Personal Branding for YOU(th)

If you work with youth, you know how important social media is to them. Recently, Sean O'Brien (our amazing co-director of all things youth) and I were looking for a more interesting way to begin a discussion with our group about what they post online. The resulting meeting was so successful that I thought I'd share it.

We began with a “name that slogan” game, just for fun: paired the group up, gave each paper and pencil, and read them 15 famous slogans. They wrote their answers then traded papers to see which pair correctly named the most brands associated with each slogan. Here are a few; many more are easily googled:

I'm lovin' it – McDonalds
Think different – Apple
Just do it – Nike
Snap Crackle Pop – Kellogg's Rice Krispies
The ultimate driving machine – BMW
The other white meat – pork

We followed up the game with a brief discussion about what brands were popular now (Uggs were still very “in” while McDonalds was decidedly “out”). We had them think then talk about how much time and effort they spent “branding” themselves, how they did it, and what image they hoped to portray to others about who they were based on the brands they purchased or steered clear of.

Then we gave each youth a large piece of paper, markers, and the following handout:

The field of leadership studies has a term, 'Impression Management' which you may also hear referred to as 'personal branding.'

Imagine you could create a billboard to advertise YOU to the whole world. What image would be on it? What would it say? How do you want to be seen by the outside world?

Consider the following questions, then draw your billboard:

What stands out about you?

What makes you different from your peers?

What's your greatest strength?

What's your most noteworthy personal trait?

What are you proud of?

What should you take credit for?

What image do you want to portray to others about who you are on the inside?

When youth finished drawing their billboards, they shared as they were willing (most had worked diligently on their billboards and were eager to take part)! We then had them turn their papers over, and told them,

“Impression Management is essentially your reputation – and often, what others say about you is more important than what you convey about yourself. On the back of your papers, add the graffiti that others have spray painted over your billboards – the stuff that others say about who you are or who they perceive you to be. True or not, this is the stuff that isn't who you want to be known to the world as.”

After graffitiing their billboards, youth once again shared. The discussion began fairly seriously: how difficult it is as a youth (when you're changing so quickly) to change others' ingrained perceptions of you; how hard it is to change your reputation if it's bad, but how easy it is to maintain your reputation if it's good (even if you do bad things); how one person can make or break your reputation with one slanderous rumor; etc.

We ran out of time and had to cut that discussion short, but in conclusion we presented the group with the following questions to consider:

You may not get to create a billboard on the side of the highway, but in what other public places are you advertising to the world who you are?

Do you use facebook, twitter, and other social media to your advantage, or to your detriment?

Do your “friends” and “followers” support the image you want to portray of yourself or do they contribute more in the way of “graffiti”?