At the bottom of this article is a video from mother, author and swearing expert, Melissa Mohr, Ph.D. to provide mothers with ‘alternative curse words’ as their get out of jail card free in times of stress ……  but first …..

Do you struggle to grab attention at work, in meetings, or on social media platforms such as LinkedIn? Despite best intentions at staying visible, standing out and being noticed by the decision makers, you’re battling to be taken seriously?

No longer is it good enough to go to work and do our job well rigorously, thoroughly and properly. Instead we also need to back ourselves, sell ourselves and articulate our expertise in language the business values and understands. In fact, we need to be our own PR, comms and marketing department rolled into one.

But it’s getting really hard to cut through the clutter. Some senior level, seemingly, super successful executive women share with me that despite flying the flag for their future leadership brand 24/7 they still get bypassed and don’t know what they’re doing wrong.

Shorter attention span than a goldfish (yes you read that right)

Maybe it’s not just you, but it’s the reality of the human condition. In fact, it’s official  – as modern urbanised beings we have a problem. According to researchers, human beings now have an attention span shorter than a goldfish (9 seconds).

With the increase of mobile technology and demands on our attention ever increasing our attention span has dropped from 12 seconds to 8 seconds (according to Canadian researchers in a study by Microsoft).

No wonder you’re struggling to be taken seriously – it’s an uphill battle!

The new rules of engagement to Ensure your killer point is remembered

While we now know it’s not enough for your results to speak for themselves, it’s becoming obvious that even if and when you do speak to them, unless you work out a way of cutting through the clutter – your big ideas, your best suggestions, your great input, will run the risk of being bypassed. And businesses desperately need people with new ideas to solve old problems.

The new rule of engagement – ‘she who can grab and hold attention will win’.  So developing techniques and skills that showcase your thought leadership, that capture, persuade, and influence, are part and parcel of your leadership tool kit.

And while you might think it’s too hard, here are some great rules of thumb to keep in mind next time you need to grab and hold attention.

1. First impressions count – after all, you never get a second chance to make a first impression

2. But those impressions must be backed up with substance and content to build on your leadership brand, otherwise you’ll lose your credibility (achievements, case studies, results, evidence, arguments, commentary)

3. Know what you stand for (key messages)

4. And why – people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it

5. Make it relevant – so your audience identifies with you

6. Articulate this in different ways – so you don’t sound like a broken record

7. Consistency and congruence trumps frequency – you don’t have to wear people down or people will switch off.

So back to the video

Our swearing expert is also an expert at grabbing and retaining attention.  While I’m not an advocate of either swearing or Mac & Cheese, this campaign did really well all over the globe. The campaign uses humour, surprise, statistics (and flips statistics really effectively), shock value, empathy, popular phraseology and is relevant (for Mothers Day – right audience, right key message, right time, right place, right battles.)  So while you probably wouldn’t use some of what she does, you might employ one or two of the devices quite effectively.

Why? Because business, community and government need smart ‘n savvy women with big, bold and new ideas leading!

And if you want help with this, do get in touch.

Feminine Leadership Superpowers + Attention = Priceless

And happy belated Mothers Day! .