Page 104 - How To Sell Yourself

Selling Yourself in Confrontation and Media Interviews 103 And don’t forget, with caring, the silent pause with warm, glow-
ing eye contact works every time.
Simple, brief, clear, concise, and easy-to-understand
I spoke about telling your audience only what it needs to know for you to get your message. The overwhelming instinct to appear professional has caused many people to develop “losing” speak- ing habits. Our role models lead us into the trap of believing that being pompous pays.
In headquarters, the police officer tells the desk sergeant, “I caught this guy with cocaine.” Six words say it all.
Outside the station house, the TV reporter says, “Officer, what happened?” The officer buttons his jacket, clears his throat, places his voice further back in his throat, and says, “We apprehended the alleged perpetrator exiting his vehicle in possession of a glass- ine container that housed a controlled substance.” Yuck!
Words meant to impress that don’t
We’ve littered our language with garbage words. Some that come to mind right away:
• Paradigm.
• Infrastructure.
• All the “-ize” words, such as utilize, prioritize,
maximize, optimize.
• Concomitant.
• Concupiscence.
• Acronyms understood only by your profession.
• Plethora.
• Extrapolate.
• Internecine.
• Penultimate.
• Erstwhile.
They’re all part of the misunderstanding that makes people be- lieve they must impress an audience rather than express themselves.