Latest / Networking Unleashed: Building Profitable Connections / Networking Unleashed: An Interview with Elizabeth Fried and Michael A Forman, Professional Speaker

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Networking Unleashed: An Interview with Elizabeth Fried and Michael A Forman, Professional Speaker · Networking Unleashed: Building Profitable Connections

• 0:13
  Welcome to Networking Unleashed, Building Profitable
• 0:17
  Connections, the show where relationships create
• 0:20
  opportunities and communication drives success.
• 0:24
  I'm your host, Michael Forman. Have you ever
• 0:26
  noticed that when some people walk into a room
• 0:29
  and instantly command attention, not only because
• 0:33
  they're the smartest person there, but because
• 0:36
  of how they show up? That's executive. Presence.
• 0:42
  I had to slow down for that. And when you combine
• 0:45
  executive presence with strategic networking,
• 0:49
  something powerful happens. People listen differently.
• 0:53
  Opportunities appear more often. Doors open faster
• 0:58
  and your influence grows long before you ever
• 1:01
  ask for anything. My guest today specializes
• 1:05
  in helping professionals build both. We're talking
• 1:08
  about what executive presence really is, why
• 1:12
  networking should be intentional instead of accidental,
• 1:15
  and how the way you carry yourself and have just
• 1:19
  as much impact as the words you speak. If you're
• 1:24
  ready to stop being overlooked, strengthen your
• 1:27
  professional influence, and build relationships
• 1:30
  that lead to bigger opportunities, this episode
• 1:34
  is for you. I'd like to introduce Elizabeth to
• 1:38
  the podcast. And really I was very anxious to
• 1:42
  begin this podcast because we talk about similar
• 1:45
  things. I go on the road and I do workshops and
• 1:50
  I speak at conferences and associations and we
• 1:54
  talk basically the same thing. So I'm very interested
• 1:57
  in what you have to say. So Elizabeth, welcome
• 2:00
  to the podcast and would you mind giving us a
• 2:03
  little cliff notes of how you got started and
• 2:06
  where you are. Thank you for inviting me Michael.
• 2:09
  I very much appreciate it and I'm off that circuit
• 2:12
  since I am Essentially retired these days. So
• 2:16
  no competition for me only support. So Understand
• 2:20
  that how did I get started? I began at in compensation
• 2:25
  and That means I designed wage and salary programs
• 2:29
  for a corporation. I worked with them for six
• 2:32
  years and in that process I not only designed
• 2:36
  wage and salary programs, but also bonus programs,
• 2:40
  sales compensation programs, and those kinds
• 2:42
  of things. In order to do that, you have to understand
• 2:46
  the business end of the business. And you have
• 2:48
  to understand the markets, the barriers to entry,
• 2:51
  and all the business related things. So that
• 2:54
  eventually when my practice, 20 years later,
• 2:57
  I started my own business. I left them in six
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  years. I was a compensation consultant for 20
• 3:02
  years. And then someone started asking me about
• 3:05
  performance management and 360 feedback. And
• 3:09
  for those of you who don't know what 360 feedback
• 3:11
  is, it's getting information from your full circle
• 3:14
  of influence, your boss, your peers, and your
• 3:17
  direct reports. So that then led to a fight.
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  do this development for my employees, can you
• 3:25
  coach them and help them develop?" And I said,
• 3:29
  sure, I can do that. And hence, I got involved
• 3:32
  in coaching and in executive coaching. And what
• 3:35
  set me apart from other executive coaches is
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  that I didn't focus only on the typical soft
• 3:43
  behaviors. I asked very tough business questions
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  because of my comp background. That led me into
• 3:51
  C -suite level executive coaching. So then my
• 3:56
  executive coaching, it started to specialize
• 3:59
  into executive presence. And what was happening
• 4:04
  is people would be promoted into higher levels,
• 4:08
  but they didn't understand what got them there
• 4:11
  to the level they are, to the new level they're
• 4:14
  going with, required different skill set. And
• 4:17
  sometimes they didn't have those refinements
• 4:22
  that come along with executive presence. And
• 4:25
  so I was oftentimes hired to help that person.
• 4:28
  And oftentimes that involved communication skills
• 4:32
  and networking and putting yourself out there.
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  So how do you do that? So for years I did that
• 4:39
  and I wound up working with people on how to
• 4:43
  more effectively network. So complimentary to
• 4:49
  that, How did I get started in writing this new
• 4:52
  ebook I have called, Strategic Networking, a
• 4:56
  Practical Playbook? It all began with some pro
• 5:00
  bono work that I did with the military special
• 5:04
  operations. Excuse me. I work with the elite
• 5:09
  military, Navy SEALs, Marine Raiders, Delta Force,
• 5:13
  Green Berets, Army Rangers, helping them transition
• 5:16
  from the military to the civilian workforce.
• 5:20
  They go through a very intense 14 -week program,
• 5:25
  first of all, discovering who they are, what's
• 5:27
  their passion, what do they want to do, and then...
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  I work with them to help them look at the current
• 5:35
  skills they have and how that translates to the
• 5:38
  civilian workforce. And then how to promote themselves
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  in a way that allows people to recognize their
• 5:48
  skills. Now you're talking about a bunch of mostly
• 5:52
  men, okay, who would rather go into a firefight
• 5:57
  in Afghanistan than to have to go meet a stranger
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  in the civilian workforce and promote themselves
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  because they're taught to be humble, to function
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  as a team, to not discuss anything. And this
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  is 180 degrees. So part of their program is they
• 6:17
  have to have 50 cups of coffee. So you've got
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  50 cups of coffee. They could be virtual cups
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  of coffee like we're having right now in our
• 6:25
  podcast. But even going out and talking to people
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  and what they're doing is career exploration.
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  And they're terrified, just terrified of doing
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  this. So I thought, oh my gosh, I gotta help
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  these fellows be able to do it. They understand,
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  I had to talk to them and here's your mission,
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  okay? This is what has to happen. Here is how
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  you execute that mission. And then I laid out
• 6:51
  a framework for them with very specific protocol
• 6:54
  on how to go about meeting people. And there
• 6:59
  is no fluff. I'm a no fluff person. I'm affectionately
• 7:03
  known by my clients as the heat seeking missile.
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  Let's get to it and do it. So. That is how my
• 7:11
  book was born. And this is a 30 page e -book,
• 7:15
  very short and to the point. But it occurred
• 7:20
  to me that I provided this for them. This really
• 7:23
  has application to a much larger audience. And
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  it could involve someone. exploring a new career,
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  going through career transition, going through
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  career development, wanting to gain greater visibility
• 7:37
  in their own organization, wanting to develop
• 7:42
  business leads. How do you go about it? You need
• 7:45
  to be intentional. And you need to understand
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  what your objective is. Why are you doing this
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  anyway? Because that creates the roadmap for
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  everything you're going to do after that. And
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  what's important is you want to, you ask yourself,
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  am I a recent grad? Do I want to explore careers?
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  Is this a career transition? All those kinds
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  of things. And then, and in my case, oftentimes
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  I will run into engagements where they might
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  say to me, this person is a great person. Maybe
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  they're not top management. They're senior managers,
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  but they really low -key person and they're very
• 8:35
  important to the organization, but nobody knows
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  who they are. So they'll sit in the back of the
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  room. They're very humble. They don't say anything.
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  It's just not their style. They don't know how
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  to do it. So they need to gain greater visibility
• 8:48
  to become the go -to person. Or how do you gain
• 8:53
  visibility so that people see you as potentially
• 8:56
  promotable? That may be your reason. for why
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  you want to do this. So the thing is, what's
• 9:04
  the biggest mistake that people make in networking
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  is thinking it's all about them. It isn't. It's
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  about relationship building. And so many people
• 9:16
  treat this like a transaction. Oh, OK, I'm going
• 9:19
  to go to a networking event. I'll pass out my
• 9:22
  business cards, and then I'll hound them out
• 9:24
  with a garment. see what they can do for me.
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  That's not what it's about. And I'm sure you
• 9:28
  talk about the same things in your presentation.
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  It really is a reciprocal exchange that needs
• 9:35
  to be developed. And here's a key phrase. And
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  I can't say it's mine. It belongs to the dearly
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  departed Dr. Mark Goulston, who was a colleague
• 9:47
  and a friend. And he wrote the book. Oh, I can't
• 9:50
  think of the name. I can't remember the name
• 9:52
  of the book, but in that book. The line is be
• 9:56
  more interested than interesting. The key is
• 10:03
  you want to focus with somebody and learn about
• 10:07
  them. What sets my book apart is how do you make
• 10:13
  that first connection? Because when you are more
• 10:16
  interested in a person, they feel it. common
• 10:21
  neurons that get exchanged, bonding neurons,
• 10:24
  oxytocin gets released. And so you need to find
• 10:28
  some common ground. Let's say you want to meet
• 10:31
  somebody. Where my book sets things apart is
• 10:37
  that I use AI to help you be a detective of sorts.
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  I provide you in this very brief e -book. the
• 10:47
  very specific protocol to go through and the
• 10:50
  prompts that you need to use to find out as much
• 10:54
  about this person that you're going to talk to
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  as you can. What's their background? What's their
• 11:00
  education? What are their interests? What are
• 11:02
  their hobbies? Did they serve on board? Do they
• 11:05
  have any legal problems? Because you want to
• 11:07
  find out, is this person shady or straight? That's
• 11:10
  important. Now, of course, this is all publicly
• 11:13
  public information. But once you might find out
• 11:17
  that they are perhaps involved with Habitat for
• 11:22
  Humanity or the Boy Scouts or involved with horses
• 11:25
  or whatever, that gives you an opportunity to
• 11:30
  be more interested than interesting and ask them
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  a question about it. When you're meeting people,
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  you find out and you say, you know, I was doing
• 11:40
  some research and what came up is that that you've
• 11:45
  served on the board of the Boy Scouts. Tell me
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  how you got involved in that. So you take a couple
• 11:52
  of minutes to create that connection where they
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  know you're interested in them. And then you
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  can redirect the conversation to the specific
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  questions you need based on your objective. And
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  the book also lays out, all right, your career
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  exploration, here's five, seven questions you
• 12:13
  can ask them. Your career transition, five to
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  seven questions. You want to gain greater visibility
• 12:20
  and have your team be recognized as the go -to
• 12:24
  team for certain types of problems. Here's five
• 12:26
  questions, five to seven questions you can ask.
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  So it's very directed. That's why it's really
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  important to understand what your objective is
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  at first. And then, of course, we go into what's
• 12:36
  your follow -up. And it doesn't just end at the
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  end of that conversation. You need to keep records
• 12:42
  of who you talk to. You need to make sure that
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  you touch base with them, not in a point where
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  you're hounding them to death. But maybe they
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  mentioned something about an article, and you
• 12:52
  saw an article somewhere that you knew that they
• 12:56
  might enjoy. So here it is three months later.
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  Hey, I saw this article. And I thought it would
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  interest you. I remember we talked about such
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  and such. It's just a touch point. Because you
• 13:07
  never know when you need to go back to that again,
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  or that person again, and ask them for something.
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  But you are in the process of developing a relationship.
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  So that's the long and short of everything that
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  I do. And I could have mentioned eight different
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  things as you were speaking, and I didn't want
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  to interrupt you. But there are many facets that
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  you're speaking about, but you can do more, and
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  I'll go into that later on, especially your follow
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  -up. A follow -up is key to meeting the person
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  and so on and so forth, but we'll get to that
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  afterwards. Just give me an idea what the biggest
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  mistake professionals would make that would unintentionally
• 13:53
  diminish their credibility or influence. I think...
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  When I said earlier, thinking it's about them
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  and not about the other person. And if you think
• 14:06
  of it as a relationship. And it's not what can
• 14:10
  you do for me? But how can you be helpful to
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  this person? And one of the things that I do
• 14:19
  when I meet people, is there anything. you know
• 14:22
  about my background, is there anything I can
• 14:24
  do to offer support to you in any way? You mentioned
• 14:28
  this, I'm happy to introduce you to some people
• 14:32
  if you'd like and just continue to maintain that
• 14:36
  relationship and keep it off of give me I need.
• 14:40
  Without appearing self -serving, how can somebody
• 14:44
  build a relationship with one of the senior leaders
• 14:48
  or decision makers? Okay, so it depends on what
• 14:53
  their objective is. So if their objective is
• 14:56
  exposure, all right, they may, let me think about
• 15:03
  this for a minute because again, as I said, depends
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  on the objective. If the objective is how can
• 15:09
  our department most assist you? I'll give you
• 15:13
  an example, I think that would be best to describe
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  this. I had a client. They were a small company,
• 15:21
  30 million in revenue. And they were bought out
• 15:27
  by an internet, it was a US company that was
• 15:30
  multi -billion. And this internet, they were
• 15:33
  in the renewable energy kind of business. And
• 15:37
  they had little divisions all over the world
• 15:41
  that kind of did different pieces of that. When
• 15:44
  this company was bought out, the CEO of the Purchased
• 15:49
  company. Was retiring and he wanted one of his
• 15:55
  vice presidents to be recognized for the contribution
• 15:59
  he could make to the overall corporation. Alright,
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  and this fell and he and that company was known
• 16:07
  as the director of innovation and had managed
• 16:11
  to get this smaller company into commercial markets
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  that they. thought of themselves as a residential
• 16:17
  company, and now he got them into the big stores.
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  Okay. So he saw him as having value to the larger
• 16:26
  organization. So he said, Elizabeth, so and so
• 16:31
  needs some coaching. He doesn't know how to communicate
• 16:35
  right. We need to get the others in the other
• 16:38
  divisions to recognize that he has skills and
• 16:42
  abilities that could really help them flourish.
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  but he does not know how to get that across.
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  So, I was already pretty much retired and I said,
• 16:54
  oh, I don't want to take any more engagements.
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  But this client had been such a gem, of course,
• 17:00
  I said, sure, I'll do it. He said, the problem
• 17:03
  is this guy is just a real brainiac. He's got
• 17:07
  a PhD and I know I can't put him with anybody
• 17:11
  unless they have equal education. That's why
• 17:13
  it's got to be you. I said, OK, fine. So I connect
• 17:19
  with this guy and we set up an engagement. And
• 17:24
  I do a 360 on him and here are the kinds of things.
• 17:30
  How does 360 feedback report? He was at a meeting
• 17:34
  with all the senior leaders from the different
• 17:36
  organizations and was talking about what this
• 17:39
  division did. and starts and somebody asked a
• 17:43
  question and he says let me see if I can explain
• 17:47
  it simply in a way you can understand. A little
• 17:54
  damper on things. The other thing about this
• 17:57
  person is he kept to himself and he never went
• 18:02
  out to lunch with anybody else. He just stayed
• 18:04
  in his office and did his reniac stuff. In your
• 18:06
  mind the old Coder stays in a dark room. You
• 18:10
  throw me that occasionally this how he was behaving
• 18:13
  and so We needed to get him out there to be able
• 18:20
  to talk with other people and to understand how
• 18:24
  to approach them The other thing and this gets
• 18:27
  into executive presences together He was a big
• 18:31
  type is maybe six foot three six foot four and
• 18:34
  quite an attractive man and he dressed very nicely
• 18:38
  The new president of the organization that brought
• 18:41
  them out said to me, oh, I gotta say, he could
• 18:45
  be really creepy. I said, creepy? You wanna elaborate
• 18:49
  on that? She said, when he sits and he talks
• 18:52
  with you, he hunches himself over and he leans
• 18:57
  in like this. I said, really? Okay, we'll work
• 19:00
  on that. So now I have pieces of information
• 19:03
  to deal with. One, how to connect, how to meet,
• 19:06
  how to present yourself, and so forth. So one
• 19:09
  of the things I said to him was one of the pieces
• 19:12
  of feedback I got, I didn't say that you act
• 19:15
  really creepy, I said that your physical posture
• 19:20
  is stooped over and that sends a message of you're
• 19:26
  trying to make yourself smaller. The objective
• 19:31
  is never to make yourself smaller. Why do you
• 19:35
  think you do that and he says as a big man? I
• 19:40
  have been with other Men that are smaller and
• 19:43
  I feel like I can be Intimidating to them. So
• 19:48
  I try to come down to their level Well meaning
• 19:53
  all right not understanding So I said Number
• 19:59
  one we never try to make ourselves smaller than
• 20:03
  we really are But what do you think they're really
• 20:07
  intimidated by? You think it's your height? Yeah,
• 20:10
  think it's your height. It's my education and
• 20:13
  my knowledge and my technical stuff that I said,
• 20:18
  yes. That's what we need to work on. How to translate
• 20:24
  that techno -ese into regular language without
• 20:28
  diminishing the person that we're talking to,
• 20:32
  okay? So we worked on that. So that was part
• 20:36
  of it. But then he had to go out and meet people
• 20:40
  from other divisions. And that is where the challenge
• 20:45
  was. They need to know you're the go -to person.
• 20:51
  That you can be a resource for them to expand
• 20:56
  their operations. You have to approach them in
• 21:00
  a way that doesn't intimidate them. but is welcoming.
• 21:04
  So we worked on how to do that, how to approach
• 21:08
  them, and part of it is be more, and you don't
• 21:11
  go in there, you're the big fish in a small pond
• 21:13
  right now. That's not the case right now. That's
• 21:16
  what you have been, right now is the opposite.
• 21:19
  So you have to draw them near you to come to
• 21:22
  you. How do you do that? Not by spouting off
• 21:26
  everything that's great about you, but learning
• 21:28
  about them. more interested in them than sharing
• 21:33
  everything that you know and just throwing it
• 21:35
  up out on the table right now. So you have to
• 21:38
  take your time to build those relationships.
• 21:40
  And this is a guy that didn't follow up. He would
• 21:42
  let things lapse. So it was a real rigor that
• 21:46
  I had to go through with him. But ultimately,
• 21:48
  we were successful. Yeah, you had to teach him
• 21:52
  active listening because listening is so important
• 21:55
  because you don't know what questions to ask
• 21:58
  unless you're truly listening to them. So that's
• 22:01
  really where it comes in. So let me ask you a
• 22:03
  question. When they're entering a room, they're
• 22:06
  full of accomplished professionals. What separates
• 22:10
  those who create meaningful connections from
• 22:13
  those that are unnoticed? Okay. One would think
• 22:19
  it's their appearance. They look like they just
• 22:21
  walked in in an Imani suit. Not necessarily.
• 22:24
  It is how you carry yourself, number one. Absolutely.
• 22:28
  Stand tall. You stand with posture correct and
• 22:33
  you smile and you connect and you look people
• 22:38
  eyeball to eyeball, not over their head. How
• 22:42
  many networking meetings have you gone to where
• 22:44
  you start to talk to somebody and you say, hello,
• 22:46
  you shake your hand. They're shaking your hand
• 22:48
  while they're looking over your shoulder. Absolutely.
• 22:51
  Absolutely. I want to say, hey, eyes here. Sure.
• 22:57
  That's one of the first. It's one of the first
• 22:59
  things I teach is when you first meet somebody
• 23:02
  about eye contact, about shaking their hand.
• 23:07
  They're shaking the person's hand becomes so
• 23:09
  important. You don't shake it like a dead fish.
• 23:12
  It's a firm handshake. And that sets the tone
• 23:15
  from that point on. So it's really important.
• 23:19
  Let me ask you a question. Sure. Right. So here's
• 23:23
  the new rules. because nobody wants to touch
• 23:29
  anybody's hand because of this whole COVID thing.
• 23:34
  How are you telling people now? So when you fist
• 23:38
  bump, do you fist bump and grab their wrist?
• 23:41
  When do you tell them? I found that the fist
• 23:43
  bumps really have gone away because COVID was
• 23:47
  six years ago. Right, so less and less people
• 23:50
  are doing the fist bump if somebody wants to
• 23:54
  fist bump I Would fist bump them back and make
• 23:57
  light of this make light of it. Oh fist bump.
• 24:01
  Okay, well we can be 15 again I enjoy doing that
• 24:04
  and that usually like oh no, and usually they'll
• 24:07
  put their hand out and shake your hand like a
• 24:10
  professional so you own it you own the situation
• 24:15
  and You make a joke about it And since everybody
• 24:20
  at ease, it's not one powerhouse over another.
• 24:25
  Everybody's at ease. You just move on. Okay.
• 24:31
  Okay. All right. Okay. Can professionals remain
• 24:36
  authentic while intentionally strengthening their
• 24:40
  executive presence or personal brand? I don't
• 24:45
  think they are. I think they are interconnected.
• 24:52
  Yeah, absolutely. In other words, you can have
• 24:57
  executive presence if you're not authentic, because
• 25:00
  people see through that faster than in a second.
• 25:04
  Yeah, that's it. So part of being developing
• 25:07
  executive presence is building trust. And this
• 25:12
  is one of the things when I. deliver presentations
• 25:16
  on executive presence is I say, you are always
• 25:24
  in the spotlight. Whether you're a frontline
• 25:27
  supervisor, a manager, a senior manager, or the
• 25:31
  president of the company, whenever you have people
• 25:34
  reporting to you, they are watching you. And
• 25:39
  there was some research that said in a troop
• 25:42
  of baboons, The lesser baboons are checking out
• 25:49
  the alpha male every 20 seconds or something
• 25:53
  to that effect. What's he doing? What's going
• 25:56
  on? Who's he looking at? Who's he favoring with?
• 26:00
  So well, we as humans may not be doing it every
• 26:03
  20 seconds. If a leader comes into an organization
• 26:07
  and is very calm, cool, and collected one minute,
• 26:10
  loses his top the next minute, and he or she
• 26:14
  is inconsistent in behavior, that makes people
• 26:18
  uneasy. That makes people less likely to trust
• 26:23
  you. So you have to be very cognizant of being
• 26:28
  consistent in your behavior as a leader. That
• 26:32
  builds authenticity. When people know that, they're
• 26:35
  more likely for your words to have impact. You
• 26:41
  also make sure that when you're saying those
• 26:43
  words, your face is saying the same thing as
• 26:46
  your words are saying. Now, if you are authentic,
• 26:49
  it's not an issue. But that's really the bottom
• 26:52
  line, consistency and trust. Those are the bedrocks.
• 26:57
  You don't have that, the entire thing falls over.
• 27:00
  There's an old, there's a saying, a mantra in
• 27:04
  networking. If they know you, if they like you,
• 27:07
  if they trust you, they will do business with
• 27:10
  you. Now, everybody knows you because you've
• 27:13
  been around, but when you get to the point of
• 27:16
  everybody likes you, no, that now is the scope
• 27:19
  down just a little bit because no matter what
• 27:21
  you do, everybody is going to like you. But when
• 27:24
  you're speaking with somebody, there's an automatic
• 27:27
  wall that's between the two of you. So getting
• 27:30
  to that trust factor, as I create something called
• 27:34
  form, F -O -R -M, family, occupation, recreation,
• 27:39
  and a message, and get that person to start talking,
• 27:43
  right? The 80 -20 rule, have them talk 80 % of
• 27:46
  the time, you talk 20 % of the time. That 20
• 27:49
  % of the time should be part of asking questions,
• 27:52
  but... whatever so have them talk about their
• 27:55
  family where they boat or ski or whatever because
• 27:58
  what you're doing is you're having that wall
• 28:01
  come down and that trust level is increasing
• 28:05
  and once it makes that switch then all of a sudden
• 28:09
  they begin to trust you and now you can start
• 28:13
  dealing with business because you can't deal
• 28:15
  with business until somebody trusts you. You
• 28:19
  are spot on with that, Michael, and I agree with
• 28:23
  you 100%. And that is why in my book, I say,
• 28:28
  because you may be meeting people that you've
• 28:31
  never met before, so you have to do your detective
• 28:34
  work ahead of time to find out maybe about their
• 28:39
  family, their interests, your form, questions,
• 28:42
  okay? And then you use that as a basis. for starting
• 28:47
  to build that trust. And from a neuroscience
• 28:50
  perspective, when you're talking about something
• 28:53
  that they're interested in near and dear to them
• 28:56
  in their heart, and they know that you're truly
• 28:59
  interested, that wall comes down because it creates
• 29:04
  that bonding hormone that I referred to earlier,
• 29:07
  oxytocin. When they do that, you also have to
• 29:11
  be very careful about how you word your questions.
• 29:15
  And the way You don't say, tell me about yourself.
• 29:19
  That sounds like a command and you want them
• 29:21
  under the light and you're interrogating them.
• 29:24
  If you say, could you share with me or could
• 29:28
  you possibly tell me about or just could you
• 29:32
  tell me? There is a slight nuance there and it
• 29:36
  becomes permission based versus being demand
• 29:40
  based. So. wording and how you phrase things
• 29:45
  like that claim. So let me see if I can explain
• 29:47
  it in a way that you can understand. How you
• 29:51
  say things is just as important as what you said.
• 29:55
  Absolutely. Absolutely. You're absolutely right.
• 29:58
  Okay. So let's bring this podcast full circle.
• 30:01
  If a listener wanted to dramatically improve
• 30:04
  both their network and executive presence over
• 30:07
  the next 90 days, what one habit Would you tell
• 30:11
  them to begin immediately? That's a good question.
• 30:16
  First of all, you need to. They're not that they're
• 30:22
  separated, but they each take. You have to come
• 30:25
  up with a road map. You need to develop a brand.
• 30:29
  What brand? That's the same thing as what is
• 30:32
  your objective. OK, so what is your brand that
• 30:35
  gives you the road map? So you stop and you think
• 30:38
  I who are the people? that you know have great
• 30:43
  executive presence, that you want to emulate.
• 30:48
  Then you sit down and you write down what are
• 30:51
  the qualities that that person has. Are they
• 30:56
  confident? Are they honest? Can you trust them?
• 31:00
  Write down all of the attributes that person
• 31:04
  has that you admire. It's very interesting. I'm
• 31:09
  going to back off of this for a minute. When,
• 31:12
  oh gosh, I can't think of what the justice is
• 31:14
  named. There was a justice who was asked, how
• 31:20
  would he know if something was pornographic?
• 31:25
  And his answer was, you know it when you see
• 31:29
  it. The same thing is true about executive presence.
• 31:33
  You know it when you see it. So you think about
• 31:37
  that person. It could be someone in your family,
• 31:40
  could be another executive, could be your pastor,
• 31:43
  could be whoever. What are those characteristics
• 31:46
  that they are displaying? Then come up with your
• 31:50
  list. Once you come up with your list, then you
• 31:56
  say, okay, if I were Steven Spielberg and I were
• 32:03
  trying to direct somebody to show confidence,
• 32:09
  how would I direct them? Because you said, act
• 32:13
  more confidently. How do you act more confidently?
• 32:16
  What does that look like? If I'm filming you,
• 32:19
  what does that look like? I stand tall. I walk
• 32:24
  in the room. I look around. I greet people eye
• 32:29
  to eye. I smile. All of the behaviors. that are
• 32:35
  associated with that attribute, write those down.
• 32:40
  You get that down and then you decide which of
• 32:44
  those attributes you want to start on first.
• 32:48
  You can't do them all at once. One thing at a
• 32:51
  time. Master that. Then move on to the next.
• 32:56
  That's great Elizabeth. I can probably talk to
• 32:58
  you for two more hours because you and I can
• 33:01
  exchange different ideas on how we go about doing
• 33:03
  all this but for my listeners How would somebody
• 33:08
  get hold of you if they wanted to? Get your book
• 33:12
  could be have you as a consultant or just say
• 33:15
  hi. How would they get hold of you? I'm not really
• 33:19
  doing much consulting these days. I want to Try
• 33:22
  I'm 78 years old. Okay My time to have fun I
• 33:29
  Am happy to help and the best way I could do
• 33:33
  it is through my book Street and strategic networking
• 33:38
  a practical playbook that is available on Amazon
• 33:42
  It's 30 pages. You'll read it 15 minutes and
• 33:46
  it'll be the most useful information for you.
• 33:49
  It's very inexpensive It's $8. It's not my goal
• 33:53
  is not to get rich off of making That's not my
• 33:59
  purpose. My purpose is to get it in the hands
• 34:01
  of as many people as I can to help as many people
• 34:03
  as I can without necessarily involving my time
• 34:07
  and high consulting fees. So this does the job.
• 34:12
  So the easiest way is to just go to Amazon and
• 34:16
  type in my name, Elizabeth, with a Z, freed,
• 34:20
  spelled like fried, F -R -I -E -D, and that book
• 34:23
  will pop up. All the books that I've written
• 34:26
  will pop up. And then just follow the directions.
• 34:30
  It's a roadmap for you. That's all I can say.
• 34:34
  OK. This conversation is a reminder that success
• 34:37
  isn't just about what you know. It's all about
• 34:41
  how you show up. The strongest networks are built
• 34:44
  intentionally. The strongest leaders communicate
• 34:48
  with clarity, confidence, and purpose. And the
• 34:51
  professionals who create the biggest opportunities
• 34:54
  are often the ones who understand how to build
• 34:57
  trust before they even ask for anything. Take
• 35:01
  one step this week. Pay attention to how you're
• 35:04
  showing up in conversations. Are you simply participating
• 35:08
  or are you creating a memorable presence that
• 35:12
  offers that others want to engage with. If you
• 35:15
  found value in today's episode, make sure you
• 35:18
  like, follow and subscribe to Networking Unleashed,
• 35:21
  building profitable connections so you continue
• 35:24
  getting the best insights on networking and communication.
• 35:27
  And if this conversation helped you think differently
• 35:30
  about professional presence, share it with a
• 35:33
  colleague, leader, or friend. If you'd help strengthening
• 35:36
  your communication, expanding your influence,
• 35:39
  and building relationships that will create real
• 35:42
  business opportunities, visit michaelaforman
• 35:45
  .com. So until next time, be intentional, be
• 35:49
  memorable, and build connections that position
• 35:53
  you for the opportunities you deserve. Elizabeth,
• 35:57
  I can't thank you enough. This was spectacular.
• 36:00
  Thank you. I had fun. That's the thing that's
• 36:03
  important, too. Always have fun. That's the most
• 36:05
  important thing. I'll see you soon. Thank you.
• 36:10
  All right, folks. A huge thank you to our guests
• 36:13
  for sharing such incredible insights today. And
• 36:16
  of course, a big shout out to you, our amazing
• 36:19
  listeners, for tuning in and spending your time
• 36:22
  with us. If you're interested in my digital courses,
• 36:26
  being coached, or having me come and talk to
• 36:28
  your company, just go to Michael and fill out
• 36:32
  the request form. Remember, networking isn't
• 36:35
  about being perfect. It's about being present.
• 36:39
  So take what you've learned today, get out there,
• 36:41
  and make some meaningful connections. If you've
• 36:44
  enjoyed this episode, please don't forget to
• 36:47
  subscribe, leave us a review, and share it with
• 36:50
  someone who could use a little networking inspiration.
• 36:53
  Let's keep the conversation going. You can find
• 36:56
  me on Apple, Spotify, Pandora, YouTube, or my
• 37:01
  website foreman .com slash podcasts.