032 Expert or Echo? Stand Out Online!
How do you begin to sound like an expert without losing all your personality? Together let’s untangle what makes someone a real professional online versus just another echo in the eternal scroll.
032 Expert or Echo? Stand Out Online!
What is the difference between standing out as an Bonafede expert or just copy and pasting what’s trending? Together in this Video Confidence Connect we break down how to sound like your actual self while still showing up professionally* and building your reputation online to new heights.
You don’t need to be the loudest voice online to be the most respected 🌟 What really matters in our ever evolving digital landscape, is whether you’re sharing something worth hearing. By humans and robots alike 😉 This livestream digs into the idea of “Expert vs Echo,” especially for women and nonbinary brand builders and creators who are tired of being told to fit a certain mould. The truth? You can look professional and still sound like yourself. Aaaaaaaand when you do, your message hits harder.
🧠 Related Posts:
028 Personal Brand vs Business Brand Explained
Explores how to align your personal values and lived experience with your marketing, so your messaging stands out and reflects you. Not just your company.
024 Stay Fresh Without Losing the Plot
Breaks down how to experiment with new content ideas while keeping your core message consistent, so you don’t dilute your expertise or confuse your audience.
026 Confidence Without the Cringe
Discusses avoiding common personal-branding pitfalls and choosing content formats that feel natural—so you come across as confidently professional, not an echo.
It’s not all about faking confidence or copying what’s trending on the social algos; it's about bringing your own voice to the conversation. I went through the difference between echoing what you see online and genuinely showcasing your industry smarts in your own style. There's a lot of power 💪 in sounding like yourself, especially when building a personal brand. Your people, you raving fans will hear you more clearly, trust you more deeply, and stick around for whatever is next for you.
Whether you’re planning a new product or service launch, struggling with branding content ideas, or simply wondering if you’re “enough of an expert.” This stream is your nuudge to stop second-guessing yourself and start showing up for them. Want to get clearer on how you stand out online? Work with me (Zoë) at Video Confidence Coach to build a marketing visibility strategy that works with who you are. Not what the man wants you to be 💁♀️
Feeling overwhelmed? One of the best ways to start is by booking a ‘Pick Zoë’s Brain’ session. These one-on-one calls are where we get real about your strategy, cut through the fluff, and map out exactly how to amplify your voice without the overwhelm.
Quirky Quiz Time 🥳
What is one key way to distinguish yourself as an expert online?
A) Copy trending posts and content
B) Use complicated jargon to sound smart
C) Share your insights in your authentic voice
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Correct Answer: C) Share your insights in your authentic voice - Everyone else is already taken 😉
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00:00 - Welcome, tech gremlins and what today’s session is all about
00:08 - Reflecting on what makes an expert: authenticity vs mimicry
00:15 - Personal updates: shifting goals, life balance and connection to NAIDOC Week
00:23 - Zoë’s upcoming events and launches: speaking, workshops, and festival news
00:31 - The trap of repeating “expert” content and why your voice matters more
00:45 - Tools, confidence, and the quiet power of showing up as yourself
00:57 - Final thoughts, upcoming podcast episodes, and how to work together
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[00:05:32:26 - 00:05:59:23]
G'day everyone and welcome to this week's Video Confidence Connect with your host, Zoe Wood, the Video Confidence Coach. Smashing your marketing mayhem with killer video strategies. And welcome to my weekly live stream and hourly chat that we have from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. Australian Eastern Summertime where I get a chance to answer your personal branding and video marketing questions. Thank you everyone for your patience this morning as I've been dealing with technical difficulties because of course today had to be the day when we're doing technical difficulties.
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Makes everything very fun for all of us. So I thank you everyone for your patience. And if you are unable to see me or if things are looking a bit jittery, do let me know in the comments below and I'll do my best to fix those on the fly. We always make to do best, I always do my best to take breaks and make sure that everything looks good. But of course, the Video Confidence Coach, as you can probably guess, in boldens women and non-binary superstars with killer video marketing strategies, empowering them to show up, stand out and smash their goals. And as we go on to our weekly Video Confidence Connect, feel free to let me know if you have a bit of a name for this, I'm thinking about updating and changing the name of this livestream that I do, but to be honest, it just does what it does on the 10, which is usually how I like to name and brand my things at the Video Confidence Coach. I am very much a fan of calling what it is, spades and spades like you find it, you Google it, your SEO, your AI it and you find what you need, ta-da, here we are. Make sure that if you are watching or listening to the livestream on LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitch, Facebook and many other platforms as well, you can always question, you can always comment your questions, your thoughts or ideas for podcast topics that you would like answered here on the livestream or if you're watching on the hashtag replay, hello, there is an awful lot of you. Thank you so much for listening and watching me jabber on during whenever this suits you. So hello, make sure that you comment hashtag replay squad if you are interested and I always do my best to follow up with every comment that I receive. So please do your best to comment if you have anything come up or sparks your interest. For more information about these live streams, the podcasts and my future product launches and events, I'm gonna give you a bit of that information in a sec. You can always find all of these details plus detailed show notes of this livestream that I put together every single week that break down everything that we've discussed in a nice written format. So you can both listen and read at the same time. I don't know if you can do that, but we'll find out if you can, you can find this all at my website, vcc.training, that's vcc.training.
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There's no .com.au, like that's it. I had a couple of people this week question that and I'm like, no, .training is the .com.
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Yay, I pay for it a lot.
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But before we officially begin, I would like to acknowledge and pay my respects to the Wurundurung people of the Kulin nation, the traditional custodians of the land on which I conduct my business. I pay my respects to their elders past and present. I stand with the traditional custodians of these lands in working towards a more equal future. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people continue to face discrimination and disadvantage due to our country's colonial past. I stand with them in their fight against injustice, always was, always will be Aboriginal land.
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And for those of us who are keeping an eye on the Indigenous Events Calendar in Australia, we have NAIDOC week coming at the start of July from the...
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6th, from Sunday the 6th to the 13th of July, 2025, we have NAIDOC week. So that is going to be a full week of events
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all throughout the days. And there is going to be markets, there's going to be times of reflection and times of acknowledgement and big change. So if you are out in the back and make sure to check out your local event halls, event guides for things that are coming up for NAIDOC, I have a fair few clients who are gearing up for NAIDOC because Reconciliation Week and NAIDOC week are kind of like the big two events for the year when it comes to, not necessarily that they're not mobilizing throughout the year, because they definitely are. We are working together quite hard to make sure they are mobilizing throughout the year. It just means that those are kind of like the days where everyone else kind of notices
[00:09:54:17 - 00:10:05:21]
and they spend a lot of time and a lot of efforts during those times. So if you do come across any indigenous business during NAIDOC week, make sure to buy from them, help them and support them as much as you can.
[00:10:07:03 - 00:10:29:26]
Going back, apologies, focusing back onto here. So today is the 13th of the 6th, 2026. And the episode title is "Expert to Echo, Stand Out Online." So we're going to be touching on the podcast topics that we're going to be recording. So the podcast I run is the Unboring Your Brand podcast. This is a 20 to 30 minute weekly podcast episodes
[00:10:31:01 - 00:10:35:04]
where I talk about personal branding and video marketing. Who would have guessed?
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And this week's topics that we are going to be recording are twofold, we're going to be recording what makes someone a true expert in their field. Cause I have been getting that question a lot lately. And I have a lot of things to think about about that. I have my own thoughts and musings and my own opinions, as you always do, because that's what you come here for. You come here for my opinions and nothing else.
[00:10:57:06 - 00:11:29:06]
And we've got a second episode about what is the difference between sounding professional and sounding like yourself online. Because for a lot of people, that's not necessarily the same thing, but I'm going to crap your little egg white open on that one. And we'll discuss that more as we record the podcast episode today. But looking at my quarterly focus for this year, we are in quarter two, we are nearing the end of quarter two as I speak. We're in June and it is absolutely cold. And I say that for someone who has been fine in minus degree weather in just shorts and nothing.
[00:11:30:11 - 00:11:47:10]
Well, shorts and a shirt, I should say, and thongs. I have dealt with a lot of cold weather, but menopause has been really screwing around with my ability to handle cold. So, Eastern, I love you, please come back to me. So, that's been kicking my ass lately.
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But moving on from the cold, so at least I won't be sweating or getting a bit too red and flustered during today's live stream, which is a plus for you as the watcher and listener of today's session.
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The upcoming focus that we've got is the launch of products in July, 2023. Yes, the launch will be in Q3, but I'm preparing and doing all the work in Q2. Therefore, that's my focus for Q2. See, see where I'm going there? If you are a small business owner and you have any of your focuses or any of your goals for Q2, please do comment them below. I would love to know what you're doing and how we can help each other out if need be.
[00:12:21:12 - 00:12:34:02]
So, where you have probably seen me over this past week, I haven't done any major outgoing events over this past week, mainly just because we've been working on the background for my clients with Nadoc Week and working on a lot of personal things.
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When it rains, it pours, doesn't it? I know I'll absolutely love it when that happens, but best of all to say that as of this morning,
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everything personal-wise is pretty much dealt with. Of course, it means that this will impact the livestream and will impact my work over this next month because I am going to be moving. So, I'm going to be moving.
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I am out here in Geelong or Water and Country, and I'm gonna continue to be on Geelong or Water and Country just in a different space. So, I will let you know if that does impact the livestream because there's going to probably one or two live streams coming up that I'll have to cancel, move around, or reschedule just because I won't have internet or power or the things that make this possible. I'm probably gonna need to take a couple of breaks from the livestream just for those moments. Of course, I will always be available to work and I will be doing my best to just finish my work in one place and then just go to the new place and set up and get everything ready within, I'd say, half a day at the latest. But if you are needing to talk about personal branding or video marketing, I will always be, do myself, I will always do my hardest to be available for you and your needs.
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As I said, so we've got moving, cars, a lot of personal stuff, but essentially, it's been a whirlwind of past month.
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Yeah, it's just been a month, it's only been a month. Oh, it has felt like a couple of years to be fair, folks. And that might be the same for you as well. So if you feel that, feel free to comment below. As I said, we have launching new products in July, 2025. I have a whole bunch of good things to tell you about, so look forward to hearing about that. And also in news, that is not necessarily relevant now, but will be soon, is we are part of the Geelong Small Business Festival. So I have an event that is in the Geelong's Bells Small Business Festival. We don't have any details as to when they are launched. They will be launched as of July, so I have to keep under wraps, not say anything and be good. I'm not very good at that, but I'm gonna do my best to kind of just rein it in and not just blab around to everyone that I know about the exact details. It will be a paid event, but just so you know ahead of time, it will be a paid event, but all of the proceeds go to the Wurrung Co-op, my preferred, no.
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Computer, don't restart now. You've had all time to do that.
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Yeah, focus.
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The proceeds will go to the Wurrung Co-op
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for, as you can imagine, is my...
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Okay, let me do it later then.
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Silly computer. Love Windows.
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As I was saying, focus.
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My proceeds of the event will go through the Wurrung Co-op, my preferred charity of choice. I very much enjoy what they do, and hopefully we're currently in discussions now, but maybe later on in this year, I'll be mentoring some kids through their podcastings. They're recently built Bullen Bullen Podcasting Studio, so I'll hopefully be working with them later this year. We'll see how that goes. We're still in the negotiation stage and also when people are available stage, but we'll deal with that when we come to it. For now, thank you everyone for your patience as we continue on through today's live stream. This upcoming week, from the 13th of June to the 20th of June, we have on the 16th, we have the Power Up Community Co-op, which is on the One Roof Network. I am a member of the One Roof Network here in Australia. If you are also a member, say hi. I would love to hear from you and love to see you out and about. If you have seen my face and you're intrigued and you're like, "I've heard you around, Zoe." Well, then I'm also here too. I do like to reach out to my fellow One Roof members and do my best to help serve them in any way.
[00:16:34:08 - 00:16:54:11]
We've also got the One Roof Women's Network event. So if you are out here in Geelong and you are part of the One Roof Network, I would like to say hi and look forward to seeing you on Thursday. I do believe that we are at Packington Street this week, but we'll see how we go. Things are a bit cold and things are gonna be a bit interesting as we get there.
[00:16:55:17 - 00:17:44:01]
I also did a call out for this week on my socials and various groups. Mind you, it was rather intriguing with some of the groups who are all about, you know, female entrepreneurship and inclusion. And I was posting about finding an accountability buddy. I do find it quite useful to have people who are also business owners, but who are not necessarily tied to your business to be able to beat accountability buddies with. I have been doing this for years now and it has greatly improved my business and my flow. And just honestly talking with other people, even if it's just for 20 minutes or 30 minutes of fortnight, just to kind of have someone outside of you that you can bring these things to. So look forward to my accountability buddies that I am reaching out to and talking with over these next few months.
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And yes, that was rather interesting that all these groups that are about female entrepreneurship and they don't share that, that was interesting. So we'll see how that goes. That was interesting how that was all held, but I digress that was me just being a little bit sour, mainly just because I'm finding Facebook and I'm finding Facebook and meta products in general harder and harder to work with.
[00:18:11:10 - 00:19:03:19]
I think all of us can agree on that front. So for the Unboring Your Brand podcast, which is the podcast that we record here at the Video Confidence Connect, of course, every week we had to take the opportunity to record our community questions or podcast episodes, or essentially what I feel like that week, to be perfectly honest. What I like to be able to do is make sure that I can cover enough topics to be able to help and serve you in your branding or small business journey, or usually in the case, combination of the two. And from there, I'll be able, and then from there, what I do is probably as of Q3, we're gonna have a couple of opportunities to have guests on the live stream. So that will be an interesting change. Instead of just hearing me blather, you'll hear more people blather. So I look forward to seeing what we can pull out from there. Back to the podcast, the Unboring Your Brand podcast.
[00:19:04:23 - 00:19:28:10]
You'll be able to see that last week, we had the Marketing When Life Gets In The Way episode. I did have a lot of good feedback from everyone via my email list and via a couple of comments on social media. So I'm glad that you really enjoyed that podcast. It's really reminding people, especially in this time of year when you've reached halfway through the year, because there's a lot of momentum at the start of a year. And then it kinda just,
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as soon as you reach the middle, and then it kind of picks up again because you're at the start of a new year. And as we reach the end of this financial year, if, yeah, I guess things get interesting, and usually marketing, when it comes to branding yourself, building your personal brand, or trying to build your business through marketing,
[00:19:48:23 - 00:20:16:07]
it can get a little bit on the back burner with everything else you've got to do. So we talk about methods and processes and tactics to be able to help you to do that. Not just on the video marketing side, mind you, but in marketing in general, because when I talk to a lot of people, it's usually, I'm too busy to do this, I'm too busy to do that. It's not that you're busy, it's that it's not a priority for you. That is okay, not everything has to be a priority for you. But if you want to get returns from it, it needs to be a priority for you. Yay!
[00:20:17:21 - 00:20:33:00]
This coming week, however, is going to be episode 64, Burn the Hustle, Be You. I'm gonna discuss of my past regarding the hustle culture. I, when I first started my business at 14, I was very much into the hustle culture mentality. I couldn't imagine that was fun.
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And I burned myself. I was on a repeated burnout cycle for over a decade. And that's not good and not great. So I'm gonna talk about that and hopefully be able to pull yourself out of that hustle mentality. Not saying that I'm gonna be the superman.
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Let's do that again. I'm not gonna be the Wonder Woman to your person who Wonder Woman saves. But this will also just take an opportunity to actually reflect of, is this working for you? Because the reason that we start our brands, the reason that we want to grow our personal brands, the reason that we start our businesses is to have that control and hustle,
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especially toxic hustle is no longer part of that work, is it? It's just doing it for the doing its sake.
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So you'll check that out as that releases on 3 p.m. Australian Easter Standard Time this Sunday, which will be, if I get my math right, the 15th of June, 2023. So keep an eye out for that. And for Vic Podcasters, my ongoing pet project for Victorian Podcasters, new and longstanding professionals. So you can always check out everything that we have going. We have been getting a lot of activities in the groups and in our email lists. So you can always check us out on the email list, which is on vcc.training.vic-podcasters, the Facebook group and the LinkedIn groups. We're doing a bit of a shake up because we've reached halfway through the year and we're moving a couple of things around. Want to make sure that we can offer you or let you know that if you are a podcast in Victoria, the grants that are available, the opportunities they're available, the awards and the collaboration opportunities. So make sure you check it out. And also we have a weekly podcast that comes out that is between five to eight minutes long. That give you really detailed next steps for your podcasting journey. Last week we had episode 38, which was part of our monetization series, which we had a three-part series about how to monetize your podcast. And this one was specifically about unusual ways to monetize your sound. I have a lot of people who do not feel like they're ready to monetize or they feel they've been podcasting for a very long time and they're upset or annoyed that they're not at the stage of monetization. Well, in this podcast, we talk about ways to monetize your podcast that may not seem like the obvious branded ads or intrusive ads as I like to call them because nothing has ever sound mixed correctly.
[00:23:03:15 - 00:23:17:24]
But I digress, that's just a bit of the technical podcaster in me. So have fun with that. Episode 39, we have a flashback episode to one of our most popular episodes was back on episode 22, which was admitting that you ghosted them.
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Talking other, that topic was very poignant for people, especially people who are interested in podcasting or did a stint of podcasting and then they had to take a break for whatever reason, life, business, what have you. And they're worried about coming back because they're worried that their audience has forgotten about them, that they lost, they're out of the game, they're out of touch. So if that is you, feel free to check out that flashback episode that's coming out this Sunday at 3 p.m. on the 15th of June.
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And if you want to keep on top of anything that I have discussed or anything that I'm a part of, especially the collaboration opportunities because I always enjoy collaborating with other like-minded brands, please reach out to me at zoe at vcc.training, zoe at vcc.training, or you can just sign up to my email list and that's also a better way of doing it because you get periodic reminders about everything that we've got going on. I do not like to fill up your inbox with spam. I like to give you useful tools, preferably.
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So next we are going to get on to recording our podcast. We're going to start off with what makes someone a true expert in their field. And I have opinions, so we're gonna have fun with that one. But before I do that, we are going to touch on my website. As per usual, what I like to do is just check in with my website, not just for me, but for future me as well. I still haven't fixed this, like I still haven't fixed this thing yet entirely just because it's not looking how it works, but guess what? Fixed the things, fixed the things. It's doing that, but I fixed it, so it works now. I don't know what I did, but I fixed it.
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And of course we've got our toolbox where I'm keeping all my free resources. So at the current time, we've got all the resources, so the free resources, which is obviously the Confidence Connect, which you're watching now, the podcast and a big podcasters. But I will also do my best to include other free resources and tools that I give to people as part of articles or as part of other tools and tricks because to be honest, I have definitely been doing this for long enough and I just have not organized any of my IP. So I'm currently, while also setting up new services and working through that, I'm currently working through that right now. So I thank you all for your patience and your time as you see that I've been doing this for a while, but we try, we definitely try. But here I am, I digress. And the services, we're still working out and trying to make them as friendly as possible for people as they need them. So you're able to find the services that you need as soon as you can and also help the SEO and AI algorithms know where we are and when they need us. Other thing I wanted to touch on is one of my clients, the art by Nadine Riley, Aboriginal artist. She does a lot of great work and she has a couple of things coming up. She has a lot of events for NAIDOC week, as you can probably imagine. So what I'm gonna do is the, what I do. So we're currently updating her website and updating a few of her programs and making sure that we cover all the areas about that. So if you are in the Frankston or in the Greater Geelong, sorry, Greater Narm and Melbourne region, make sure that you check out Nadine. She has a bunch of events coming up. She, yeah, so she has a lot of NAIDOC events coming up, which we haven't updated on the website, but we're gonna do that very soon because,
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because it makes me look like.
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Yeah, we're working on that as that comes through. And I'm so proud of what we've been able to accomplish. We are due to finish up working together and I am so proud of what she's been able to accomplish in such, yes, it's been a year, but it's been a very impactful and glorious year. So I look forward to seeing what she can do. And of course, we'll always keep in touch. So if you are watching Nadine, don't worry, haven't, we'll not forget about you as we continue, as we continue to grow. And for those who are intrigued, as in August of this year, I will be attending the 2025 Social Media and Marketing Conference, a marketer turning, going to a marketing conference. I am shocked, I tell you. So this is run by a role model of mine, like someone I look up to called Jen Donovan. Yes, we both like blue and yes, we both, we are brunettes who like blue. (Laughs) And she is running a first, her first conference in Melbourne,
[00:27:55:22 - 00:28:38:16]
discussing all things social media, marketing and branding. We've got a bunch of people who I aspire to and enjoy following. And I look forward to seeing what they are able to say and do and what they're able to cover in their focuses and topics on that day. So if you are interested, again, this isn't a plug, I'm not sponsored, I would just love to see people who I like working with, hopefully you're one of those people, to check out the 2025 Social Media, Marketing and Marketing, Social Media and Marketing Conference. So look forward to seeing you on the other side. I'm gonna go get things ready for the podcast.
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Usually at this point, especially with people who know everything, they're gonna keep talking regardless.
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I say this as someone who has been talking for 37 minutes straight so far during a live stream.
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(Laughs) But what I mean by that is that when people who know everything, and I use very large quotation marks there,
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when they know everything, they're just gonna keep talking. So in that moment, you can just take a breath, try and find your happy place and then think about, okay, do I have access to be able to move around?
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(Upbeat Music) Again, if you have any questions, feel free to comment those and I'll make sure to answer them as they come up.
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One question that some people may have is, Zoe, why do you have the authority to speak in this? So before we begin, I will let you know that I have been at business networking since I started my business last 14. So that's 15 years ago now. (Upbeat Music)
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(Upbeat Music)
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You need to get something done or you're feeling a bit, and you wanna try and get something done so you look on the wide world web of social media platforms and various other things that you find yourself somewhere looking at one. And you find this guru, you find this expert, this touted thought leader in their space. And you go, this is the person for me, this is the right person for me.
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Or at least they look like it, they sound like it. Are they actually the right person for me?
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Welcome to the Unboring a Brand podcast with me, your host, Zoe Wood, the video confidence coach.
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Yes, let's actually talk what it makes.
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We're gonna do that part again. (Laughs) Yes, let's actually talk about what it takes to be an expert and what actually makes someone an expert. And hint, it's not just a guru with a ring light.
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Now, of course, we can all start from somewhere and gurus are usually, and I like to confirm this with people, gurus, essentially people who have built their platforms
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of multiple paid usually members and also free members by putting out a bunch of content that usually is around a particular niche. So that's usually what a guru is. And it could be argued that Zoe, you're a guru, not a successful one, but a guru nonetheless,
[00:31:26:15 - 00:32:41:18]
when you're talking about personal branding and video marketing, true. But I also am not classing myself in a guru in this description, mainly because I work with getting people to work with me one-on-one. My time is my resource, as opposed to a lot of these gurus who pump out a lot of content and then try and get people to join a course, join a ability to access these gurus, but you don't actually access any of their time. You only talk to their team members. And you're trying to usually achieve the success that they've been able to achieve when the success that they've been able to achieve is either A, was done when the social media platform, the email platform, or whatever they're trying to teach you, they did 10 years ago. And the platform and the industry has changed since then. Or it's a case where they are trying to teach you something that they themselves did not achieve because they either came from wealth, so they were able to store, for example, a lot of money in ads at something that you aren't able to do because you do not have those resources, either the money, the time, the people, the network connections, what be you,
[00:32:42:19 - 00:32:57:04]
or they are just ultimately making false promises or trying to scam you. Now, of course, scammers and gurus, there is a very big Venn diagram. There's a very big chunk in the middle that covers those particular places. And of course, there are people out there who do fit the guru mold, who are genuine people.
[00:32:59:02 - 00:33:02:07]
But of course, it does not mean that that is everyone.
[00:33:03:12 - 00:33:12:07]
With that lengthy explanation in Toe Zoe, let's touch on with the podcast episode today about how experts are born.
[00:33:14:16 - 00:33:15:11]
We're gonna do that part again.
[00:33:17:01 - 00:33:19:22]
And touch on how experts are built, not born.
[00:33:20:26 - 00:33:29:11]
What I mean by that is that being an expert doesn't mean that you know everything, especially about your particular niche, even though it may feel like it.
[00:33:30:13 - 00:33:54:02]
It means that you're always learning. But what makes you an expert is because you are actively teaching others. You are actively encouraging others to do the same. Now, not exactly to follow your footsteps. So say, for example, I mentor a bunch of kids on the regular every year. Hello to those, hello to the kids, if I see you now. And yes, you are a kid, despite how you may feel. You are under the age of 18, you are a kid.
[00:33:55:06 - 00:34:24:11]
And I mentor them through entrepreneurship and the trials and tribulations of growing up young in this world, but also taking on the opportunities that maybe life hasn't dealt you a grade of a card and what opportunities like entrepreneurship or starting a small business can give you that leverage. It's not always going to be the answer and it's not for everyone, but it gives them an option that they may not have thought was one to help them achieve their goals in life.
[00:34:25:25 - 00:34:48:24]
And when it comes to being an expert or an industry leader, of course, those are titles that are usually spun out a lot on LinkedIn, as you can probably imagine. I like to just kind of put them in the same box because it makes it easier to think of this as when you're trying to think of real experts, for example. And real experts are the ones who are always curious
[00:34:50:16 - 00:34:51:13]
and consistent.
[00:34:52:26 - 00:35:10:00]
Someone who is trying to both educate, learn about their specific niche or area of interest, or maybe they have multiple areas of interest, but then they convert that curiosity into consistent, not just content. And I wanna stress not just content,
[00:35:11:01 - 00:35:53:19]
but making sure that they help the people who come to them for help. I do my best to make sure that I answer every email that I get for people asking help that I provide. If I'm not able to say, give my time, so say, for example, maybe they can't pay for my time because of course I'm on a business and I need to be able to survive and pay rent. In those moments, I want to be able to give them some free education that they can do it themselves. So in those moments, I want to be able to be curious and provide consistency to those people that need my help. And even if say, for example, we have not met face-to-face, I still want to be able to serve you as an expert in the field. I'm not an expert just because I know it all.
[00:35:56:01 - 00:35:58:05]
I'm an expert because I'm aiming to learn more.
[00:35:59:07 - 00:36:05:14]
I'm aiming to take action in the actions that I'm taking, in the work that I'm doing.
[00:36:07:09 - 00:36:35:00]
So in those moments when you come across someone who say, for example, and this is not a be all and end all, but I've come across a couple of gurus, especially recently, but over my entire time of running a business where you look at that past and say three or four years ago, they were in a completely niche industry, a complete niche industry. And then three years previous to that where they were in another industry. So it's clear that they're hopping between industries
[00:36:36:11 - 00:36:46:06]
and usually whatever is popular or interesting at the time. So say, for example, right now, AI is the whole new thing, the whole new shiny thing. And to be honest, it's definitely waning on everyone.
[00:36:47:20 - 00:37:14:01]
And when it comes to these experts who not necessarily stay in the same lane the entire time, because of course you're allowed to branch out, you're allowed to get out of the box, but for these experts, these people who are aiming to be industry leaders, people who want to be seen and respected in those fields are usually going to stick to the same fields because they've been able to find something that they're passionate, hello, personal branding and video marketing.
[00:37:15:09 - 00:37:20:20]
But for them, evolving is the game. As an expert, you are,
[00:37:23:00 - 00:37:25:15]
if you're not growing, you're going to be stale,
[00:37:27:00 - 00:37:28:10]
like we call banana bread.
[00:37:29:23 - 00:37:41:20]
And for those experts that you look up to, do they have a large history, not just of content or videos or essays or articles or podcast collaborations,
[00:37:42:24 - 00:38:16:04]
but are they still in the same industry? Are they trying to be consistent and grow? Yes, they may come across and change their opinions from time to time because of course we're humans, we're gonna change our opinions. But when it comes to a thought leader or someone who is trying to be this expert, now of course, everyone who is trying to make money or someone who's trying to build a business, there is going to be a lot of being self-built because there's not a magical God or fairy that bestows that, "Oh, you are the expert in this." (Laughs)
[00:38:17:26 - 00:38:31:07]
That doesn't exist. And if you want people to respect you and if you want to become an expert yourself, this takes, as I said, consistency and curiosity on your part.
[00:38:32:22 - 00:38:36:25]
Now, of course you can burn yourself out, like I did many, many, many, many times,
[00:38:38:05 - 00:39:09:16]
but you are going to learn and do your best to be consistent with giving yourself new processes, new systems, do your best to avoid the burnout and take on that knowledge of what it looks like and feels like for you to be burnt out, trying to achieve that expert status. And what you can do to take your foot off that accelerator, let yourself calm down, get back into the rhythm and then push again for either a new project, a new idea, whatever is going to help you achieve those goals. And to be honest, one of my goals is to become a industry expert in my field
[00:39:10:25 - 00:39:28:11]
because yes, it comes with the accolades of say, for example, more money, not necessarily, but I've got my name on people's lips, but to be honest, it helps me give that authority so that I can help more people, that I can serve more of the people that I want to serve, that I want to help.
[00:39:29:24 - 00:39:31:19]
And if you are a guru,
[00:39:34:03 - 00:39:44:15]
and again, I'm not talking about the original gurus because original gurus are very heavily spiritual, paralyzed people. We are not talking about those. We're talking about the people who have pinched that name.
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Ditching the whole guru thing in your mentality of what you're trying to become, just because you've seen other people,
[00:39:54:21 - 00:40:01:16]
you know, you see them pop up in your feeds or you pop up, are they pop up in your email list or you see their face or their name a lot.
[00:40:03:00 - 00:40:04:13]
Yes, a lot of these people want
[00:40:06:25 - 00:40:11:03]
like to be seen as that expert, but to be honest, they mainly just want the title
[00:40:13:07 - 00:40:53:28]
and it's usually more fluff than facts. And you will definitely come across these people. Now I want to stress, most of these guru people aren't necessarily scammers. They do have a lot of work that is scam related though. And for people who are trying to grow genuinely and holistically as an expert, it can feel quite icky trying to collaborate or trying to reach out to these people who have no interest in collaborating with you because you're not bigger than them. And in those events that maybe for example, you are bigger than them. You're going to get a lot of people who want your audience, who want the work that you've already put in and especially the work that you've put in over a very long period of time.
[00:40:55:15 - 00:41:03:19]
But when you come across real experts, real experts don't act like they've reached the mountain top.
[00:41:05:01 - 00:41:15:08]
They pack snacks and keep climbing. And for these experts, it's not about acting perfect. It's about practically being obsessed with their craft,
[00:41:16:11 - 00:41:28:00]
with their focus, with their niche. And of course, like anyone, they can get tired of it, but they're going to then pivot to another obsession, but it's also a practical obsession that helps them help you.
[00:41:29:28 - 00:41:52:03]
And for me, when looking back on my attempts, or not attempts, of my consistent building of being an expert in my field, I'm going to be showing my work, but also showing my mistakes. If you don't cringe at stuff from yourself, the stuff that you created six months ago to a year, you aren't growing. You aren't consistently growing.
[00:41:53:13 - 00:42:13:20]
So as if you are trying to become an expert in your field, or if you just want to be known in your academic circles, or in your particular community. So say, for example, I've mentioned podcasts, in podcast episodes in the past, where I worked incredibly hard to become the go-to person for video marketing in Geelong,
[00:42:15:00 - 00:42:24:18]
and it didn't work out. And that could be for many reasons. I honestly think there was a little bit of just like, I started very young, I was also making a lot of mistakes,
[00:42:25:21 - 00:42:46:26]
which maybe means that I'm never going to be able to recover in the Geelong scene. But it took me a while to realize that the only reason that I was focusing in Geelong was because I felt limited in my own thinking. So I expanded to Australia, and now I'm expanding internationally, slowly but surely, as I do. Again, being consistent,
[00:42:50:19 - 00:42:52:26]
and curious at the same time.
[00:42:53:26 - 00:43:25:26]
But for you, you might be saying, Zoe, I don't want to be an expert, I just want to have people know my name. Well, how do they know your name? They need to see that you're not flawless, but that you're growing, that you're working yourself over time, that you're being honest about what works and what is a total dumpster fire, not just in the activities that you're trying on behalf of your clients or your staff, or behalf of the customer avatars that you're working with. You're also sharing your progress.
[00:43:27:15 - 00:43:43:19]
And people who are attuned to that, people who are attuned to your vibe, for example, I am usually quite bombastic and loud. And I have probably done that a couple of times throughout this podcast episode itself, but people trust growth.
[00:43:44:23 - 00:43:45:24]
They don't trust perfection.
[00:43:48:04 - 00:43:51:24]
And that's usually what gurus try to hone and try to get right off the bat.
[00:43:52:24 - 00:43:57:05]
Because of course, people look into them. And as people look into me, and hopefully they do, hi.
[00:44:01:15 - 00:44:13:06]
As you build your personal brand, and as you grow a small business, usually part of the same thing, to be perfectly honest, which is why I have a tendency of interchanging them when I talk about it in my podcast.
[00:44:16:12 - 00:44:19:10]
If you've made mistakes and kept going, congratulations.
[00:44:20:26 - 00:44:32:13]
You've been curious to make the mistakes, but you've also been consistent enough that you've kept going, that you haven't let any sort of blunder stop you from trying to serve the people that you're here to serve.
[00:44:34:24 - 00:44:43:19]
You're ahead of the people who faked and never put a foot wrong because they had the means to never do that for yourself.
[00:44:44:25 - 00:44:59:09]
So as we wrap up today's podcast, I can apology that this wasn't my usual bombastic energy self. As I record this, it's a bit cold and I'm kind of slowing down a bit. I need to get the sun on me so I can warm up like the energizer bunny.
[00:45:01:01 - 00:45:05:28]
When answering the question, what makes someone a true expert in their field?
[00:45:07:07 - 00:45:11:00]
It comes with knowing that they are always a student first
[00:45:12:14 - 00:45:24:26]
is forgetting the glow up and forgetting the obtainableness of trying to be a guru. They are always focused on the good gritty stuff. They are learning, evolving, and being real with their people.
[00:45:26:05 - 00:45:43:11]
Why? Because they're showing that, they're not lying. Now, I'm not saying that you need to show your bank statements. Some of us aren't Trump, but for these people, being able to like tell the truth about how things are going, how things are feeling.
[00:45:44:22 - 00:45:49:10]
And as you try to obtain being that industry leader,
[00:45:50:18 - 00:45:54:19]
the moment you think you've got it all sorted is your sign that you've stopped being an expert.
[00:45:56:16 - 00:46:00:04]
And as you grow, hopefully you can take that on board for yourself.
[00:46:01:12 - 00:46:15:06]
And in those events that you are not trying to be an expert in your field, I'm intrigued to why you're listening to the podcast. Please do drop me a line at vcc, sorry, at zoey, at vcc.training, just an email saying hi and why you're listening if you don't actually want to achieve this. I'm intrigued.
[00:46:16:20 - 00:46:25:23]
For those who are trying to build that personal brand to that status of being an expert in that particular field or niche,
[00:46:27:01 - 00:46:39:20]
I want you to keep that in mind, that you will always be a student, and then you'll always be growing, and keeping that growth mindset kicking on in the back of your mind at all times. And if you make a mistake, then that is fine. Did someone die?
[00:46:41:07 - 00:46:42:01]
Then it's not that bad.
[00:46:43:20 - 00:46:49:09]
We can always rectify mistakes, and you can always show people that you're growing as,
[00:46:51:07 - 00:46:53:09]
you continue to build your personal brand.
[00:46:54:15 - 00:47:12:01]
Thank you for enjoying the podcast today. Make sure to give us five stars and on Apple Podcasts or Spotify Podcasts if you are so inclined. And yes, hopefully next podcast, I will have a lot more energy because it will be less cold. And I look forward to seeing you on the next episode of the Unboring Your Brand podcast.
[00:47:13:21 - 00:47:17:29]
If you are not a yapper like me, and you would prefer to write things down,
[00:47:19:03 - 00:47:27:24]
going with a blog post, going with an email newsletter, going with the text first format. And if you are neither of those things,
[00:47:29:26 - 00:47:41:29]
we're probably gonna have to find another option for you when it comes to containers, formats that we can put your knowledge in. (Upbeat Music)
[00:48:05:01 - 00:48:07:13]
(Upbeat Music)
[00:48:08:27 - 00:48:14:22]
But when coaching people or mentoring people when networking does come up a lot in business,
[00:48:15:26 - 00:48:57:25]
I do recommend choosing groups wisely or choosing events that can fit to your schedule that do not overwhelm you. What I mean by that is to be able to find something that fits in your schedule and something that hopefully fits within your budget as well. Because there are plenty of free networking events, but as you can probably imagine, free networking events usually means that anyone can attend. Which again, is not necessarily a bad thing, but when choosing a group, you kind of need to see what networking groups fit your needs. So again, for example, the Geelong Podcasters, as you can imagine, are people who podcast or who want to podcast,
[00:48:58:26 - 00:49:03:27]
or want to guest on podcast, I mean. If you don't fit any of those three things that I've just described,
[00:49:05:00 - 00:49:17:23]
the free Geelong Podcasters meet up once a month may not be the right fit for you. But say, for example, if you become a member of a networking group, say for example, like Geelong Chamber of Commerce, for example,
[00:49:18:26 - 00:49:35:01]
they have regular events, I think, that one to two a week of varying different kinds of course. And then they have their after fives, which are events that start, as you can imagine, at about five, five 30, and go until eight, eight 30 at night.
[00:49:37:06 - 00:49:39:10]
Yes, what is it like to,
[00:49:40:11 - 00:49:47:25]
okay, I stumbled over myself on that one. Welcome everyone to the podcast. All right, let's get going. All right, I'm gonna try and bring my energy up. Okay.
[00:49:49:05 - 00:50:08:02]
What is the difference between sounding professional and sounding like yourself online? That is the big personal branding dilemma. And let's figure out a way to answer that.
[00:50:09:09 - 00:50:10:06]
(Vocalizing)
[00:50:11:19 - 00:50:15:11]
Welcome to the Unborrowing Your Brand podcast with me, your host, Zoe Wood, the video confidence coach.
[00:50:16:26 - 00:50:22:15]
And let's get started. Hopefully I don't trip over my words as much this particular episode.
[00:50:23:16 - 00:50:25:09]
We'll try. It might not entirely work.
[00:50:30:29 - 00:50:41:10]
Ever worry if you're not using the words like synergy or touch base in every sentence that you won't sound professional slash corporate. But yeah, nah,
[00:50:43:10 - 00:50:54:17]
there's a big difference between sounding professional and being a robot. And in this time of AI and people losing their humanity to this big googling machine,
[00:50:56:28 - 00:51:52:13]
you need to make sure that you can stand out as you when growing a personal brand. So let's demystify a couple of things before we carry on with today's episode. Things I wanna demystify first is there is no correlation between sounding professional and speaking corporate. Even though for most of us in our lives, professional settings have been corporate settings. If you are someone who started off in a corporate career and then moved into running a small business, or maybe you are currently in the corporate sector and doing your best to grow your personal brand at the same time, I say, hello, welcome everyone to the Unboring a Brand podcast. But, and especially for even people who have not been in corporate and who are taking on this branding journey to grow their personal brand, there is a very big mental correlation between being professional, which is very stiff,
[00:51:53:14 - 00:51:58:20]
but it also means that they are clear, respectful, and not full of typos.
[00:52:00:13 - 00:52:23:29]
And in the way that you speak, it can feel very confusing when trying to make sure that you present yourself out into the world and that you are seen as the expert and the industry leader that you are, because that's what you're trying to be, right? But looking back on it, if you're not using big words, you might just not be using the right ones.
[00:52:25:20 - 00:52:46:08]
So for you and for your ongoing journey in growing your personal brand, especially when you were using your voice or you're using your face in any of the work that you're doing, I implore you to not lean into the trope that you need to sound like a LinkedIn exploded all over your face.
[00:52:47:18 - 00:52:55:00]
That may be a bit too sexual for this time of the morning, but I want you to try and keep it human.
[00:52:56:01 - 00:53:08:26]
And in those moments that if you feel like your natural speaking voice, speaking tone, or just the way that you present yourself is not professional enough, I implore you to think about,
[00:53:11:01 - 00:53:59:10]
are you just trying to emulate someone that you've seen or that you recognize because they've been successful and they've been successful in my industry because of the way that they speak? Not necessarily, they are successful because they action what they say. They are consistent probably most likely, or they do their best to be consistent. And they are probably someone who has those network connection ties to be able to grow that personal brand who you're aspiring to be like. Not necessarily just by the way that they speak. And it could also be the complete opposite that the way that they speak is very human, is very relaxed, is very tone, or in Australia's case, very ochre, very relaxed in tone. And I sometimes get that from people who are overseas. Hello, for everyone who is not in Australia.
[00:54:01:02 - 00:54:21:21]
I usually get a little bit of that because I speak very plainly, but I also sometimes, depending on how heavy I've been working that week, do have a tendency of leaning a bit more into marketing tones and using a lot of jargon that does not automatically connect with the people that I want to connect, which is you.
[00:54:22:25 - 00:54:43:24]
And when you are doing the same, you are trying to be yourself while also being relatable. And they want to connect to you. And as humans, we can tell when someone is lying to us. When the patterns aren't working, it isn't clicking. And when you are trying to be professional, especially if that's not in your normal state of being,
[00:54:45:16 - 00:54:48:23]
well, not professional, I'd say, when you're trying to speak corporate is what I meant to say.
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When you're speaking corporate, you are not you. You are fitting into the mold of the box of what your career demands. But when you're growing your personal brand,
[00:55:02:05 - 00:55:18:23]
it takes a lot of effort. And if you are not naturally someone who homes into that corporate speak, that is going to be a lot of time and energy that you are going to have to drill down into your psyche before you can start pushing that out into the real world. And that impedes your ability to grow and to help people.
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When it comes to your,
[00:55:24:02 - 00:55:41:15]
not just your tone of voice or your quirks or the weird little phrases that you do, they ultimately the secret sauce because you are trying to connect with the people that you're speaking with, be them in person, be them virtually, be them via text, be them via audio, or be them via video, however you are reaching them.
[00:55:43:02 - 00:56:27:17]
If someone who knows you or has met you in person, be this in a professional setting, because of course we're talking about personal brands here, in a business setting, if they met you in person, but then your tone of voice does not match your emails or your captions, they might just go, "Ooh, something's wrong here. I'm going to back away a little bit. I don't like the trust. I don't like the mismatch." And that is in marketing 101. If the tone of the way that you present yourself and the way that you write about yourself are not the same thing, people get a bit weird. People get a bit concerned and you can lose that trust. Trust is the hardest thing to grow, capture and maintain when it comes to marketing a brand, especially a personal brand.
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Not to mention any PR crisis, but I'm not Molly McPherson, we're not going to get into that today.
[00:56:34:15 - 00:56:56:24]
In those events, I want you to bring yourself back down to earth and take time to actually think about how you want to present yourself to the world. And if you've been presenting yourself in a certain way, being able to step back and realize that, is that something that you can maintain? Is that something that you can keep going and keep doing, mind you? Or is it time to pivot and try and make things work for you?
[00:56:58:01 - 00:57:18:12]
I know that very early on in my career, I was doing my best to use all the jargon, use all the things, but also like making sure that I explained myself to people who maybe didn't know what those jargons were. Things took a lot longer. I was very tea-dell oriented. Unfortunately, I still am, but it resulted in me
[00:57:19:18 - 00:57:20:17]
overworking myself.
[00:57:21:18 - 00:57:26:07]
It resulted in me burning myself out and ultimately not really getting anywhere.
[00:57:27:11 - 00:57:51:09]
But since then, I have started a new business, the Go Confidence Coach, and I've taken this time to really make my brand work for me. The way that I speak to you now is the way that I speak to my family and friends. With less marketing jargon, and I have learned to probably not overload them with my marketing stuff and my personal branding stuff, because they're like, "Zoey, shut up. "We are not interested in that."
[00:57:52:13 - 00:58:03:27]
(Laughs) So in those moments, I've learned to calm down or pull back in that respect. And that's probably the same for you, that when you are growing this personal brand in the field of study that you want to become an expert in,
[00:58:04:28 - 00:58:27:23]
it's going to take over your life. And if it's gonna take over your life, you might as well make it easy for you wherever you can, via resources expenditure, by a time, by energy, whatever it needs to be done to make things easy for you, do that. And in turn, if that means that you are you on the camera, if that's you when you're recording a podcast, if that's you when you're writing an article or a blog,
[00:58:28:24 - 00:58:39:21]
or whichever way that you are trying to communicate to your audience. Because again, that's what marketing is, baby. That's what personal branding is, baby. It is communicating to your audience.
[00:58:41:10 - 00:58:54:02]
So in turn, making sure that you amplify the version of you, that you want out there is better than just faking it with corporate slop and ultimately being generic at the end of the day.
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No one likes generic, no one cares about generic,
[00:58:59:09 - 00:59:01:20]
because they're not willing to pay you the big bucks if you're generic.
[00:59:04:03 - 00:59:08:20]
I see why we're coming here, I see why we like it. Glad you're along with me on this journey.
[00:59:12:11 - 00:59:40:15]
You don't have to be exactly how you are in person. And I know that may seem a bit contradict, stay with me. It may seem a bit contrary to what I just said. What I mean is you don't have to, if you are someone who enjoys drinks with pubs at the mate, if you are someone who enjoys going down to the pub and having a drink with your mates, and the way that you talk to them is probably not how you're gonna talk to your audience online or how, that is fine, that's fine.
[00:59:42:14 - 00:59:52:25]
But when you are speaking to an audience, when you're speaking to them on a stage or online or however you are communicating with them, it should ultimately feel like you.
[00:59:55:02 - 00:59:58:05]
Think of it as like turning up the volume a little.
[00:59:59:08 - 01:00:24:11]
It's still your voice, it's just clearer and more purposeful. You have a direct line of communication to them and you are a lot clearer with what your ultimate direction is. You're still you, you still got your accent, you still got the words that you use, you still got your little flubs, your arms, your arms. For me at the moment, it's but, which is not helpful because that puts an end to the sentence when I'm trying to carry on the sentence, Zoe.
[01:00:28:19 - 01:00:30:19]
And, so yeah, caught myself there.
[01:00:33:24 - 01:00:43:01]
No one is hiring a walking thesaurus, unless that is your job, if that is your job, congratulations, reach out to me, I'd love to hear from you. No one is hiring a walking thesaurus.
[01:00:44:07 - 01:00:52:15]
They're hiring someone who ultimately gets it, who sees the problem, sees the solution and can marry the two, no matter what industry you're in.
[01:00:54:20 - 01:01:37:03]
You can be someone who is great at identifying problems but if you can't identify solutions, not necessarily quickly but just solutions in general, people are gonna switch off because growing a personal brand is about meeting them where they are and providing them that next step to where they want to be. I hopefully am reaching out to people who are, you know, running either successful businesses or people who are working great in corporate and they want to be able to branch out, they want to be able to market themselves better. Those are the people that I work with. Why? Because hopefully they like my vibe, hopefully. And we can work together over a couple of months, we can work together over a couple of weeks. However, whichever service, whichever product you like the sound of,
[01:01:38:10 - 01:01:40:19]
we can achieve that via working together.
[01:01:42:18 - 01:01:44:20]
And for you in your instance,
[01:01:45:26 - 01:01:49:10]
it's about finding balance and asking yourself,
[01:01:50:28 - 01:01:53:08]
would I say this out loud to a real human?
[01:01:55:20 - 01:02:01:07]
And if the answer is no, then you should rework it.
[01:02:02:25 - 01:02:06:18]
You're doing your best because you are combating AI.
[01:02:07:26 - 01:02:23:22]
You are combating something that is not real, that is amalgamation of hallucinations and ultimately something that is a robot that is not built for the human world is going to try.
[01:02:24:26 - 01:02:29:00]
And yes, there are going to be people who go the cheapest route.
[01:02:30:04 - 01:02:36:14]
But as humans, we can see things, we can go, I can tell that's a bit off, I can tell that's a bit weird.
[01:02:37:18 - 01:02:38:28]
And when growing a personal brand,
[01:02:40:29 - 01:02:49:09]
it's not about dumbing things down for people. It's not about becoming that robot or becoming that professional glazed ham.
[01:02:50:15 - 01:02:57:00]
I don't know, went there a bit weird for a bit, but you're trying to grow your personal brand, which is a reflection of you.
[01:02:58:08 - 01:03:10:27]
It's a more professional reflection of you, not a corporate reflection of you, just a more professional reflection of you. Like I said, turning you up a little bit involving you so you're clearer and you're more focused with what you have to say.
[01:03:12:15 - 01:03:29:23]
And in turn, you're not trying to dumb things down. You're trying to make sure that your message doesn't get lost in the fluff, doesn't get lost in the AI slop or in any of the ways that you are trying to reach your communication to the people that you're trying to reach. You're trying to stand out.
[01:03:30:23 - 01:03:42:28]
And humans like to watch other humans. We've built social media empires on that stuff. We have built media conglomerates on humans liking to watch other humans.
[01:03:44:17 - 01:03:56:17]
So you can sound smart, sure, but you ultimately, you can sound smart, sure, but you ultimately need to sound like you.
[01:03:57:21 - 01:04:01:19]
Quirks and all, and especially in this episode, that is what has been happening.
[01:04:04:01 - 01:04:28:05]
Thank you everyone for your patience during this episode. I've done my best to try and build up my energy. At the moment, it is absolutely freezing here in the studio today. So I apologize if I've just kind of lulled up and down a little bit like you're on rough seas in the middle of the ocean. I've been doing my best to keep up the energy while also not freezing myself. (Laughs) So a wrap up of everything we just discussed today.
[01:04:29:20 - 01:04:31:03]
Professional does not equal corporate.
[01:04:32:03 - 01:04:42:18]
Professional is a tone, a tone of voice. It is not a personality transplant. So in those events that you need to focus and you're trying to impress people,
[01:04:43:20 - 01:05:01:26]
just turn up the volume of how you are in real life. People connect with people and they connect with solutions to their problems, which hopefully you are providing with your personal brand. Your voice builds trust way faster than any sprinkling of AI or buzzword ever will.
[01:05:02:26 - 01:05:13:17]
Showing up online, which usually is my areas expertise, by the way, but showing up wherever you happen to market yourself. Like you're chatting with a smart mate at a coffee shop is just about the sweet spot.
[01:05:14:17 - 01:05:16:15]
People aren't dumb, people are distressed.
[01:05:19:04 - 01:05:30:09]
Thank you for joining me for the Unboring Your Brand podcast. Make sure you write us five stars on Apple podcast and Spotify podcast. Thank you and I look forward to seeing you next week on the podcast that you are listening to right now.
[01:05:31:20 - 01:05:32:28]
I need a cigarette and ending for this.
[01:05:35:02 - 01:05:40:03]
So talking on today's subjects, I wanna first touch on authenticity.
[01:05:41:08 - 01:06:01:02]
Being able to embrace your true self in your brand and showcase that out to your potential customers. Specifically the type of people that you want to bring on board. Because my authenticity and my true self does not gel well with all the white men who do not like women.
[01:06:02:17 - 01:06:21:19]
Thank you everyone for joining me on this episode of the Video Confidence Connect. Apologies that first episode was a little lower in tone than I would have preferred. To be honest, it just got a bit too cold in here and I think I kind of fell into a little bit of a semi-habit nation. A bit more than I would prefer. But thank you everyone for your patience.
[01:06:22:23 - 01:06:43:17]
Make sure that if you have commented, I will do my best to respond after the fact. If you have any comments, questions, thoughts, or ideas for podcast topics, please do reach out and put them in the comments below off to the side wherever they end up being. And if you of course are part of the replay squad, hello, thank you so much for your time today. Enjoying the live stream episode.
[01:06:45:05 - 01:07:12:04]
If you have missed any part of this live stream, please watch or listen. We've got a whole live stream on LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitch, Facebook, but you can find out everything on the live stream show notes, which will be in the description below. You can check it all out at vcc.training.comfidence-connect or just check out that link and I'll take you straight to the live stream show notes of today's live stream, which I like to do. And I spend a lot of time on them, so I really hope you enjoy it.
[01:07:14:11 - 01:07:16:01]
Thank you so much for joining me.
[01:07:19:16 - 01:07:21:20]
Uh, where did my things go?
[01:07:23:05 - 01:07:23:28]
Ah, it's just big.
[01:07:26:10 - 01:07:36:20]
Thank you for joining me on the Video Confidence Connect, smashing your marketing mayhem with killer video strategies. Oh, almost forgot, next week, next week. So next week will be the 20th of June, 2025.
[01:07:38:04 - 01:07:44:21]
I remember what we use a year, I remember what we use it is. It is going to be live stream 33, not all feedback is worth hearing.
[01:07:46:04 - 01:07:48:21]
Yes, we've gone up a controversial, of course it is, it's me.
[01:07:50:02 - 01:08:36:10]
So thank you everyone. I'm gonna go through the description for that episode for next week. So just so you're primed and ready to go. And if you've got any questions, you can answer. I can post them here or in next week's one, which is already lined up and ready to go for next week. Everyone's got an opinion, especially once you started showing your face up on camera or taking action in your personal brand. But how do you know which feedback is actually helpful and which one is just noise. Next week's live stream, we're going to be chatting all things feedback, how to sort useful from uninvited and how that little voice in your head that panics you every time you hit post, whether it's your mom's well meaning advice or a random comment from someone with no profile pic. We do love those kinds of people.
[01:08:38:06 - 01:08:44:11]
Or just your own inner critics doing a number on you. Let's figure out how to take it all on board and what to put in the bin.
[01:08:45:13 - 01:08:57:21]
We'll also take a look at building resistance and sharing your videos around. So fear of being judged, fear of being judged won't stop you from putting yourself out there and taking action on your personal brand. So feel free.
[01:08:59:03 - 01:09:00:15]
So if feedback freaks you out
[01:09:01:19 - 01:09:10:16]
or you're not sure who's advice to trust, this is the one for you. I look forward to seeing you next week on the Video Confidence Connect where we'll chat feedback.
The above livestream episode description and transcript were generated together human knowledge + ai.
Listen to the edited livestream in a podcast episode
Who is your host?
Feeling stuck trying to build a personal brand that actually turns heads? Women and non-binary super-stars deserve more than just a cookie-cutter approach to their worries. Zoë Wood the Video Confidence Coach untangles your marketing mayhem, helping you own the camera, craft killer video strategies, and connect with your audience like never before. You’ll leave with the tools to show up, stand out, and smash your goals.
Find out more about how to grow your personal brand with the power of video right here on vcc.training
Smashing Your Marketing Mayhem With Killer Video Strategies 🧡
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