Assignment - Introduction of Your Professional Persona
Objective - You will begin the semester with this assignment to immediately:
1) begin your transition from an academic mindset to a professional mindset
2) demonstrate yourself as a professional brand to an audience of your peers
3) prepare a few basic tools to use when you start your professional careers
This assignment is multifaceted. The full assignment has several aspects to it that you will complete. You will accomplish the following:
- write and rehearse an elevator speech, from which you will develop a professional introduction presented to the class.
- create and complete a professional LinkedIn Profile
- create the framework and foundation for a professional branding portfolio website, using Wix website
Task - Your presentation should be at least 2 minutes and not more than 3 minutes. Although part of this assignment requires you to create a website that reflects your professional persona, including a personal statement about your career goals and capabilities, your personal branding speech is NOT meant as a vehicle to show us your website. Rather, your speech presents your professional persona.
The persona you present is just as important as the facts you give. A professional presentation has a title, an agenda (advance organizer), a middle (which comprises your talking points), and a conclusion. Two to three minutes is very short for a speech, so you won't be able to convey much in the time you have. Therefore, stick to essential information and make every word count. Your personal brand statement (which is a variation on your Elevator Speech) should be committed to memory, so it flows smoothly and sounds natural; avoid sounding mechanical and over-rehearsed. Think of this presentation as the first time your audience will meet you, so let us know why working with you will be a pleasure. Why should we do business with you and why would you be a great person to have on a team.
Be cautious and avoid a list of "I" statements, such as "I was born...", "I lived...", "I went to...", "I study....", "I like...", etc. Rather, consider your speech as a "story" that takes the shape of a narrative or a theme. Start with a strong opening, arrange your material according to some thematic idea, and conclude with a something memorable that your audience can take away as a way to remember you from all the other presentations. Consider the progression of Context/Background, Actions/Methods, Information Facts, and Reulsts or the conclusions you wish to leave with your audience. Alternatively, the structure for the Elevator Speech can also be effective (start with a Professional Label, then lead into your Current Situation and How you Got Here, and finish by telling us Your Goals for the Future).
Use the following as guides for writing and presenting your introduction:
1. Read the associated material in the textbook (chapter 21 "Making Oral Presentations" chapter 8 "Communicating Persuasively," and pp. 389-94 about Personal Branding in Chapter 15 "Applying for a Job")
2. Prepare your presentation with minimal notes. In fact, it's a good idea to have only a single note card with topics rather than to use a written script
3. Rehearse your speech prior to class to ensure you speak at a comprehensible rate (avoid non-fluencies, such as "ahh" "ummm" etc.). Rehearse sufficiently so that you DO NOT read from the computer monitor
4. Establish eye contact with the whole audience; move and engage with the audience
5. Stick to the time limit. You should talk for at least 2 minutes, but not more than 3 minutes.
Length - 2 minute speech, about 200-300 words in speech format.