When someone asks you, “what do you do?” What do you say? If you’re like many folks, you reply with your title and place of employment. And you know how I feel about that: communicating your title is not really answering the question and certainly doesn’t promote your talents. It’s time to create your personal boilerplate; your own thirty-second elevator speech; a verbal “About Me” that is sincere, to-the-point and purposeful.

This is an exercise in consistently and confidently communicating your own skills, talents and line of work. Without apology! Without shame! Even if you have a title that you view as demeaning or wrong! This is especially important if you are a jack-of-all-trades and it’s hard for you to explain what you do!

I’ll go first. When someone asks me, “What do you do,” I say something like:

I manage public relations at a national policy shop in D.C.—helping very smart and often long-winded folks succinctly and confidently communicate with media and policy makers. I’m also a technology and productivity columnist, and a go-to gal for the social media curious. And I blog about PR and geek stuff on my personal blog, FlackRabbit.com.

Now, it’s your turn. Warning: it is harder than it looks. The good news: you don’t have to memorize it; it can in should be organic. And it may change according to your audience.

When creating your personal boilerplate, try to think about the following:

What do you do? Notice that I did not ask what your title is. Explain to me what you do in a way that I’ll likely understand, even if I don’t know anything about your line of work. For instance, most folks know what public relations is, but not many folks understand what it means. That’s why I include some detail to nudge them in the right direction. Additionally, you should include skills and interests that make you, you. I don’t write a technology column or pen a blog as a part of my day job, but both are a relevant part of my professional work and skill set, so I include them in “what I do.”

What do you want to do? If what you do doesn’t have anything to do with what you’d like to do, find a way to express what you’d like to be doing. When I worked at a place where I was not doing cause-related public relations, I felt the need to express to folks that cause-related PR was something I really enjoyed and did well. You may have a similar career passion or interest that needs to be communicated in your personal boilerplate. Don’t be afraid to tag on something like “xyz…and a healthy obsession with sports marketing.” Or whatever. 

What do you do better than anyone else? What makes you different? I know that I am very good at boosting the confidence of my bosses, clients, co-workers, etc. In fact, my ability to help folks believe they are capable of nailing a media interview, strategizing, taking calculated risks, speaking in front of an audience, etc, is part of what makes me different. So, that’s why I include it in my boilerplate. No doubt you have some secret sauce of your own; be sure to include it in there. Maybe it’s your ability to be the voice of reason in a crisis, your news judgement or nunchuck skills. Whatever it is, find a way to express it.

So, what do you do? Share your boilerplate in the comments!

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