Leadership Development: Personal Branding MARY CONROY ALMADA       Leadership Development: Personal Branding MARY CONROY ALMADA

Product brands

Personal brands

Session Objectives Understand a framework for thinking about branding Begin to develop your personal brand Practice pitching your brand Improve your ability to market yourself as an expert 2 minutes

My Brand My brand and story

Why do you NEED a brand? Setting yourself up as a go-to expert in your field Importance of communication and community in the 21st century Sharing your message and your work Other educators can learn from you You can amplify your impact to help more students More? 2 mins Fellows add on additional reasons

Creating Your Brand What are you passionate about? What is your area of expertise? Who is your audience? How do you get your message out? What should you do to market yourself? 2 mins

Passion and Expertise How can you combine your passion with your expertise? How can you affect change? Passion + Expertise = Your Brand 2 mins

Remember: You have exceptional expertise about teaching and learning and what your students need. By establishing or strengthening your personal brand you will become more visible in your community and state-wide, seen as a leading educator, be invited to more conversations (meetings and public forums) to provide your expertise, and therefore can make a greater impact for your students and students across Louisiana. 2 mins

Passion: the soul of your brand What are your values and passions? Soft skills? Multiple pathways? Equity and access? Industry participation? Write down 1-3 topics that you feel passionate about 2 minutes Share at your table 6 mins

Expertise: articulating your value What is your education expertise? What can you give to others? How can you express your values and goals in a personal statement? Identify a problem that you are trying to solve Identify a potential solution to this problem Articulate what you bring to the solution: your expertise Be specific! 5 mins

Draft Your Personal Statement Your personal statement should be one to two sentences. Your passion your expertise, and an outcome Example: “Our economy requires a skilled workforce. That’s why I advocate for and help create multiple pathways for college and career readiness for all students.” Link to blog

Who is your audience and how do you get the message out? Local and state educators Educators nationwide Thought-leaders in education Thought-leaders in the 21st century workforce Parents and community members More?

Possible platforms for your brand School-based Newsletters, parent-teacher nights Community-based Public forums, community events, business cards Academic Groups, message boards, publications, events Traditional media Press releases, letters to the editor, op-eds Business Meetings, networking Politics Advocacy Social media platform Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, blogging 2 mins Call out press release usage and guidance here.

Presenting & Promoting Your Brand Present yourself as an expert In person Online Twitter Blog Website Facebook etc! Business Cards Media (press release) Dress for the part you play 2 mins We’ll have more on Twitter and pitching press releases.

What should your platform be? Sphere of influence Unit of change Personality type Communications strengths Preferences 3 mins Sphere of influence – who do you know and have access to? Unit of change – how big of an impact would you like to make? Student, teacher, classroom, school, community, neighborhood, city, state, country, world? Personality type – introvert or extrovert? Communications strengths – social media, public speaking, video production, persuasive writing? Any other preferences or values

business card example – 2 mins

What Next? Setting your goals for the future Identifying your next steps What are you going to do to establish your brand? What support do you need to promote your brand? Compose your first blog! 2 mins Close with a challenge for Fellows to compose their first blog that focusses on college and career readiness, utilizing elements of their personal story.

Blog Tips and Assignment Successful blogs: Establish credibility Demonstrate expertise/knowledge Prompt conversation, especially at networking events Give your brand meaning Show your core strengths, skills, and experience Examples of successful blogs: http://educatorvoicefellowship.org/blog/6-essential-lessons- from-a-first-year-school-dean show our blog 5 mins

Blog Assignment Reflecting on your what you learned this weekend in New Orleans and drawing from your experience as an educator, write a 400-600 word blog article about the knowledge and skills young people will need to be successful in the rapidly changing economy, and how do we get there. Please incorporate a personal story and your personal brand in your writing. Submit your article to the folder that will be provided in the weekly email on 9/27. The draft is due by October 11. After your draft is submitted, Lance Hostetter from the Fellowship team will reach out to offer you feedback on your first draft and support you in writing a final draft for publishing. We will publish all completed entries on the Fellowship blog. Reflect on our mission: We would like to help you elevate your voice and share your perspective and expertise with a public audience.

Q & A and Work Time Questions or comments?