B) Write out at least five concrete facts describing the life of the Stanford University.

2. a) Read the fragment below to find out the types of information you have to highlight in order to “brand yourself”.

BRANDING YOURSELF

You are at a telephone conference. It’s a new international project team in which most people don’t know each other. The project leader asks everyone to say a few words about themselves to open the meeting.

This is what Arne Schneider says:

“Well, there isn’t much to say. I’m Arnold Schneider from Passau. I’m 30 years old and I’m just a process engineer. I studied in Munich and my first job was at a small manufacturing plant in Stuttgart. Then I joined our company and I’ve been here ever since. At first, I worked with quality control in production, but two years ago I moved to the quality assurance department in headquarters.”

Now that was OK – but it wasn’t very original. It did not show why Arne was chosen to be on the team, what he could bring to the group and what the others could expect from him. Arne needs to create a “personal brand”. In other words, Arne needs a clear view of his own strength (and weaknesses) and of his own personal style. He then needs to signal this to his colleagues.

“Personal branding” is a relatively new method of creating and communicating a clear self-image. It is especially important when you are in a telephone conference where you cannot see each other. You want people to remember who you are.

What is the purpose of self-introduction? Generally, you want to show your professional credibility and how it is relevant to this particular meeting. You might also want to provide memory hook for people to remember you and to show that you have a personal side, too. It’s important that it sounds natural and that you are not boastful about what you have done.

Don’t provide your chronological biography. People will stop listening. You should include the following:

§ Why you are there

§ What you do

§ What your name is

§ A relevant past professional achievement

§ Something persona;

§ A memory hook

b) Study the improved self-introduction of Arne Schneider below. Think of your personal brand and write a sketch of your self-presentation to be used at the international students’ conference dedicated to education strategies for the next decade.

The reason I am at this meeting is because my present job is a specialist in quality control based in our company headquarters. Our company has become more and more involved in working internationally in the five years I’ve been here. And I’m now been involved in several projects similar to this one. I’m Arnold, Arnold Schneider – not Arnold Schwartzenegger! I’ve only got this first name, hot his muscles. But most people call me Arne. My professional background and interest has always been in the area of quality control. At present, I’m involved in two other international projects, where I also act as the quality-control guru. When I can’t help solve quality problems in production process myself, I have contact with other people who will be able to help us. By the way, I’m also a big fan of Bayern Munich football club, for those of you also enjoy the game.

Date: 2015-12-17; view: 672