Converting Fears to Confidence

Over the past week, Andy and I have spoken at a variety events including:
- a professional development session on social media tools for staff and faculty at Algonquin College;
- a presentation on personal branding for the Algonquin Alumni Association:
- a case study presentation on WhyHire.me at McGraw-Hill Ryerson’s What Really Works: Strategies to Improve Teaching and Learning Conference at UOIT in Oshawa;
- a presentation to Women in Science and Engineering at Ottawa University; and
- an introduction to personal branding to the Queen’s MBA program while on tour in Toronto.

The audiences have been very different, yet the theme of ‘fear’ keeps rearing its head. We are in a period of great change and to many, change is scary. Social media is changing the way we can and are communicating. This in turn will change the way we teach and market ourselves in a competitive market place.

When we present the concept of putting yourself out there by blogging, using Twitter or even possibly producing video, we are often greeted with shock, horror and disbelief. But the power of these tools for communicating and connecting can’t be denied. The hard part is putting yourself out there and giving it a try.

I have noticed over the last week that students are getting their profiles ready for grading. They are changing photos to be more professional, blogging about more mature topics, and altering their positioning pitches to articulate the essence of their personal brands. In other words, they are experimenting and learning. In WhyHire.me our students can face their fears and discomfort in a safe environment. They need to learn about exposing themselves, articulating their offering, and defining their experiences with different forms of media. The program along with help and guidance from their professors, provides them with a place to learn and become comfortable with these new communication tools and trends (blogging, Twitter, photos, video, Delicious, linking, transparency, documenting experiences).

When they are ready to launch themselves into the working world, they simply change their profile setting, and the search engines will do the rest. Until then, they can experiment and become more comfortable with some of the latest communication tools and trends and convert their fears into confidence.