Compromising Positions - A Technology Podcast · Compromising Positions

People Don't Follow Companies, They Follow People: How to Build Your Personal Brand on LinkedIn

·50 min·3 clips

John Moore frames LinkedIn posting as a choice between receiving a percentage of something and 100% of nothing.

1. Compromising Positions examines how LinkedIn users can build a personal brand by making professional communication more personal. 2. Leanne Potter, a Cyber Anthropologist and Head of Security Operations for a major retailer, and Geoff Watkins, a cyber security enthusiast and CTO for a major tech consultancy, host John Moore from TechBank. 3. The episode asks how people with either two or 20,000 LinkedIn followers can become more effective by showing personality instead of presenting an instruction manual. 4. Moore says a solution gains buy-in when the writer connects it to the reader's emotional experience of a problem. 5. Moore describes his preferred LinkedIn structure as painting a picture so readers can experience what he is describing. 6. Moore uses humor to reduce the pain of difficult professional messages, comparing the effect to making a child laugh while giving them a shot. 7. Potter cites a cybersecurity awareness study that found humor improved knowledge retention and softened the impact of fear, uncertainty, and doubt messaging. 8. Moore says LinkedIn humor can come from ordinary workplace absurdity, using the duck-billed platypus as an example of something visibly strange but real. 9. Moore recommends studying stand-up comedians for their storytelling and relatability rather than copying their jokes. 10. Moore says AI-generated writing made him sound like everyone else, while writing in his own witty voice preceded growth from 2,000 to 15,000 followers. 11. Moore reports averaging 15 to 25 new followers per day because he posts consistently and uses more of his own voice. 12. Moore describes time, effort, and commitment as three legs of a stool, with repetition requiring the greatest commitment. 13. Moore suggests alternating niche posts with posts about personal experiences, mistakes, or events such as a grocery-store visit. 14. Moore says people choose to work with a person rather than an abstract niche, so writers should explain failures, lessons, and personality. 15. Moore calls vulnerability a way to remove insecurity, shyness, fear, and the weight of hiding professional mistakes. 16. Moore tells people who label a story cringe to remove that word because another reader may recognize their own experience in it. 17. Potter says LinkedIn activity helped people recognize her at conferences and contributed to opportunities including courses, travel, and podcast appearances. 18. Moore recommends consistent outreach, replying to comments, refreshing the About section quarterly, and checking activity to establish credibility. 19. LinkedIn professionals seeking visibility can practice humorous, personal storytelling. 20. Readers avoiding personal posts and repeated engagement may skip this discussion.

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