The essentials
- Know your value propositions and how you are unique. This takes some self-perspective and analysis of who you are as a person and an entrepreneur.
- One of the best ways to find what stands out about you is by understanding the first impression you give.
- Start by mapping out some of your own unique characteristics, and use them to your advantage.
As an entrepreneur, we always seek to make as many connections as possible, especially as we start on our journey. We shake hands, smile, and get introduced to people. But after the event ends and we head home, what then? We follow up with an email, maybe two, but then what? By pure chance, we bump into these professionals further down the road, and we must remind them who we are. This makes you question: Did we get to know them? Did they get to know us?
The short answer is that they did get to know you—briefly. However, they don’t remember you because no strong connection or association was made during those meetings and exchanges.
Don’t feel bad if this has happened to you. It has happened to me too, and it may happen again! This is common in entrepreneurship. You see, these professionals or key people meet hundreds of entrepreneurs and business representatives, and everything becomes a blur at some point. So, the one key thing I always tell upcoming entrepreneurs that I learned the hard way is to be memorable.
How do you do that? Funny enough, the same way you make your company stand out when you pitch and present to others. Know your value propositions and how you are unique. This takes some self-perspective and analysis of who you are as a person and an entrepreneur.
For example, I am Latina and have a very long and unique name. I used this to my advantage, joking with people, telling them my full name, and then following it up by quizzing them to see if they remembered it. I may sometimes, further down the event, approach them again and ask again to see if they remember it. Guess what? They may not remember my full name, but they remember my first name and who I represent. Do I need them to know everything about me and the company? No. I need them to know enough so the relationship can have a solid base to grow upon and something to recall.
So, how can you do that? Create three lists that will host three entries each.
Nicknames | Unusual Aspects of Yourself | Friends or Family’s Description of You |
1. | 1. | 1. |
2. | 2. | 2. |
3. | 3. | 3. |
Why? Because one of the best ways to find what stands out about you is by understanding the first impression you give. As much as humans try to avoid it, we rely a lot on first impressions. The characteristics people pick up when they meet you are uniquely yours. It doesn’t have to be tied to physical appearance; it could be your personality and communication style.
For example, mine looked like this.
Nicknames | Unusual Aspects of Yourself | Friends or Family’s Description of You |
1. Evita | 1. I’m Tall | 1. Funny |
2. Evita Peron | 2. I speak 3 languages | 2. A box of fun facts |
3. Google Translate | 3. My name is difficult | 3. I speak too fast |
Then you can use this information to build that memorable, unique side of you. That is 100% YOU! You do not need to change to fit a mold because you will be most memorable when there is genuineness in your approach to people.
In my case, as you can see, my name is a prominent descriptor of myself. Another one surrounds language in my name morphology and my language communication skills. Lastly, I tend to speak fast, which is tied to language and communication.
Use these commonalities to build your go-to conversational or topic starter. Mine ended up being the complicated and varied pronunciation of my full name and my fast-speaking pace. So, when I introduce myself, I tell them my full name intentionally very fast to make them pay attention while simultaneously relaxing the mood and inciting a few laughs.
Finding this took a lot of trial and error. It took time. Remember, it won’t be perfect the first time you work through this. That is okay. Just keep tweaking and trying until you find what works best. Now best of luck out there, entrepreneurs, and keep making your memorable mark in the world.
Evaguel Rhysing is a Latina entrepreneur and CEO of United Aircraft Technologies.