Personal Branding
How to stand out in
a crowd

Article written by Stella Pielage, TOPX team member.

On the edge of a new challenge or awaiting new opportunities? Then you are probably eager to make an unforgettable impression and to have exceptional personal branding skills. But how do you ensure that your first impression is remarkable? And how do you master personal branding to steer your upcoming achievements in the right direction? You are headed towards your hopes and dreams but the obstacle of standing out in a crowd hampers your growth.

Last week’s TOPX expert meeting engaged in the topic of how to stand out in a crowd and present the best version of oneself. Speakers Sangbreeta Moitra, award-winning TEDx speaker strategist, and Fleur Prins, marketing strategist at Just Masterpieces, provided inspiring talks on presenting your personal brand.
Online representation might be one of the most important aspects of personal branding in this day and age. Fleur Prins provided the audience with her perspective on presenting yourself through LinkedIn in a masterclass. Her main message was to be yourself, and to ensure that your personal branding aligns with you. Determine how you wish to be perceived, how you want to share your expertise, and what you bring to the table. What makes you so outstandingly good at what you do? Even though we all know these aspects of good online representation, sometimes it appears more difficult to do.

Tips and tricks for Linked-In online presence

Are you uncomfortable sharing information online, or do you not have the time to invest in LinkedIn? Or you have no clue on what to share? Here are some tips and tricks provided by Fleur that will help you overcome these hurdles and how to stand out. First, know that nobody is perfect or has a natural talent for these things. Dare to make mistakes and ask for feedback or help to improve along the way. Second, create a content strategy for yourself by allocating time for a branding moment in your weekly schedule. Share your largest challenges with your network and how you overcame those, present tips for the next generation, mention what gives you the energy to perform and show how you prefer to collaborate. Do not forget to keep it professional, yes you can share your interests and sideline activities, but keep in mind how you want to be perceived. Ready to go out there and promote yourself?! If you are still having doubts or want some professional guidance, be sure to reach out to Fleur Prins.

Speak up and stand out

Our second speaker, Sangbreeta Moitra dove into the topic of distinguishing yourself and how you want to be perceived – speak up and stand out – based on her own experience and used strategies in the last years. Sangbreeta sparked the brains of the attendees with questions as ‘why do you care’, ‘how do you want to be remembered’ and ‘are you willing to be bold’, to cover various angles on speaking up and standing out.
Dedicated, passionate and ambitious professionals who want to be seen, heard, read, or remembered often care about and use personal branding. But how do you wish to communicate, express, or present yourself, and thereby distinguish yourself from others? Sangbreeta emphasized the importance of amplifying who you are, why you care and how you want to be perceived through rhetoric persuasion strategies – ethos, pathos and logos. By expressing your expertise and credibility ethos through passionate and relatable stories pathos together with the right evidence logos, you can specify how you want to present yourself according to Sangbreeta.

To distinguish yourself, Sangbreeta pointed out that by being bold you can take your personal representation one step further. Flourishing your unique abilities and inherent talents in speech, presenting, writing, or creating, helps you to stand out and be remarkable. Using your boldness can enhance reactivity with your audience, catch their eye of attention and hook onto it. Sangbreeta accentuated that a personal brand is not entirely about showing your reputation, authenticity, or achievements, do not forget your personal integrity. Make sure it shines through, to let others know what you care about, what values you stand for and against, and to show your humbleness and failures. More importantly, who is the human behind the article, post, or speech? It does not matter whether you wish to inspire, challenge, energize others, or make them feel safe or trusted, find what concerns you and be real, be your true self.

The network meeting and the seminars presented by Fleur Prins and Sangbreeta Moitra taught us two wise lessons. Embrace rejection and failure, don’t just give up if something does not flourish the first time around, and be bold sometimes. Make sure you know how you want to stand out in a crowd and how you want to be remembered. For this purpose, TOPX Network has launched the TOPX Females to Follow Awards.

At the 2022 edition of TOPX Summit on 22 September in Oss, upcoming and outstanding women in the Life Sciences will be honoured. Do you want to stand out in the crowd and strengthen your personal brand? This is an excellent opportunity to achieve that! Or do you know someone that inspires you or aspires you to achieve more, a true leader, or someone that made such a great first impression, someone that stood out in a big crowd, nominate them for the TOPX Females to Follow Award. More info and registration here.

About TOPX
TOPX is a network for female professionals in Life Sciences seeking career advancement in industry or academia. Curious what TOPX Network has to offer you, and interested in becoming a TOPX member too? See here for more information about the TOPX membership and all services we offer.