Sometimes all you need is someone to tell you not to
use air quotes when describing yourself and your profession. Air Quotes: The quirky little gesture we do with
two fingers to frame something we are saying when we don’t really believe the message
we are giving. Sometimes a stranger
simply saying, “Don’t do that” is all it takes to realize that when you use air
quotes to describe your profession, you are essentially minimizing
yourself. After all, if you don’t
believe the message, why would your audience?
This week I met Tom Swartwood, a wonderfully animated Assistant
Professor of Practice in Entrepreneurship at Drake University. He clearly loves to
encourage, challenge, and refine business owners. And, he isn’t afraid to tell you not to use
air quotes when you speak. Thanks to my
pondering about air quotes, this site was born.
My dear friend, Stephanie Majeran, is in the early
stages of creating her business, WellRun Results LLC, and when we exercise in
the early morning hours, she speaks highly of Tom and the insights he
continually provides her as she develops her business model. Intrigued, I asked if I could attend
crash a morning coffee with them. Within
five minutes of meeting Tom, I knew my time would not be wasted. Early in our conversation he asked me about
myself, and I answered by basically giving him a verbal rundown of my
resume. BORING! Or, at least that is what I quickly figured
out. He took about a nanosecond to tell
me that regurgitating my resume and using air quotes told him nothing about
me. WOW!
I had to quickly decide if I was going to be insulted or inspired. I decided to be inspired by the candor of
this stranger (but someone who is going to become my mentor…he just doesn’t
know it yet).
Throughout our conversation, he challenged me to think
about the way I define myself. What do I
really do (or what do I really want
to do)? Who is my audience? Where is the value? As I pondered these questions it became clear
that fluffy answers weren’t going to hack it with Tom. He cut to the chase and challenged me to be
succinct about defining myself, and then owning the definition in an authentic
way.
Now as I begin to develop my vision for outSIGHTin LLC,
I have a better understanding of how I need to move forward. At the very least, no more air quotes from this
professional!
Changepoints:
We tend to use air quotes
(both literally and figuratively) because:
- We don’t want to seem overly confident or
arrogant.
- We don’t want to buck the status quo.
- We don’t truly know what we are about or
where we are going.
- We don’t want to create false expectations
or disappoint others.
- We don’t want to address our fears.
- Why might you be using air
quotes in your life?
- What person or action
could you use to help better define yourself?
Say good-bye to Air Quotes.
outSIGHTin, LLC: Creating awareness as a changepoint
for improved organizational results.
