize the messages your body sends through body language and learn how to use it effectively. Body language can help to reinforce verbal messages and directives, convey confidence and authority, and put others at ease or inspire them.
Try this, for example:
• Maintain eye contact and nod occasionally to show that you’re paying attention.
• Regardless of your physical stature, walk, sit, and stand tall.
• Take note of your posture and facial expressions.
Hand gestures are an essential component of body language. Open hand gestures, for example, convey a sense of welcome; palms down can direct or make a point; and open fingers while rotating your wrist can draw others into your idea.
12. Invest in learning resources.
Consider taking leadership classes or reading leadership books. There are several online platforms and tools available to assist you in developing a stronger executive presence, or you can look into leadership development conferences, seminars, newsletters, and books. They can be used to reinforce existing habits and traits or to learn new ones.
13. Participate in a group.
Executive presence frequently includes being well-spoken and having a large vocabulary, and there are associations, clubs, and groups that specialize in developing this skill set. Consider researching and joining a professional development organization, such as Toastmasters International. Their clubs encourage public speaking, communication, and other forms of leadership, and there are even speech contests and competitions. Groups like this can help you hone your public speaking skills, as well as your eye contact and pausing technique. Practicing these skills in a setting other than the workplace can help to remove distractions and lower inhibitions.
14. Work with a coach.
An executive coach may provide consulting, training, exercises, and personal development to assist you in developing leadership skills that will enhance your executive presence. They can assist you in setting goals, improving your communication and body language, and advancing or transitioning your career. Professional and executive coaching can be more expensive than self-education methods, but it is a worthwhile investment to investigate.
Case Study on Executive Presence
Allison Kluger recalls one of her earliest days as an associate producer at Good Morning America, when a senior producer saw her crying at work.
“She told me, ‘Allison, you can’t cry at the workplace. Do you know why? You’re young, attractive, and female, and nobody will think you’re reliable, and they won’t trust you to do the job. If someone asks, say you’re having a great day, because nobody wants to hear you’re having a bad day.’”
That straight talk taught her something: Kluger needed to act the part of someone who was reliable and capable if she wanted to be perceived that way.
“I became the person who was unflappable,” she says. “I started getting jobs producing live remotes, being on air, and in the control room, and it became authentic. I’m still a very sensitive person and I still cry, but to be the leader I wanted to be, I had to act like the leader I wanted to be.”
This was Kluger’s first lesson in executive presence — or the way people carry themselves, present themselves, communicate with others, and project competence and calm.
This quality inspires others to follow. And it’s something Kluger firmly believes that anyone can learn and develop.
Kluger, the Dorothy J. King Lecturer in Leadership at Stanford Graduate School of Business in the areas of strategic communication, reputation management, and personal branding, spent more than 25 years in broadcast media and entertainment. She hosted and produced at Q2, an offshoot of shopping network QVC, and she was executive producer at the Global Shopping Network. She was an original coordinating producer on ABC’s The View, consulted with Al Gore and Joel Hyatt on the launch of Current TV, and helped MSNBC create a live pilot show for Michael Savage. She also founded her own consultancy in 2005.
She spoke to Insights about executive presence and why it matters.
Four Pointers for Improving Your Presence
1. Take note of your appearance. Do you dress appropriately for meetings or events where you’ll be meeting someone new? People will attribute traits to you if you are too casual or sloppy; they may believe you are lazy or not senior enough to do your job.
2. Be conscious of how you communicate and use your voice. Be clear, present, and strong, and exude an aggressive demeanor. Say “I believe” and “My plan is this” instead of “I was wondering” or “Perhaps.”
3. Be mindful of your energy. Do you walk into a room standing straight, with good energy, and ready to interact? Make sure you’re aware of people and that people are aware of you, because if you aren’t (and they aren’t), they may have a neutral or negative impression of you. Remember that the first impression you make includes eye contact, a firm handshake, a smile, and your first and last words.
4. Consider your unique value. What distinguishes you, and how do you publicize it so that others are aware of it? Maybe you’re a great runner or a programmer. Create a blog post about it or organize a seminar to teach others. Being an expert at something teaches you how to embrace the spotlight and broadcast your talents to others, because sharing with others allows you to build a network, take on leadership roles, and open up new doors for yourself.
Exercise 6:2: Show and Tell
Objective:
To give each participant the chance to present, reveal their personality and share a personal aspect of their lives.
Instructions:
Before the Workshop, tell everyone that they’ll need to bring in an item of personal significance to share. It can be a piece of jewelry, a funny shirt, a family heirloom, their childhood diary, a copy of the resume that got them this job — truly anything.
For Show and Tell, you can either ask everyone to present on their item and what it means to them or shuffle the items up for everyone to guess each owner before the big reveal.
Another twist is to not inform of every one of this activity beforehand. Simply spring it on them, just before presentation time, so that they’re challenged to get creative in utilizing what’s around them.
Course Manual 3: Online Presence
Online presence or Web presence is the collective existence online of a company or individual. A website is one example.
Many businesses have websites with their branding and customized look and feel. There are millions of websites that range from simple and small to much more intricate and interactive. Everyone understands what a website is and what purpose it serves. So, what is an online presence and how do you go about establishing one for your business?
There is so much that can be included in your online presence. An online presence is any aspect of an individual’s or business’s existence that can be found through an online search. A member of an association with an online member directory listing is an example of a person who is not active on the Internet but has an online presence. Another case in point is a person who only has a LinkedIn or Facebook profile. How do you leverage and improve their existing web presence in order to increase their exposure and reputation, as well as market themselves and/or their business online?
One approach is to create a compelling website or blog. Once the concept of a web presence has been established, it is time to begin building it, including the all-important keywords that are important in that market. The website will not be successful and will essentially stagnate if keywords are not used. It is critical to understand that cultivating a specific business’s success through its online presence requires much more than a beautiful-looking website. Another option is to leverage their existing web presence and supplement it with additional social media marketing interactions. A third option is a hybrid of the two.
Targeted Keywords: Keywords that are well-placed are critical for both options. You may be wondering how you go about identifying the most effective keywords that will be recognized by search engines and will drive more and more online traffic to your website. Careful research is essential because finding the best keywords for your niche should be the very first thing you do. That is your first step toward establishing a web presence.
After you’ve laid the groundwork, you can start working on your web presence. Naturally, the information must be presented in a visually appealing and compelling manner. However, there is a lot more to it than that. It is much more than just designing and building a website.
Web presence visitors: Once you’ve established your web presence, the next critical step is to get people to visit it. The more traffic you can direct to your online presence, the better it will be for your company. Of course, this relates back to when you chose your keywords and key phrases. People will visit and return if you have strategically placed them.
Lead generation and conversion: Your online presence plays an important role. It must be able to effectively capture leads (leads are people who have the potential of eventually becoming your clients). Once the leads have been captured, it is critical to conduct the conversion process in an appropriate and sensitive manner. An essential component of the success of converting leads lies with the design of the web presence, the compelling nature of the content, the aesthetic appeal of the graphics, etc.
Interacting on social media: Interacting with your online connections is extremely important because it adds a deeper layer to the relationship that you will establish through your online presence. The more you interact with people, the more they will trust you and regard you as credible and knowledgeable. You will begin to realize how important interaction is to the success of your company.
So, how do you improve your online presence?
• A precise market definition
• Keywords that are understandable and appropriate
• Websites and/or social media pages that have been search engine optimized
• A visually appealing and well-organized website and/or social media pages, so that any visitors understand what your company offers right away.
• Fill out your social media profiles
• A laser-like focus on your target connections and market
• A strategy for gaining fans, followers, and business contacts.
• A plan for promoting yourself and/or your business and disseminating marketing messages.
• Content that is compelling and effective calls to action
• A successful social media marketing campaign for your company
• On a consistent basis, there is a high volume of traffic
• A successful lead generation and conversion strategy
If you go through this list and notice that any of the concepts are missing, you most likely have a website rather than a web presence. You can improve the effectiveness of your web presence by making a few changes.
Now that you understand the difference between a website and a web presence, you will be able to assess what you have and what you require in terms of online exposure and reputation. Your web presence is a collection of online elements that should be used in conjunction to create a successful marketing campaign. The more you share about yourself and your company, the stronger your presence will be, and the greater your and your company’s success will be.
Why is an online presence important
If you want your business to succeed in this day and age, you must have a strong web presence. Because others are marketing their businesses online, you must market alongside them.
Business owners who do not engage in online interactions are missing out on potential opportunities that may arise as a result of online interactions with a large number of clients. Not only is it critical to have a website for your business, but it is also critical to have a web presence that includes other online social media tools that can greatly assist you in growing your business. Of course, your online presence, as well as the interactions and activities in which you become involved, will be determined by your specific business and what you do.
There are numerous consequences for businesses who do not have an online presence.
Niche Markets
You will miss out on interacting with many other people in your niche if you do not have an online presence. You have the potential to share a mutually beneficial relationship that will last for a long time.
Technology that is competitive
In this advanced technological age, small businesses can compete on an equal footing with larger corporations than ever before. They can accomplish this in a variety of ways, including communicating with automated responses (so they don’t have to devote as much personal time to social media), conducting transactions online, and delivering their products and/or services via the internet.
Making the most of profiles
If you have an impressive online profile as a business professional, you will get a lot of mileage out of it. It will give the impression that you and your company are trustworthy and credible.
The cost of an online presence
Marketing via social media and other online tools will cost you significantly less than traditional marketing. That doesn’t mean you won’t have to make any investments. However, the investment you will make will be more about time and effort than money.
Schedule that runs around the clock
You can have it working for you without you being there because you have the technological capability to automate your postings. That is a fantastic benefit.
Being inextricably linked to the local community
There is a lot to be said for being close (geographically) to your clients. You’ll be right there if they need you. When you interact online, you can accomplish a wide range of tasks in a short period of time. However, it is reassuring for your clients to know that if they require your assistance in person, you will arrive quickly and provide them with what they require.
The other side of the coin
As beneficial as it is to be able to conduct business close to where your customers are, it is also beneficial to be able to conduct some of your business on a larger scale. Many countries have jumped on the bandwagon.
Getting feedback
When it comes to the success of your business, client feedback is an extremely important factor to consider. You won’t know if you’re on the right track if you never get feedback, and you won’t know how to keep growing your business. The more you learn from your customers, the more powerful and successful your company will be.
FAQs
Frequently asked questions (FAQs) can be extremely beneficial to your online connections. It is a tool that saves time and makes your business run more smoothly in many cases. It can also save money because phone calls may be unnecessary if the answers are readily available.
Continue interacting
Interactivity is what establishes a solid foundation for the relationship. If you continue to interact, you will get to know each other well, and trust and credibility will follow. Nobody will buy from you if they don’t believe you and find you credible.
There is no denying that a company must have an online presence if they want to be successful. The business world has advanced to the point where you will be left in the dust if you do not keep up. It is pointless to be resistant. You will discover that interacting online is enjoyable, exciting, and enticing. As a company, take full advantage of it. Having an online presence will provide your company with many more opportunities than they would have otherwise. It will provide a greater opportunity to build your brand, expose you to endless marketing possibilities, give you a greater opportunity to get to know your clients, and allow you to see metrics on your performance. Take advantage of all the opportunity that the internet provides for you and your company.
Your Personal Brand
Establishing your distinct professional identity through personal branding is a practice that is gaining traction in today’s fast-paced digital world. When used effectively, it can be a powerful way to stand out in the professional world when looking for a job or furthering your career.
What exactly is a personal brand?
A personal brand expresses who you are, what you stand for, your values, and how you express those values. Your personal brand is how you distinguish yourself from others; it is the story of who you are and how you tell that story to others. Personal brand messages can include items such as:
• Experience
• Character traits
• Skills
• Habits
• Values
The Advantages of Creating a Personal Brand
Creating a personal brand gives you some control over how others perceive you. This can have a significant impact on both your personal and professional lives, such as:
Improved relationships: By developing your personal brand, you can identify who you are and what you want. This enables you to connect with people more honestly and form mutually beneficial relationships.
More job opportunities: Knowing your personal brand enables you to make better decisions about where and with whom you network. It also enables you to define your objectives so that you know what you need to do to advance in your career.
Improved sales: Using your personal brand instills trust because it is more authentic. Authenticity and confidence are two critical factors in increasing sales.
Increased name recognition: A personal brand is about defining who you are and communicating that message to the rest of the world. When you take control of this process, more people will hear of you and your name will become more well-known.
Creating a Brand Statement
In almost every profession and industry, personal branding is essential. By developing a strong personal brand statement, you can capture the attention of prospective clients, customers, and employers and ensure that they recognize your value as soon as possible.
What exactly is a personal branding statement?
Personal brand statements are concise statements that summarize what you do, why you do it, and what distinguishes you from others in your field. In other words, it’s your one-of-a-kind selling point. These statements should be one to two sentences long and should be attention-grabbing, compelling, and memorable. A personal brand statement is similar to a slogan in many ways.
What is the significance of a brand statement?
A personal brand statement can help you communicate your value and expertise in a way that makes people want to learn more, regardless of your job status, profession, or industry. These statements are especially useful when networking with potential customers, clients, or employers because they can help you connect with others. After you’ve created a great personal brand statement, you can use it by including it in your:
Social Media Profiles: Brand statements can be an excellent addition to your bio on social media platforms.
Resume: Put your personal brand statement near the top of your resume, near your name, to highlight your strengths for hiring manager.
Online Portfolio: Personal brand statement as a tagline for your online portfolio: A personal brand statement can serve as a great tagline for your online portfolio.
Learning how to brand yourself is an important step in your professional development. It’s critical to find your niche, your distinct voice, and an effective way to market yourself.
Examples of Personal Brand Statements
Example 1:
In some cases, using a formula that identifies your ideal employer or customer and what you help them achieve can be beneficial. Aside from these essential elements, you can strengthen your statement by including quantifiable evidence of your effectiveness. This method is an excellent way to highlight your previous achievements and demonstrate your expertise.
“By creating killer websites, I assist businesses in harnessing their image and achieving their objectives. My website designs boost traffic by at least 25% ”
Example 2:
When creating your personal brand statement, it’s best to keep it as specific as possible. You can accomplish this by mentioning your target audience as well as the outcomes you can assist them in achieving.
“I assist manufacturing facilities in streamlining their processes in order to reduce waste and increase profits.”
Example 3:
Another effective strategy is to begin your statement with a verb, such as “let’s,” to emphasize the partnership you create with clients and customers.
“Let’s create some great branding.”
Example 4:
If you have a solid reputation, you can turn your brand statement into a question to pique people’s interest.
“Would you like to increase your conversion rates by 15%?”
Example 5:
Though creativity can aid in the creation of an eye-catching personal brand statement, simplicity is frequently just as effective. You can provide a brief summary of what you assist your clients with.
“Organize your time, and you’ll have time to organize your life.”
You can expand on this slightly to make it more specific if you prefer. As an example:
“I assist small business owners in organizing their time so they can organize their lives.”
Example 6:
It can be beneficial to create a brand statement that focuses on your target audience rather than your knowledge or skills. This is especially true if you work in a specific niche market or with a specific clientele.
“Assisting your small business in making a big impact.”
Example 7:
You can emphasize what you can do to help your audience by demonstrating your ability to transfer knowledge or expertise. This enables you to communicate what you do best and who you serve in a clear and concise manner.
“I can show you how to use social media platforms effectively to expand your brand’s reach and revenue.”
Example 8:
Your personality is what distinguishes you and makes you authentic. Creating a personal brand statement that reflects your personality can demonstrate that you are grounded as well as confident. Furthermore, because it is more inviting, this frequently encourages connection.
“Hello, my name is Serena. A graphic designer, philanthropist, entrepreneur, and lover of all things yellow who is dedicated to assisting you in developing a brand that reflects your voice and needs.”
Example 9:
If your work is related to social media or is influenced by your presence on social media platforms, you can create a distinct and modern call to action by including your handle.
“Assisting you in developing and managing your social media presence across platforms. @socialeyes”
Example 10:
To create a brand statement that gets to the point quickly while still reaching your target audience, remove unnecessary filler words.
“Reduce the number of procedures and protocols so that you can scale and grow.”
7 Steps to Create Your Personal Brand
Your personal brand is defined by who you are as a professional and what distinguishes you from others. Consider the following steps to successfully brand yourself:
1. Determine what makes you unique.
When you first begin to define your brand, you must identify your strengths, skills, and talents. Consider what you do well and what you are passionate about. Passion can drive you to persevere in the face of adversity. It’s also motivating because people admire people who are passionate about what they do. For example, if you are passionate about numbers and accuracy, you can leverage that to position yourself as a top accountant.
2. Establish a distinct voice.
Make your brand stand out by developing a distinct voice for your product or service. Determine what characteristics you have that your competitors do not. Knowing what you can do better or more effectively and emphasizing those skills is essential for developing a successful personal brand.
Researching potential competitors and objectively comparing their results to yours is part of the process of defining your voice. For example, you may discover that you have a distinct method of completing a common work-related task that distinguishes you from other professionals in your field.
3. Identify your target audience.
Determine your target audience. It will be easier to develop a branding strategy once you have determined who your target audience is and what you can do for them.
Begin by researching your specific area of expertise. For example, if you are a real estate professional who specializes in residential rentals, target people who want to rent apartments, houses, or condos.
4. Establish a reputation.
After you’ve laid the groundwork for your brand by defining yourself, your goals, and the platforms you’ll use, you can begin to build an audience and a reputation. The goal is to persuade those who are interested in your brand that your skills are valid and that your claims are supported by strong expertise.
Determine which online platforms will help you find potential customers and then publicize your brand through social media posts. Your goal is to make it simple for people to learn about you and contact you. For example, if you discover an online social media group that is relevant to your product or service, you could actively promote your skills or services to that group.
Typically, this step entails creating a website for your brand and publishing blog posts. A website will help to support your brand voice and make it easier for people to learn more about you and what makes your product or service unique.
Being active in your professional community and establishing a reputation for accuracy and knowledge are also important aspects of developing a reputation. For example, if economics is your main area of expertise, you can build an audience and a reputation by starting a blog and sharing your economics-related ideas in relevant social media groups.
5. Establish a network.