Personal branding in business communication

Today we had a discussion with Mr Nikhil Kulkarni, our Alum from NITIE Mumbai. We all were eager to attend the most awaited class on Business Communication but we were surprised when our beloved professor Mr T Prasad told us that we'll be having a guest lecture. Then it all begun. 

Initially Nikhil shared his experience and told us about the suite of Microsoft tools that has helped him achieve excellence. Microsoft Powerpoint, Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel, these three are a major part of a Managers life. From reporting to presenting, from data collection to data analysis all tasks can be performed with the help of these tools. The value is much greater than what we percieve at this moment. Some initial work on these tools will help us excel and outperform our peers in the long run. We also discuseed various about reporting, what are the different types of reports and how should me differentitate  between them, which report is to be presented when among others. 

"The Pyramid Principle", Nikhil has descovered this principle and told us about the importance of syncronisation and positioning in any article or report. We've herd many times that the order to be followed is Introduction-Body-Conclusion, but the idea of Mutually Exclusive Collectively Exhausted was passed on to me by him. What is the objective of the document? Who is the audience? What is the context in which the article/report will be consumed? Have I listed all the aspects of the problem? Now wile answering these questions we need to capture the idea of MECE - Mutually Exclusive Collectively Exhaustive and the purpose of out report will be fulfilled and it will shile. Using this hierarchial structure to organise the ideas and supporting evidence will reinforce the way human mind sorts information into logical groups and provide better clarity to ther person for whome the report is published.

After we discussed the importance of personal branding. A pesonal brand allows a person to self manage their life without having to depend on others. A person's brand is an important part of a person's career. There’s a wide gulf between anyone knowing that you’ve launched a new business and trusting that you’ll do a good job for clients. People may like you a lot, but unless they see proof of your skills, they won't give their money in your hands - Prof T prasad. 

We all can certainly relate to this image. Can't we? The name is hidden but we all know who this person is. This is the power of Personal Branding. We dont need to be that popular but yes people must know us who we are and our personal brand should speak for us even before we've spoken for ourselves. Personal brands can do wonders, be it corporate or entrepreneual, It will help us excel in our careers. Personal brand means more people will know us than people we know. This means that we will often get help from unknown quaters.Personal brand helps us build credibility as a thought leader and expert in area of speciality. We will definately gain confidence while we are developing our personal brand. It establishes a sense of authencity and people will feel comfertable while working around us.

Have you branded yourself yet? 

What went into creating your brand?

Can you share any tips for our readers about the importance of developing their own brand?