The Big Question
Questions I get from consultants. And my answers.
I often discuss how experts should present themselves. I’ve been asked several times: do I use the first person singular (I/me/my) as an authority or the first person plural (we-us-our) as a leader/member of a consulting team? A fellow newsletter subscriber also sent me a question about this topic. Great question, thanks!
You might be surprised about such a question about the correct use of personal pronouns, but this is a regular discussion with my clients. The starting point of these discussions? In most cases the uncertainty about the degree and the way to do self-promotion as a consultant or expert/authority.
Here’s the thing, though: you can’t sit there and wait for new clients. Without sales and professional self-promotion, nothing will happen, unfortunately. As a consultant, you are the marketer of your expertise. You ARE ‘the product’.
Here’s my point: if the foundation of your self-promotion (using the first person singular ‘I/me/my’) is all about genuinely sharing your expertise and teaching your audience, nobody will ever struggle with your (humble) self-promotion.
Nothing can happen to you if you continually keep your audience at the forefront of your mind, and you use your unique personal expertise story to show them what they can learn from what you’ve learned. That’s how I’ve been doing it the past decade, and nobody ever criticized it.
Here’s what I would avoid at all costs
● You are a solo consultant, and you are using ‘We/us/our’ (plural)
Quite often, I see solo consultants using the plural ‘we/us/our’ to inflate the perception of their consulting business and come across as a team. I always find that very strange.
In some cases, the solo consultant uses a few freelancers or contractors in the background, but it’s fundamentally a solo activity. In that case, I would never use the plural ‘we/us/our’ because it can hurt a consultant's reputation. Everybody can find out on Linkedin who works with/for you.
One consultant explained that he was doing it to better compete with consultancies he was pitching against. Again, clients will find out sooner or later, and it can destroy the trust in your work. Don’t try to compete with the team capacity of larger consultancies. Instead, compete on deep expertise and an upstream positioning as a solo player.
Right now, I have chosen to be a solo consultant again, and despite having several freelancers working for me in the background, my business is a solo business. I will always use the singular first person ‘I/me/my’.
● You are owner/member of a consultancy (with a team, big or small) and you are using ‘I/me/my’ (singular) predominately
If you have a consultancy team working with/for you, you will have to find a healthy balance between self-promotion and talking about the team or your consultancy in general. There’s no problem at all in leveraging your authority to grow your consulting business. That’s what I did all those years. But you will have to bury your ego and not exaggerate by using the singular 'I/me/my' only.
Being a leader/owner of a consultancy with a team doesn’t automatically mean you are an authority or expert. But suppose you are (ideally, every consultancy has at least one authority or visible expert). In that case, it makes it easier to combine singular (the authority) with plural (the team capacity) in your writing, speaking, etc.
● You are an authority but afraid to self-promote
Recently, a (very) senior solo consultant and client told me he was planning to avoid the singular ‘I/me/me’ in talking about his know-how to avoid coming across as the ‘know-it-all’ guy. So he decided to use the plural ‘we/us/our’ in his content. I fully understand where he came from. He’s a humble personality and is not keen to self-promote.
However, apart from the mistake I explained in the first bullet point (using the plural ‘we/us/our’ as a solo consultant), I’ve never experienced authorities coming across as smart-asses when they genuinely share (and teach) their expertise in a modest manner. So, I advised him to switch to the singular ‘I/me/my’ in his future content and writing.
A few final tips
● Your ‘About’ on your website and/or social media (e.g. LinkedIn) should always be in the singular first person ‘I/me/my’. I recommend writing your own ‘About’ in the singular first person, even within a consultancy team or firm. As I always say, you explain who YOU are, why YOU are doing ‘this consultancy work’, where YOUR expertise and credentials are coming from, how YOU grew into this, what YOUR point of view is, what people can learn from YOU, what impact YOU can have, etc.
● If you are an owner or leader of a consultancy, next to your personal ‘About’, your consultancy should also have an overarching ‘About’. So, there’s the personal ‘About’ (the YOU) and the consultancy ‘About’ (the WE).
● Never use the 3rd person in your writing about yourself. I often see consultants writing in the 3rd person about themselves, e.g., on their Linkedin profile. Why? Fear of using the singular first person because it might come across as bragging about yourself? I don’t like that 3rd person writing at all. It’s weird, cold, and not helping you to connect with your audience.
● If you fear self-promotion and don’t know how to do it exactly, start sharing your experiences and case studies comfortably, doing it step by step. You will get there, as long as you can get into the mindset of sharing your knowledge instead of trying to sell. Generously sharing/teaching instead of selling, that’s the recipe for success in the long run.
● Prospects need to know, like, and trust us before they buy professional services. I came across an interesting article about self-promotion as a consultant. The author talks about self-promotion as an essential skill. She explains the know-like-trust with the ability (the ‘know’), the availability (the ‘like’), and the affability (the ‘trust’) of a consultant. Have a look at the article.
