"Stop being the chess piece; it's time to become the player” Are you headed to NABJ / NAHJ next week? Here are the two things I'm telling my clients that want to become players ….

First, DO YOUR HOMEWORK on who is going to be there, what they do, and research their background. LinkedIn is going to be your best friend this weekend. 

Identify organizations you are interested in exploring opportunities.

Identify the Talent Acquisition and Recruiting Managers.

Identify the local/regional GMs, NDs, RVPs.

Look for interesting commonality talking points (education, companies, stations)

From your research, get out a pad of paper/notebook and create a starting lineup of who you have appointments already scheduled and additionally who you will try to connect with. If you hand write your lineup, you'll have much better recall and retention.

Second, this weekend you need to be composing a compelling elevator pitch. This pitch is critical because it is part of your first impression and it immediately follows the greeting where you will be 'thin sliced' in 3 seconds. 

Yep, from your eye contact and facial expression, your new connection has sized you up in 3 seconds. Solid eye contact, firm hand shake, and a smile, even from behind that mask!

BOOM, here comes your elevator pitch … and it has 3 simple pieces ......

1. Who You Are: This is a very brief overview; "I'm a University of Missouri-Columbia grad and I've been working as multimedia journalist at WXYZ TV since 2018"

2. What You've Done/Your Skills: "My ability to develop a story from concept to camera has been recognized as Emmy Award winning and along the way I've built a social media audience of 30k followers."

3. Where You Are Going/What's Next: "Having reached my goals of being the lead reporter in ___ (market), I'm ready to expand the scale and scope of my stories to a larger audience, specifically a top 10 market."

When you put these three pieces together you have built a simple elevator pitch, an important part of your introduction and brand communication.

"I'm a University of Missouri-Columbia grad and I've been working as multimedia journalist at WXYZ TV since 2018. My ability to develop a story from concept to camera has been recognized as Emmy Award winning and along the way I've built a social media audience of 30k followers. Having reached my goals of being the lead reporter in ___ (market), I'm ready to expand the scale and scope of my stories to a larger audience, specifically a top 10 market."

YOU GOT THIS but you'll only get out of your efforts what you put into them!

ok, now for fun "the best of elevator pranks" video (maybe NSFW): https://lnkd.in/eUUpVEk

Follow TalentBlvd

the REAL #tvjobs 

#mediajobs #tvcareer #mediacareer #career #talentagent #talentagency #jobopportunity #mentor #mentoringmatters at #talentblvd

Share Now

Comments