How to Share Your Great Speech on Your LinkedIn Profile

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Do you give speeches, talks and presentations as part of your work?

Have you wondered where to share them on your LinkedIn profile?

It’s a bit of a conundrum since there isn’t a specific section for speeches and talks at this time. But that gives you options, depending on how much you want to emphasize the speaking you do.

There are a few starting places. You could showcase them in your summary, as part of a specific job, or as a separate job listing as a speaker.

Another option is to use one of the Accomplishments sections. In this area, you can provide content for:

  • Honors & Awards
  • Publications
  • Certifications
  • Projects
  • Patents
  • Test Scores
  • Organizations
  • Courses
  • Languages

At this point in my career, I hope no one would be interested in my GRE or GMAT scores, even if I could remember what they were. I’m still struggling to learn Spanish. And I’m not anticipating a patent any time soon. So test scores, languages and patents are off the table.

But speaking engagements?

In reflecting on this year alone, I realized I’ve given a talk at least once a month – at mentoring circles, at a legal conference, in town hall meetings, at a women’s leadership event, in a video series, at a sales and service center, in a social media podcast, and so on.

My LinkedIn profile was missing this important aspect of my work. In updating it, I discovered some tips that may be helpful to you in determining the best ways to share your own speeches.

A bit of research led me to a decision point between Publications and Projects.

I already had one project, Social Media for Innovation with Michael Ambrozewicz, Thyda Nhek Vanhook and Gerry Ledford. It was a series of case studies and innovation experiments on engaging employees and customers through social media. It was clearly not a speech. So there would be some cognitive dissonance to overcome in including speeches alongside this project.

That’s where the dictionary came in handy.

A publication according to Dictionary.com is “(1) the act of publishing a book, periodical, map, piece of music, engraving or the like; (2) the act of bringing before the public; announcement.”

And publish means to “(1) issue for sale or distribution to the public; (2) issue publicly the work of; (3) submit online, as to a message board or blog; (4) announce formally or officially; (5) make publicly or generally known.”

The sense of bringing something before the public felt analogous to giving a speech and sharing information publicly.

How about a project? It’s “(1) something that is contemplated, devised or planned; (2) a large or major undertaking, especially one involving considerable money, personnel or equipment; (3) a specific task of investigation, especially in scholarship.”

In a stretch, a speech could be considered a project. But to me it feels more like a publication.

And the information fields for both areas in LinkedIn are very similar. One minor difference is a Publication lists an author or authors, and a Project lists a creator or creators. Also, the Project entry lets you identify which specific job or educational degree the work is associated with.

Ultimately it’s up to you which area to choose. The good news is you have options. And perhaps a future LinkedIn update will add a “Presentations” or “Speeches” section to Accomplishments, making this a moot point.

What’s a good way of choosing which speaking engagements to include in your profile? In my case, there were three criteria.

  1. Could it be shared publicly, i.e., was it not confidential or sensitive?
  2. How relevant was it to my current and future work?
  3. Was there a public link to the video or audio?

That’s what led me to add Publications entries with 5 talks so far this year, including as authors the people who interviewed me or produced the segment – Josh Ochs of the Smart Social Podcast, John Stancliffe who rebooted a Women in Technology video series, and Shelley Zalis who founded The Female Quotient.

And I’m excited about a few more talks in the queue.

On Monday, October 29, I’ll moderate a USC Annenberg Facebook live with alumni session on starting your own communications firm. These are learning sessions that Annenberg’s Leticia Lozoya creates a few times each year. In this one, business owners Maggie Habib, Tom Henkenius and Rebecca Meza will share an inside view of how to launch and grow your own company.

I’ve also been approached about giving a TEDx talk in spring 2019, speaking to professional associations, and talking about personal branding for women. The invitations often result from my presence on LinkedIn, Twitter and other social media.

If you want to speak more to develop your career and your reputation as a thought leader in your field, consider adding your speeches to your LinkedIn profile and sharing your expertise through articles and posts.

You may be pleasantly surprised that you’ll be invited to talk about those subjects to audiences you care about.

Where do you share your speeches and talks in your LinkedIn profile?

Are You Doing What You Really Want to Do?

These beautiful photos of my farewell celebration are by Jessica Sterling

If you’re here, it’s because I really like you.

That’s how I started my remarks at my corporate farewell event exactly one month ago today.

As is my writing practice, I thought about what I wanted to say, who I wanted to thank, and how I hoped people would feel. I gave myself the speechwriting assignment and let my subconscious go to work on it. I find that ideas pop up while I’m doing other things.

Except with everyone else going on, it wasn’t quite done by the time the event arrived. Usually I like to ideate, write, iterate, memorize and then speak without notes. That didn’t happen this time.

This next part is for my colleagues who have told me I always seem prepared and poised. You may get a zing of delight to know that I was still writing my remarks in my Evernote app while my husband Kevin was driving us to the event.

So of course I couldn’t memorize it. And in the spirit of keeping it short, I left out a lot of what I wanted to say. So I’m sharing it here, for my friends and colleagues who were there, and for many others who aren’t in Southern California and couldn’t be there.

______

My daughter was 11 months old when I came to work at DIRECTV as a communications manager.

In my interview, Jeff Torkelson said, “It’s really busy here. Do you think you can handle it?”

Those words haunted me at the end of my first week. Everyone was running around with their hair on fire. No one seemed to leave at the end of the day. It didn’t seem like anyone else had a baby at home. I realized I’d made a big mistake in taking the job.

But I couldn’t quit after a week. So I decided I would commit to a year. After that I would find a new job.

But then I found ways to succeed in the environment, like doing thinking and writing projects in the early mornings. And without my even asking, my male and female bosses offered me the ability to work from home one day a week when I returned to work after my son was born.

So much opportunity grabbed me. And it didn’t let go.

A transitional time like this reminds me of wise words from great leaders.

Eddy Hartenstein, the charismatic pioneer who founded DIRECTV and the father of modern-day satellite television, said upon leaving the company many years earlier that “we are victors, not victims.”

I remember Eddy coming to my office to practice his talk before his farewell event. My colleague Tina Morefield and I listened and tried not to shed tears. I still get chills thinking about it.

Mike White, another legendary leader at DIRECTV, often said that “sometimes you need to replant yourself.” He is a model of ongoing reinvention and lifelong learning. He’s a super-smart English major who became a CEO.

After 30 years in the corporate world (!), it was time for me to replant myself. It felt like being in my 20s again, graduating from UCLA and wondering what to do with the rest of my life. So I began to look back over the years for clues.

When I was 5 years old, I loved to read and write. My uncle gave me what used to be known as a typewriter (younger readers can Google it). I’d type up stories, letters and calendars. Anything, really.

My grandmother and my mother encouraged my writing (along with my parents requiring that I take math and science every year in high school). My dad suggested I study English in college. But I wondered what kind of a career I could have. How would I become financially independent? If only I’d known then about where Mike White’s career journey would lead.

So I studied economics. And I ultimately found corporate communications, at the intersection of business and writing. It fits perfectly with my Strong Interest Inventory profile of artistic, social and enterprising interests.

Julia Cameron who wrote The Artist’s Way might have called it a shadow career. Because I really wanted to be a writer. But I didn’t know how to do it and live the life that I wanted.

That’s probably why I started an internal blog at DIRECTV in 2012 when my team launched a social collaboration website. And I started this blog on New Year’s Day 2015 to explore the future of corporate communications. I had a lot of support and encouragement from my boss at the time, Joe Bosch, our chief human resources officer.

Now writing is the foundation of what I’m doing as an emerging entrepreneur. I’m writing, consulting, speaking and teaching about how professionals can grow their careers and business owners can grow their companies through social media.

With that said, the time with my colleagues in the corporate world was anything but a shadow career.

That’s because of all the incredible things we did together. There were so many challenging projects. But we brought everyone’s talents together, worked as a team and made it happen, again and again. It was fun and rewarding along the way.

At our first-ever dealer conference called Dealer Revolution, I remember dancing the night away in what was then the Texas Stadium after Kerin Lau and her events team made the 2,000-person event happen. We got to meet Rod Stewart before he performed that night. When it came time to take photos, I hoped I wouldn’t be taller than him. I wasn’t disappointed.

The ever-incredible events team

There are KaBOOM! playgrounds in New Orleans, Atlanta and Las Vegas. Children are probably happily playing on them right now, thanks to the work by Tina Morefield, Brooke Hanson, Brynne Dunn Jones, Jamie ZamoraAndy Bailey and so many more.

Anthony Martini joined us when many of the installation and service technician companies were insourced. Out of nothing, he built the corporate communications infrastructure. And working with Carlos Botero, those communications helped create a workforce so engaged that Willis Towers Watson wrote a case study on it.

Launching social collaboration with Michael Ambrozewicz and Thyda Nhek Vanhook and IT colleagues Mike Benson, Frank Palase, Brian Ulm and many others was my first real introduction to social media. It made me want to crawl under my desk and hide until it went away.

But that didn’t happen so I had to conquer my fears and move forward. I launched an internal blog so I could learn and model what it was like to try new things, look silly in the process and learn from everyone in the community.

Creating an employer brand with Michael Ambrozewicz, Linda Simon and Rosanne Setoguchi along with Mark Schumman bordered on the sublime. I remember the electrifying moment when Vanessa Sestina completed the puzzle with our tagline, we entertain the future. 

Then it came time for the corporate campus to be upgraded. It meant new ways of working in open and collaborative space. There was a lot of hand wringing. Fellow members of the Campus Launch Advisory Board will remember. In the end, Paul James and Hilary Hatch did an incredible job and Tyler Jacobson communicated it to perfection, with great counsel from Reza Ahmadi.

When we got the news that AT&T was going to acquire DIRECTV, it was the thrill of a lifetime to be part of the integration team led by Jennifer Cho at DIRECTV and Jeff McElfresh at AT&T. What seemed at first like having a front-row seat to a Harvard Business Review case study was actually like getting an MBA in real time.

Through it all, I was passionate about advancing women at the company through mentoring circles and employee resource groups. What a thrill when Dan York brought the Academy Award-winning actor Geena Davis to speak at the company not once, but three times. She is doing incredible work to bring gender parity to television and film roles. And Phil Goswitz was able to have Gywnne Shotwell, COO of SpaceX, come and speak to our women’s resource group.

Some of my mentoring circle friends

And as a capstone, I got to work with Fiona Carter as she championed gender equality and inclusion in the company’s advertising and media. I’ll always remember the inspiring work to measure and communicate inclusion with Chris Cervenka, Bill Moseley, Eric Ryan, Michelle Smith, Brett Levecchio, Caitlyn Wooldridge and so many more.

I’m beyond proud of the inclusive advertising being produced by Val Vargas, Sarita Rao, Sandra Howard and many others at the company. They are all role models that I hope many others in the industry will follow.

And whenever I didn’t know what to do or needed to brush off criticism, I got the best advice from my husband Kevin. Borrowed from the film Madagascar, he’d always say, “Just smile and wave, boys. Smile and wave.”

There are so many more incredible memories and people (like my most recent team members Stephen Santiago and Sabrina McKnight). It’s been an honor to work with all of you. I learned so much from you. We’ll always be connected by the DIRECTV and AT&T family.

Things came full circle last week when I heard from Tina Quinn, who was my coach over the last year. She recommended Steven Pressfield’s book, The Artist’s Journey.

It picks up where Joseph Campbell and the hero’s journey leave off. Early in my corporate career I read about the hero’s journey. It articulates the timeless sequence of events for nearly every story, novel or film.

“The artist’s journey comes after the hero’s journey,” Pressfield says in his book about the lifelong pursuit of meaning. “Everything that has happened to us up to this point is rehearsal for us to act, now, as our true self and to find and speak in our true voice.”

There is a rich personal history that I draw upon now. It’s in no small part thanks to the people I spent the last few decades working with.

You have each inspired me in your own way. I am profoundly grateful.

So my question to you is, are you doing what you really want to do?Where is your artist’s journey leading you?

Thanks to Jessica Sterling at JessicaSterling.com for these beautiful photos of my farewell celebration

How to Kill It in Social Media

When it comes to social media innovation, I’m inspired by many colleagues at my employer.

One of those groups is Marketing Communications in Business Marketing. The team’s VP, Sarita Rao (pictured above), gets her far-flung team together on a regular basis for “open mic” meetings.

Last fall I got to work with John Starkweather, Sarah Groves, John Stancliffe, Knox Keith and others as influencers during The Summit, a  ground-breaking inaugural event for the company’s business customers. Every day, I learn more about how to kill it in social media from this group.

So it was an honor when Sarah Groves invited me to do an open mic session at Sarita’s team meeting this month in Dallas at the company’s headquarters.

Here’s what Sarah asked and how the dialogue took shape.

How did you get started using social?

A few years ago, my colleagues and I launched a social business platform, to enable people to collaborate and work in new ways.

Just a few of the key contributors were Michael Ambrozewicz, Thyda Nhek Vanhook, Frank Palase, Brian Ulm, Miriam SmithJohn Cloyd and Alan Lewis.

We did a pilot program before launch. Not surprisingly, there was the to-be-expected resistance to chance.

I launched a blog, for two reasons. One was to role model behaviors that fellow leaders and employees could follow. Another was to learn how to do it so I could advise our CEO and others on how to reach a broad audience through blogging.

Over time I discovered I enjoyed the process of learning through blogging, sharing that journey, and connecting with people throughout the company.

Three years later, I started my external blog at carolineleach.com. A few years after that, I began repurposing my blog content as weekly LinkedIn articles, in order to reach a broader audience.

One thing that’s important about blogging and any social media activity is to know and follow your company’s social media policies.

Generally, that will mean not sharing any information that is confidential or private, and making it clear that the opinions you express are your own and not the company’s. (Note: opinions expressed in this blog are my own).

When in doubt about the wisdom of sharing specific content, err on the conservative side and leave it out.

How do you fit social into your life? How much time do you spend on it?

It’s ideal to have a social media plan, and make social part of every day. Gary Vaynerchuk advocates simply documenting what you’re doing, rather than attempting to create all kinds of content.

Depending what goals you want to accomplish in social media, you can spent as little or as much time as your calendar and your lifestyle can accommodate.

My week in social looks like this:

Weekend blog post on carolineleach.com (this is easy to do when you have teens at home who sleep in, as I do, which gives me quiet mornings to write)

Wednesday LinkedIn article, repurposed from my blog and set up on Tuesday evening to post the following day

Daily scroll through LinkedIn home feed, liking, commenting on and sharing relevant content by people in my network and for people in my network

One tweet a day, plus looking at trending news in the morning and afternoon

A daily look at my employer’s Social Circle employee advocacy app to check for content I might want to share in my social networks

A few posts during the week on LinkedIn, as well as on Instagram, which is generally more personal in nature. Now I’m intrigued by and researching how people are using Instagram in their professional lives.

Some of this activity can be combined with other activities. For example …

If I’m waiting in line at the company cafeteria, I’ll scroll through my LinkedIn feed and maybe I’ll retweet something I see in Twitter

When I attend an event, I share pictures of speakers along with their best soundbites, or I share pictures or videos of other attendees

When I’m catching up with reading over the weekend, I share relevant articles in Twitter and LinkedIn.

What’s your recommendation for getting started?

Begin with your LinkedIn profile. Complete every field, until LinkedIn identifies your profile as “All-Star.” You’ll see “All-Star” noted in the upper right of the dashboard section of your profile, which only you can see.

You don’t have to complete your profile all at once. You can set aside time each week to work on one section at a time. Start from the top and work down, addressing these areas:

Your LinkedIn profile is ever evolving, as you and your career grow and change. Target adding something new to your profile every month, whether it’s a link to a company news release that relates to a project you worked on or an article sharing your expertise and thought leadership.

How do you see social playing a role for all employees driving engagement and advocacy for the company going forward?

Everyone can be a brand ambassador in social media. In addition to building your own career and championing the achievements of your colleagues, you can share the great news about your employer.

In the process, you can also get to know people in your company and beyond that it might otherwise be hard to meet.

If you have an employee advocacy program at your company, that’s an easy way to get started with on-target content. You can always customize it a bit with your personal take on the news and information, tailoring it for your networks.

Don’t forget to include the relevant hashtags for you and/or your employer, to maximize the reach of your content.

 

How do you know what you want to be known for?

You can ask yourself a few questions, to identify one or two subject areas you want to be known for in social media and in real life.

  1. What topics are important for success in your current role?
  2. What topics will be important for success in your likely future role?
  3. What topics are you naturally drawn to and interested in?

 

Here’s an example from my own career journey. This blog began in 2015 as an exploration of the future of corporate communications as a corporate vice president of that function.

When my employer was acquired later that year, I had the opportunity to move into marketing analytics. My blog then pivoted to learning more about that field. What then became paramount for me was learning how to learn quickly, which I explored in this blog.

As I searched for the topic I most wanted to explore, I was inspired by hearing Reese Witherspoon talk at a Fullscreen Media event in 2016.

She was asked about how she’s been super successful in social media. And she talked about social media content creation for people as being a big white space that’s not fully being filled right now.

That prompted a lightbulb moment for me. My blog then evolved into exploring how people are using social media to build their careers. And here we are today.

What blogs do you read?

This question made me realize I’ve migrated from reading blogs over to listening to podcasts. So I reacquainted myself with the folder of favorite blogs on my iPhone …

My favorite podcasts are an eclectic mix …

The Daily from The New York Times and Michael Barbaro every weekday morning to dip into a timely topic in the news.

The Science of Social Media, every Monday from Brian Peters and Hailley Griffis from Buffer. It’s “a weekly sandbox for social media stories, insights, experimentation and inspiration.”

Disrupt Yourself by Whitney Johnson.

Hidden Brain by Shankar Vedantum.

The Tim Ferris Show

If you have other podcasts to recommend, please leave me a comment. I’m always looking for new ideas to explore through podcasts.

And on that note, how are you killing it in social media?