I had the privilege to both meet Jane Jordan-Meier and listen to her speak on the subject of character and presentation at ICRC this week, and so much of what she said resonated with me. The biggest piece of what she said is an argument that I’ve made many times over {and is one of the reasons that I’m as interested as I am not only in communications, consulting, and reputation management as I am, but in fashion and design} – “Appearance matters.”
Jane Jordan-Meier, Image: http://www.janejordan.net/whoweare.html
We all know that a picture is worth a thousand words. Everyone’s heard that before. Why do we think that shouldn’t translate to how we present ourselves, either as everyday people, as experts in our field, or as leaders in a crisis? We spoke the most about the latter since this was a conference on risk and crisis communication, but the rules apply across the board. How we appear to others when we’re delivering information is extremely important, as important as the message we’re presenting.
As Ms. Jordan-Meier said, “Actions are the new words. Everything is on display in an environment that is ultimately transparent.” Even if we’re not dealing with a crisis situation in a leadership role, we’re entering an age when transparency is key, visual content is prime content, and not only is a picture worth a thousand words, but an article without pictures probably is an article that just won’t get read. There will be pictures and video, and the presentation of the message is just as important as the message.
Jane Jordan-Meier presents to ICRC
I’m keeping this in mind myself. As an analyst, a consultant, researcher, a writer, a blogger, and an avid social media junkie, it may seem like I have a lot of my life on public display {and I do} but by choosing the photos, the words, the associations, and everything else that I make public, I have a voice in the conversation. Those who aren’t active on social media are allowing others to direct their conversations, which can be dangerous, but the ones who put themselves at the most risk are the ones who present themselves badly and think that privacy options are strong enough to keep those pictures “private.” These are the people who are also worried about the upcoming Facebook graph search tool, but there are already tons of social search tools that already reveal a lot of that “private” information.
So what can you do to present yourself well online?
- Curate your content. We keep our content in published digital galleries, be they blogs, Flickr albums, Facebook pages, Pinterest boards, online technical journals, eBooks, and more for folks to browse through. We never know which ones are going to lead people to us and set that first impression. Understand what is being said about you and what you are presenting. Take steps to promote your best content.
- Curate your associations. People will judge you by your associations, from your wannabe-gangsta cousin with his Facebook full of Thug Life pictures or your longtime friend who just can’t help the odd political rant that makes you stop and go “Huh?” I’m not saying you should unfriend them or banish them from your life – you should just understand that people will see the association and make judgments. Maybe you can offer a little help from the content curation angle. What you should really consider are all those joke meme sites you like, or that funny picture your friend posted whose home site you didn’t trace, or that picture you repinned {I’m sloppy about this one especially}. Do you want your name coming up in association with these sites? Check before you like or pin.
- Think about your environment. An enormous part of the response to leadership in a crisis is the surrounding environment and culture, and what those value. You can’t deliver any kind of effective message without putting it in the right context. You can still stick to your message and stick to your values – the first thing people will hone in on is a fake – but think about what audience you’re addressing. For instance, if you’re a person of means, you’re not going to get away with “showing solidarity” with folks who have lost everything in a hurricane – if you’re really feeling empathy, provide all the information you can on help and messages of assistance, or better yet, get out there and help! Remember that “actions are the new words.”
- Think about the unspoken message. A picture is worth a thousand words, a video even more. What does your presentation say about you? If you are promoting messages of helping others and concern for others, you make a better impression with your sleeves rolled up helping on a Habitat for Humanity jobsite than you do giving a speech from your office. Same thing goes if you’re promoting health and fitness and your Facebook page is full of pictures of you at the bar or a pizza shop.
- Above all, if you don’t want it seen…DON’T put it on the internet! Enough said.
My presentation on utilizing social media command centers to coordinate crisis communication. I present in professional business attire instead of my uniform in order to make a better connection with my mixed audience of practitioners and academics.
Calling appearance important isn’t shallow – it’s realizing that people make judgments based on appearance. Bad presentation can distract from the message, sometimes to the point where the original message is lost completely or corrupted. We have to be aware of our content, our associations, our environment, and our unspoken messages when we’re presenting a message and to make sure all of these are in alignment with our message if we’re going to be effective communicators.
