Are You an Influencer?

I’m in 4th grade, and I’m playing the outfield.  Because that’s where they put you when you’re the youngest, smallest girl on the softball team.  I’m getting pretty good at identifying balloon animals from the shapes of clouds in the sky…there’s not a lot of action in the outfield.  Except for that one ball, the one that rolls past second base, over the sprinkler head, past the dandelion and right through my legs. As I’m chasing the ball down through my outfield to the outfield of the field next to mine and into the playground at the edge of the park, I realize how embarrassing it is to run after a ball, that I should have caught, with so many people watching…

Have you ever made a mistake and felt the whole world watching you?

This is when I decide to be a pitcher.  Because as a pitcher, I’m the first defender instead of the last. If the ball goes between my legs, there are people behind me to run down the ball or actually catch it. Now there’s a concept! So I get a bucket of balls, paint a rectangle target on the cedar fence and start throwing and throwing.  If I’m focused on the target, my pitches become strikes.  Strikes become strike-outs and I become an influencer.  No longer waiting back on the defensive.  But taking control of the game and it’s outcome for me and my team.

Your image, your self-presentation is noticed first and remembered longer than anything you say.  Your image is your greatest influencer. How are you pitching it?  ​Are you considering the effects your appearance has first on you, then on others?  Are you using the elements of design to influence the outcome of that message? 

​Fine tune your image and be more influential HERE.  

Be an Influencer