How do you come across virtually? Are you polished when presenting by Zoom, video conference call, or by phone?
Join me and my guest, Maureen Weisner, M.Ed., PCC, CPCC, Career Coach, Consultant, and Founder of KICKSTART Your Transition, as Maureen discusses how business owners and employees can polish their professional image in the virtual world of the pandemic.
About Maureen Weisner, M.Ed., PCC, CPCC:
www.linkedin.com/in/maureenweisner
www.kickstartyourtransition.com
By Segment
0:45 – 15:21 – Eric’s main goal is to help business owners who work through the pandemic. We talk about legal issues but our guests also talk about issues that are experiences throughout the pandemic. Tonight’s guest is Maureen Weisner, M.Ed., PCC, CPCC, Career Coach, Consultant. She is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of the boutique career consulting firm, KICKSTART Your Transition, which specializes in helping individual in transition She is a professional coach, a seminar leader, and author. Maureen has been recognized as one of the top ten executive coach Women’s Business of boston. Due to the pandemic we are much more digital, infact Eric and Maureen are having this discussion via Zoom. She will give tips and strategies for how to polish your professional image through the pandemic. Before her career as a coach/consultant, Maureen wanted to be a teacher. Her role models were her school teachers. Maureen wanted to pursue the same career but as a young person she realized that she had to be creative considering the limited opportunities. When a teaching job was finally available she decided to take an opportunity to work for an airline. Maureen continued to get her education and diversified her options. She understood that it is important to try things that make you uncomfortable. You may fail but you learn by failing. Maureen would later learn about coaching, receive her masters in leadership and begin coaching. She connected with a colleague from the airline and they started KickStart Your Transition. When confronted with something new and unexpected it can be scary but the upside is that anything is impossible. If you don’t know if you can do it, take mini steps. Pre covid she encouraged her clients to focus on preparation. Ted Talk presenters on average practice 200 times. It’s important both online and offline to be on time and prepared.
17:46 – 28:50 – Getting centered is essential. She recommends you take a break from zoom if you can. Get a headset, it’s recommended to stand during a call. For people who tend to be fidgety, get rid of your desk chair with wheels. Watching you will make the other party sea sick and challenge their focus even when they are interested in what you have to say. It is also important to slow your speech and prepare a script. People have short attention spans so you must make the best of your time. Be sure to present at a time when you have your energy. Every morning be sure to get dressed, make some coffee and get out. Some of Maureen’s clients have found it beneficial to walk out of the home then return. It changes the way they see the boundaries between work and home. People care a lot about the way you look so you must be sure to make yourself presentable. Nearly as important is your voice. People are willing to listen to the sound but not always what you say. Eric your background is important as well Lately Eric sees people dressed well but an unkempt bed behind them. It takes away from what the speaker says.
31:08 – 46:22 – Professional image in person is very different in person compared to online. There are numerous opportunities available now that we are no longer limited by geography. You can work anywhere! Maureen encourages clients to just say yes when presented with new opportunities. When thinking about how to best present there is no “correct” style, you must figure out what works best for you. Generally it is best to avoid vocal fry and upspeak. It is good to record yourself and review it so that you can review tendencies you don’t often notice. For many, anxiety is a trigger. Maureen recommends her clients practice a gratitude exercise. List three things that you are grateful for. People will frequently say they are grateful for family, work, friends, pets, etc. Put these things on a postit in your workstation so that whenever you feel overwhelmed you can think about those things to calm yourself. During an interview with Best Company Magazin, Maureen was asked, “How is the interview process different now?” You must be prepared and have scripts available. This is a great time to brag, share your accomplishments and most importantly be prepared. Right now Maureen is helping clients evaluate what their values are and what their deal breakers are. Maureen shares a few anecdotes about her clients and their transitions.
48:38 – 57:30 – One thing that Eric has taken away from Maureen is a message of humility, keeping things in perspective. She believes that self awareness is key. You must understand that the person on the other side of the camera is also in the “pain or gain” phase. During an interview you want to be sure that you are as real as you can be without being over conversational. The interview should not be hijacked because you went down different avenues that will not lead you to a space that makes sense, it is important to stay in control of the conversation. Understand what your goals are before the call. There’s something you can learn from every interview. Maureen encourages her clients to make a spreadsheet and write their impression after an interview. What was missing? What could I have given a better answer for? You can find Maureen and her partner at kickstartyourtransition.com if you are interested in their services.
About Employment Law Today
Helping Business With Employment Law Issues.
For many business owners, it can be overwhelming to keep up and comply with the federal and state labor and employment laws that govern how they run their business. With the COVID-19 pandemic, there are new laws and regulations regarding hiring, firing, and workplace practices and protocols — all of which can increase business owners’ anxieties about regaining traction or thriving again. On my weekly show, we will be discussing the most common employment law related questions and challenges that business owners have been facing in these uncertain times.
The show will have three main goals: (1) to inform businesses about employment law updates, (2) to inspire businesses by giving them the tools to move forward, and (3) to demonstrate how some business owners have overcome their employment law problems, walked through the challenges imposed by this pandemic, and have taken steps to regain traction during the reopening phases of this pandemic.
Our guests will include professionals who advise businesses from an H.R., legal, and financial perspective, along with thriving business owners who will share their experiences and insights into running a successful company while complying with labor and employment law mandates during COVID-19.