Speaker 1: Good morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is about how to become known as an
Speaker 1: expert or thought leader and hence make yourself stand out.
Speaker 1: You might wonder what becoming known as an expert has
Speaker 1: to do with productivity and time management. The answer a lot.
Speaker 1: When I first started working as a freelance journalist many
Speaker 1: years ago, I spent a ton of time dreaming up
Speaker 1: article ideas that I had then pitched to editors. Since
Speaker 1: these editors didn't know me from Adam, I wouldn't get
Speaker 1: many responses. But after I began writing books about how
Speaker 1: people use their time, a miraculous thing happened. Sometimes editors
Speaker 1: would reach out to me, Hey, we're doing a story
Speaker 1: about you can insert some topic here, morning routines, how
Speaker 1: stay at home mom spend their time, reviews of sociology books.
Speaker 1: I discovered that it is a lot more efficient to
Speaker 1: have clients reaching out to you then you reaching out
Speaker 1: to them. The most straightforward way to make that change
Speaker 1: in direction happen is to become recognized as an expert
Speaker 1: at something. So how do you become a recognized expert?
Speaker 1: How do you become the sort of person people seek out.
Speaker 1: Some people grow up knowing what specific topics they'll be
Speaker 1: passionate about, then they study those exact topics in school.
Speaker 1: For many of us, though, it's not that simple. We
Speaker 1: have to figure this out to become thought leaders. We
Speaker 1: have to figure out some interesting thoughts and then we
Speaker 1: have to build a following around those ideas. That's the
Speaker 1: leadership part. My favorite book about how to do this
Speaker 1: is Dorry Clark's book stand Out. Dory is a thought
Speaker 1: leader unbecoming a thought leader. In her book, she writes
Speaker 1: that building a strong professional reputation is the best way
Speaker 1: to protect and advance your career. When you're recognized by
Speaker 1: others as an authority in your field, clients and employers
Speaker 1: want to work with you specifically, and if you do
Speaker 1: lose your job, you're equipped to bounce back. Becoming an
Speaker 1: expert doesn't happen overnight, but there are some things you
Speaker 1: can do today or at least in the next few weeks,
Speaker 1: to get started on becoming more recognized within your field.
Speaker 1: You can spend some time today thinking about a few
Speaker 1: questions that Dorry recommends. Asking these questions will help you
Speaker 1: figure out the most fruitful topics to generate great ideas about,
Speaker 1: For instance, what parts of your field you feel most
Speaker 1: passionate about. What topics are you a local expert, in
Speaker 1: which Dorry defines as not necessarily the best in the world,
Speaker 1: but better or more knowledgeable than those around you. What
Speaker 1: aspects of your field do you find yourself drawn to
Speaker 1: always reading those articles first, are going to those sessions
Speaker 1: at conferences? Then ask yourself what questions in these areas
Speaker 1: you'd really like to see answered and stand out. Dorry
Speaker 1: explains that one of the best ways to establish yourself
Speaker 1: as an expert is to produce some new knowledge that
Speaker 1: other people can see and share. Books take a lot
Speaker 1: of time to write, but anyone can write something shorter,
Speaker 1: such as an article or a white paper. Wikipedia defines
Speaker 1: a white paper as an authoritative report or guide that
Speaker 1: informs readers concisely about a complex issue. I like that
Speaker 1: word concisely. It means short enough to be doable. So
Speaker 1: take a few minutes today and think through a question
Speaker 1: that you'd really like to see answered. Then think about
Speaker 1: how you can do original research on this topic. Dori
Speaker 1: suggests a few questions. Who is knowledgeable in your industry
Speaker 1: but doesn't often get asked for their insights or opinions.
Speaker 1: How can you reach out to them? What on the
Speaker 1: ground field research can you conduct in your area of interest.
Speaker 1: Who can you visit or interview about their experiences? Is
Speaker 1: there a hidden good news story in your field that
Speaker 1: most others aren't aware of or talking about. Over the
Speaker 1: next few weeks, you can carve out sixty to ninety
Speaker 1: minutes twice a week to do your research. Then for
Speaker 1: two weeks, maybe carve out thirty minutes a day for writing.
Speaker 1: Just a few words at a time will get you there. Ideally,
Speaker 1: your manager will be interested in sharing your research through
Speaker 1: your organization's channels. That will get your name and your
Speaker 1: ideas in front of all sorts of people. If you're
Speaker 1: out on your own, you can put your research up
Speaker 1: on your own website or other public platforms, and share
Speaker 1: news of your discoveries through LinkedIn and other social media channels.
Speaker 1: The good news is that when you put things out
Speaker 1: into the world, you get feedback. People engage with the ideas,
Speaker 1: and then you can refine your ideas and contribute more
Speaker 1: to the discussion. Contributing to the discussion is networking, defined
Speaker 1: as establishing connections, and it's a lot more satisfying than
Speaker 1: handing out business cards at a cocktail party. When people
Speaker 1: see you have a great idea, they come to you,
Speaker 1: and that takes a lot less time than you going
Speaker 1: to them. So what are you going to do today
Speaker 1: to build your expertise and let the world know about it.
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear your ideas in the meantime. This
Speaker 1: is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making the
Speaker 1: most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear
Speaker 1: from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,
Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook
Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod that's b E the
Speaker 1: number four then breakfast key o D. You can also
Speaker 1: shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at iHeart
Speaker 1: media dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with
Speaker 1: all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to
Speaker 1: stay hang in touch.