Simon Sinek | Peter Sterlacci | Believe. Become. Be Your Brand

Vlogathon Day 22: Discovering Your Why – The First Step to Building a Personal Brand

September 22, 2012 By Jean-Marc Dedeyne 3 Comments

Vlogathon Day 22: September 22nd – Jean-Marc Dedeyne

Jean-Marc Dedeyne is my guest for Day 22 of the Personal Branding Vlogathon. I have tremendous respect for Jean-Marc because his company, U in the USA, is enabling international students to achieve their career goals in the USA by defining and demonstrating their unique business values to the right decision makers. Like me, Jean-Marc has been inspired by Simon Sinek and his idea that we all must start with WHY. In other words, it is our WHY that drives us and ultimately inspires those around us. In his video below, Jean-Marc starts by asking a critical question – “Do you like your job or do you love your job?” He reminds us to find our WHY because at the end of the day people don’t buy what we do – they buy WHY we do it. Learn his 3-step process to discover your why!

Enjoy Jean-Marc’s video and let us know what you think by commenting below. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Authenticity, Leadership, Passion, Personal Branding, Personal branding tips, Vlogathon Tagged With: brand story, Jean-Marc Dedeyne, Simon Sinek, Start with Why, Vlogathon

Brand Yourself ‘PechaKucha’ Style [Video]

April 18, 2012 By Peter Sterlacci 1 Comment

Imagine giving a presentation about yourself using only 20 slides that run non-stop at 20 seconds each? Once the presentation starts, you have 6 minutes and 40 seconds to get your point across. You cannot stop, you cannot pause, you cannot turn back. You are at the mercy of the PechaKucha Style of presenting!

PechaKucha is an excellent way to present your personal brand. Originally devised in Tokyo in 2003 as an event for young designers to meet, network, and show their work in public, it has turned into a worldwide phenomenon with ‘PechaKucha Nights’ happening in over 500 cities around the world. Drawing its name from the Japanese term for the sound of “chit chat”, it rests on a presentation format that is based on a simple idea: 20 images x 20 seconds. It’s a format that makes presentations concise, and keeps things moving at a rapid pace.

I recently presented at a PechaKucha Night in Nishinomiya, Japan on personal branding. Enjoy the video of my actual talk to see PechaKucha in action.

Have you experienced PechaKucha? Do you think you can brand yourself in 20 x 20? Let me know what you think.

Filed Under: Be your Brand, Branded Bio, Japan, Personal Branding, Presentation Tagged With: 360Reach, About.me, branded bio, Japan, LinkedIn, PechaKucha, Simon Sinek

4 Tips to Avoid Quitting on Your Personal Brand

January 31, 2012 By Peter Sterlacci 4 Comments

In the world of bicycle racing there are three letters on race results that racers dread – DNF – “Did not finish.” A DNF could be the result of a mechanical problem, an injury, or worse yet that evil voice inside your head telling you to just quit! Your legs are cramping, your head is pounding, and your lungs are burning. Pain has settled in and taken over. Before you know it, you pull of the course and give up.

The video above reminds us that “Pain is temporary, but quitting lasts forever.” Lance’s battle with cancer more so than his 7 Tour de France victories epitomizes this philosophy. Here was a cyclist in the prime of his career taken out by a fatal disease, and yet he had an unyielding focus to not quit. He simply refused to get that DNF in his race against cancer and he won.

Don’t Quit on Your Brand!

Personal branding is not a race and there is no finish line. However, in the face of pain it is possible to quit believing in our brands. Here are 4 actions you can take to quiet that evil voice telling you to quit. [Read more...]