I was recently doing a survey of other people I know, in training and coaching, who are very successful, seeking to discover the traits they have in common and to decode their success. I realized they are very different people, but they all have 2 things in common. And these two things can be found at all highly successful professionals, not just trainers and coaches:
- They are very good at what they do;
- They are memorable people.
Being very good at what you do is not a thing you see often, but being memorable is even rarer in my perspective. I know that in my professional life, there has been a gap for years between the quality of my services and how memorable I was as a trainer and coach.
This sabotaged my personal brand, the promotion of my services and in the end, my success as a professional. It is only when I had learned how to be memorable that I have seen my results improve radically. People would be more curious about me, would remember me more, would talk about me more, and would be more interested in how I could help them.
The things I did to achieve this are things that I now teach many of my clients, and the things I'm going to list here as my top tips on how to be memorable:
1. Understand what is unique about you. What is unique about you is the only real thing that can make you memorable. And you can only capitalize fully on your uniqueness if you truly understand it. This is why I believe it's very important to ask yourself: "What is unique about me?" Don't expect the answer to come just like that. Answering this question is rather a quest that a quick thinking process. Stay with it and you will discover your uniqueness.
2. Develop the traits which make you unique. Most people take the opposite approach: they try to diminish the traits which make them stand out, because they are afraid to stand out. Unfortunately, this is the best strategy to not be memorable. What you want to do is not only to accept these traits, but to consciously work at developing them. If you are high energy, get even more energy; if you are honest in your communication, become even more honest.
3. Express the full range of your personality. The people we don't find memorable are really people who do not express their personality. They censor themselves too much in what they do and what they say. They repress anything that might make them stand out and so they lose any ability to be memorable. Instead of doing this, work the other way: say more of what you want to say, do more of what you want to do, be more of who you are, and others will notice and remember you more.
4. Surround yourself with supporting people. Some of the things which can make you memorable might also be things some people disapprove. This is the main reason most of us choose not to express those traits. However, there will also be people (often just as many) who appreciate the exact same traits. Instead of censoring yourself, find those kind of people, interact with them more and focus on building strong relationships with them. Overall, it is a much more reliable strategy.
5. Accept the risks. Putting yourself out there and standing out can be seen as risky. Because some people may not like you as you are, some may judge you and reject you. It's essential for you to sink into your head the idea that this is only collateral damage, and there is nothing wrong with some people disliking you. When you've internalized this idea, you can truly rip the benefits of expressing yourself and being memorable.
Oddly enough, we don't talk about the importance of being memorable and building our unique brands in families, schools or the mainstream media. It is one of those fundamental and yet ignored keys to success. Which is why if you wanna have great results in your career and your life, you need to go against the mainstream on this one, put a high emphasis on being memorable and make sure that you are.