Your Iconic Image : Communicate With Clarity and Confidence

Monique Russell, Clear Communication Solutions, LLC and Monique Russell

Monique Russell is the global communications expert you want on your team. She teaches women leaders and teams how to have positive and productive relationships at home and work using effective communications tools and strategies.

Passionate about serving Black and Women Employee Resource Groups, organizations like Amazon, Microsoft, Google, the Centers for Disease Control, Verizon, Intel, Equifax, and the world’s busiest airport, Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson International, trust Monique to guide them in implementing communication strategies that foster connection, community, creativity, and courage. You can too. Monique has 20 years of experience in the science of Communications and leads Clear Communication Solutions – an international training, coaching, and consulting firm that focuses on confidently communicating from the inside out. She is the author of the Ultimate Speaker's Guide and the book Intentional Motherhood: Who Said it Would Be Easy, and host of the Bridge to U podcast. Connect with her on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/clearcommunicationcoach Subscribe to the podcast: Bridge to U Visit her website: www.clearcommunicationsolutions.com

The Ultimate Speaker's Guide: https://payhip.com/b/PETv

Likes to Loves Assessment: https://payhip.com/b/fER4

Intentional Motherhood: Who Said It Would Be Easy: https://payhip.com/b/4hMI

Bridge to U Podcast: https://bridgetou.buzzsprout.com/

www.MoniqueRussell.com

www.marlanasemenza.com

Audio : Ariza Music Productions

Transcript :Vision In Word

Marlana: Monique Russell is a global communications expert. She teaches women leaders and teams how to have positive and productive relationships, using effective communication tools and strategies that foster connection, community creativity and courage or confidently communicating from the inside out. Welcome, Monique.

Monique: Thank you for having me, Marlana. I'm excited to be on the show. 

Marlana: here's the thing, we can have the best message, we can believe in what we're doing. But if we cannot communicate that clearly, we're in trouble. So, talk to us about how do we do that?

Monique: Well, I think the first thing we have to think about is considering all aspects of ourselves. I think the time where people where we get frustrated, or we feel limited or boxton is when we think that we have to narrow everything down into one nice squishy little message. And then we feel like relieving so much out of who we are so much out of our brand. And then that triggers the feeling of inauthenticity, like that's not just really who I am, I'm so much more. And so, the first thing is to think about or take the mindset and the framing that you are multi passionate, you are multi skilled. But when we think about communicating our message, we want to step into the mind of the audience that we're trying to reach. And we don't want to confuse them, we want to give them something that is almost like a window. You know, think about it, when people would go door to door with their sales messages and strategies you give them just enough KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK for them to say okay, come on in. And then let's have a conversation. And then you get to see more about what the services what they offer, you may learn something that you wouldn't have known if they were just at the front door saying Well, I do this, this, this, this and so many things and you confuse them and you lose them. So, first thing is to kind of think about that mindset of a not boiling everything down because it's not who I am, I'm trying to be very clear, I'm trying to be very specific, and connect with my audience in the fastest way possible. Then once you embrace that mindset, it really opens. You have to think about if I only had two minutes, what would be the one thing they absolutely must know about who I am and what I do, and then kind of start there.

Marlana: So, I just want to back up a second. Because, you know, it's something that I have said to clients all the time, who are we talking to, because just to use your analogy of the door-to-door salesperson, let's say I'm selling a vacuum, and I go to the first door and the woman has, you know, three kids in tow hair's a mess. I may be approaching her on a different pain point than let's say I go to the door, and it's a gentleman in a suit. And it's not that there's wrong with either story that I'm going to tell or how I'm going to present it's just knowing who I'm speaking to and what they need to know. 

Monique: that is so fabulous. And I will also say too, is that your story has multiple parts. A lot of times we've been taught that the story again, I'm really out of the box, because I just don't like the restriction or the confinement either. But the parameters or the framework give us more opportunity to be expansive, really. So, you're gonna think about your story. It has so many components, you have story pieces, when you were growing up, maybe you had kids, maybe you got divorced, maybe you tried a job, maybe you started a business, there's so many pieces to your story. And when you identify that person who's standing on the other side of the door or who's on the other side of the screen, when you're telling you have to think about okay, I see that Marlana is in photography, she's in branding, the part of my story that would resonate the most with her is not when I were growing up in the islands. The part of the story that may resonate to her is when I shared the stage with Lisa Nichols, and I was paid to be a speaker to come to the islands and they covered my airfare and travel etc., etc., etc., etc. So, I have to determine which part of my story would resonate With the person that I'm speaking to the grid.

Marlana: Now, in order to do that, when you present something or when you work with people? Do you try and dive into the people and know as much about them as possible? Or do you reverse engineer it, where this is who I want to work with, and this is who I want my message to go out to? So, I'm going to start with a message and try and hit on the pain points of the people that I want it to go to versus my I don't know if I'm communicating that clearly.

Monique: You're asking, Where do you start? And then you know, like, do you start with the message and focus on this the message that you want to share? Or do you start with the audience and finding out what do they need to hear? So, you start with the audience, because you know, the audience is going to be the driver of who is going to give you attention or not, there are a lot of people who are speakers, they have great stories, they have great message, they're shouting from the mountaintops, but nobody wants to listen to it. Nobody wants to hear them, because it just doesn't resonate, you know, your story might be great. But if we are business owners, and we are, we have to also think about messaging relating to where we are in business, what can help our audience, improve their lives, make more money, feel better about themselves. And then what do we have in our toolkit in our experience, journey in our history, and our expertise that can help them get there. So, I always say start with your audience, look at an audience analysis, find out as much as you can about them. And it's not a linear thing. You know, Marlana, it's like a circle. So, you're constantly working on both ends, you're finding out about your audience, but you're also finding out about your own story. And I just find that a lot of people don't know their story, or they don't know what part of their story is relevant or helpful, or they are ashamed of their story. They're not ready to tell their story. And so that's where just having someone to come and help you think through those processes. I use external professionals all the time. And this is what I do all day, every day. And I sleep, eat, and breathe it. But you we just can't see the pitcher from inside the frame. So, we definitely need outside perspectives to help us understand what part of our story is most useful. What's happening in our business climate, and in our market, maybe the topic that you started off with five years ago, nobody cares about it anymore. Why? Because well, we're online, we're in our homes, we're tired. There's a collective frustration. So, if you're sending that message that was popular five years ago about the hustle culture and team, no sleep and don't stop when your drop, you start off there, you're going to lose them instantly, they're going to tune out because they don't have the cognitive space, desire, or interest to move that that way. So, keeping align with the evolution of where we are as a business community as a global society, and then finding new pivot points for your story.

Marlana: And I think that's such an important point too, because so many people get stuck on, “I can only start when everything is perfect,” then everything is in place. And they fail to recognize that brands and brands stories evolve and are fluid and are a journey that you take people on, it's not just a stagnant point in time. 

Monique: A lot of big brands have been reducing the heaviness or the weight in their visual communication, their logos may have changed their font, they've become a little bit more minimalist to seem more lightweight. And you may think that this is actually not a big deal, oh, it's just a logo, nobody's gonna pay attention to it. But no, actually a lot of thought and intention goes into how we present ourselves visually. So, giving yourself the grace of evolution, and to recognize that, you know, I don't want to say the big guns are doing it, or the big boys are doing it. So, if you're a small business, you shouldn't feel upset about changing. But I do want to say that yes, these are big companies, multimillion dollar companies with a lot of resources. And they have the resources to be able to do that and to understand that they also need to evolve. So, I like the approach of the middle of minimalist direction that I see a lot of brands that are now moving, and maybe that doesn't work for you. Maybe you want a brand image that has more weight in the font, maybe your company indicating that you know, you're sturdy and you're strong and you're stable, whatever that message is, make sure that it aligns with your brand. But don't be afraid to pivot. Don't be afraid to evolve. You don't have to have it all figured out. Nobody does. I don't care what level you're at. Nobody has it all figured out. And I am talking to the audience, but I'm talking to myself as well. Because we also need that reminder to

Marlana: Okay, now I want to go in two different directions here. Because I have, I'm just going to put both questions out, then we can tackle them in any order you choose. The first one is about pivoting versus rebranding, because I do want to touch on that whole subject. And the other one is, if we have a fulfil that we have a lot to say, how do we chip away on it and get down to a clear and concise message? 

Monique: Which one? Do you want to start with?

Marlana: Your choice, I'll let you go. Okay, let's kind of play with if you have a lot to say.

Monique: Oh, my God! This is the biggest challenge ever. And I remember when I was teaching at the university, I was teaching for seven years and public speaking, before I moved into being a subject matter expert on public speaking for the university. This was one of the biggest challenges. And the way we ended up helping people was to shorten the time that they were given to do their presentations. If you only have 15 minutes to get your message across, you're going to take the whole time to speak. But if you only have seven minutes, you're going to have to be forced to cut down and think through what the most important thing is to do. So, make sure that when you are thinking about all the things that you want to say, take the approach of what is the one or two things that they really want to hear or need to hear. The mindset of thinking that I know exactly what they need to hear. It's a losing approach. It's the wrong approach. We're starting off on the wrong foot. We're centering ourselves. We're not We're not centering our audience. And so, centering our audience allows us to also remove the fear of presentation because when we feel afraid, we thinking about well, what's happening with me, what if they don't think I look good? Or sound good? What if they think I don't know what I'm talking about? What if what I'm saying isn't really special or unique? So, it's ay. As opposed to Via, and what do they need to hear.

Marlana: And I think that's one of the things that people always, it's a common misconception is that your personal brand, is about you, because it's not about you. It's about the people that you serve, and your messages about the people that you serve. And the minute that you turn it on you that's when all the panic comes in, and the doubts come in, and all those kinds of things. But if you lead from a place of service, and knowing that you have something to offer people, it's a different mindset.

Monique: I 100% agree. 100%! And I also want to add, you know, even with your own brand, it is about you, it's about your personality, it's about your own science, your own thought leadership. And so, when I listen to a lot of women who are business owners, because that's who I work with, primarily 80% of them are women. One of the things that I noticed, and this is like a hiding strategy, you know, they tend to use the famous quotes of people who are iconic, as opposed to adding their own perspective or their own thoughts. And the people who are coming, they're coming to hear you, they're coming to hear your story. They don't want to hear about you know, I'm no shade to anybody, but they don't want to hear about Simon Sinek start with why they don't want to hear about Brine browns, shame, and vulnerability. Those are great. They want to hear you, or how have you used that work, that body of work? And how have you now taken that and used it in a personal way? So yeah,

Marlana: yeah, love that. Okay, so now that we've drilled down and given ourselves a time limit and, or even if it's something that we're writing, maybe it's a character limit. Now, let's go back to my other question about pivoting versus rebranding, because, you know, everybody seems to be Oh, I'm rebranding. And are you being you are you really because we have to understand what a brand really is, and it's the way you are perceived. And it's your it's your space in the marketplace. And it's not just logos and fonts and a headshot and things like that it's a collection of the way you are perceived. So, talk to us a little bit about your thoughts on all of that. 

Monique: Oh my God! This is good. Now, I think you are in the space of this more than me. But here's what I think. Absolutely! You're in the pivot. I mean, if you're starting a new product or a new service, and you need a different look and feel for what that is that you're offering, or you're adding a new customer segment, then absolutely, you're rebranding, because you're creating the service or the product to attract the need of your customer. But you, as the individual, us the brand, you remain the same. And I think of a lot of times people who are in their corporate roles. And actually, I had a story with a lady who was working at a very top corporate company. And she was speaking on stages on conferences on panels. And she was basically the face of the organization, she had an incredible presence, but she left the company. And when she left the company, everyone just still associated her as that company, you know, so then it became she not only had to think about now how to reposition who she was and what she offered and what her value was. But now she had the extra work of having to counter that she's not that company. So now she created additional, additional work for herself. So, when we are thinking about this whole branding concept, knowing that you could you want to think about if you're working for an organization, and you're a business owner, but just use this example as a, you know, illustration. Imagine that you're working for an organization, and you're moving to three or four different companies. Your brand, what is the image? What is the message? What is the experience? How do people experience you? Is that what you're taking to the other companies? Or are you just bringing your work history and your performance from that company to the others, because even if you're just bringing your work history, let's say you're a finance expert, you're still missing out on the expansion of your brand.

Marlana: So, let me ask you this, let's say I am an executive in a company. How do I effectively tell both my personal brand story and the company brand story without getting one getting lost in the other?

Monique: This is the delicate piece, right? And so, I worked before