What's Your Story?

Everyone is heading to South By Southwest, and in addition to great bands, the new rock stars of social media will be there, including my social rock god @ChrisBrogan . You want to know why I admire him? Because he knows who he is. He's the author of his own story. You will get the opportunity to meet him and many others I admire, like @Tessa . When you do, you'll need to know your story.

Know why you're there, why you want to meet them, and what you have to offer the brief conversation. Don't sell, but know your pitch. Brogan wrote a great piece about a year ago called Be Sexier in Person with great tips from him AND the commenters on how to present yourself in person in a brief amount of time. Tom Truitt created YourElevatorPitch to help individuals and companies develop this crucial tool in an extremely crowded marketplace.

I just did a presentation with @TaylorVick at Podcamp Nashville this past weekend. Amid technical difficulties, we stayed true to ourselves, and found humor in the fact that our social media tools weren't being very social. After the presentation, we were surprised by the number of people who came up and complimented the session. I know now we shouldn't have been. The tools we shared were solid, and our hearts were in the right place. We know our story, our value, and we know where we're headed.

Our presentation was about how to make friends while keeping the ones you already have on the web, which you'll see in a series of blog posts to come. I'd like to share a few of the tips from that session with those of you headed to SXSW who aim to meet your idols:
1. Idols are people too. If they are rude, don't waste your time.
2. Be Yourself, but be the BEST version of yourself. Be the person your mom and your kid think that you are.
3. Know your story.

Practice here in the comments. Tell me your story in a nutshell.

photo credit: Emily Starbuck Gerson