Rules of thumb for selecting a speaker profile image
Your speaker profile image starts the conversation with your audience.
Be purposeful and strategic with the one you choose.
I stumbled across one of those click-bait-ey articles penned by an Instagram influencer the other day that offered a bunch of tips on how to shoot better mirror selfies.
Ugh, Jesus - don’t mind me as my gag reflex kicks in while I’m doubled over in aggravation.
Nonetheless...
Although I could care less about this article or anything involving mirror selfies, in general, it did spark a legitimate thought regarding the community in which I serve.
And that’s how many speakers, authors and expert-based business owners are using selfies as their professional social media profile pictures.
Which, of course, is a shitty idea.
Why do I say that?
Your profile picture represents your digital introduction to your audience. They form an opinion of you in 7 seconds or less. That means that the photo in which you choose to leverage is not some “let’s wing it and see what happens” type of decision.
It’s important that you share a photo that truly encapsulates who you are, who you serve and why you do what you do.
Posting a photo where you’re holding the camera ten feet over your head to capture that “flattering angle” isn’t going to cut it.
(Quick note about those high-angle selfies - the higher that you raise that camera phone and shoot down to your face, the more you’re subconsciously telling your audience how insecure you feel about yourself at eye-level.)
You are an expert.
You own the stage when you present your message.
You’re building a community of advocates, partnerships and clients.
You’re purposeful and powerful in the way you present yourself online.
When you’re looking to build a memorable and compelling digital footprint with your visual imagery, there’s no room for hasty decisions.
As a result, I’m here to help, cause, you know, I care n’ stuff, :)
Here are a couple things to keep in mind when creating a professional profile image to promote your speaker business and brand:
Wear whatever you wear when you’re on stage
Show up in your image content the way you present yourself in real life. If you are a suited and booted type of person, stay true to that and wear a couple options during your session.
If you’re like me and wear T-Shirts pretty much every single day, own it when you’re creating profile pictures during your portrait session.
Don’t present yourself as something that you’re not.
As business owners, we are in the business of building relationships and trust. Every move we make helps create or break that trust.
If you show up to a client meeting and look completely different than your profile picture, that’s going to create a red flag in your clients’ minds, whether consciously or subconsciously.
Let’s avoid that scenario at all costs.
Fill the frame with your face
Since this is the first time a potential client is being introduced to you, make sure that they can see your face.
Why is that important?
Because it gives them the opportunity to truly interpret the expression on your face and look you in the eyes. This gives them an easier opportunity to get a sense of your personality, which, in turn, allows them to qualify you the moment that they come across your photo.
And this is exactly what you want.
It’s as if you’re having a get-to-know-you conversation with them without ever saying a word.
And, in this day and age when everyone is running around like their hair is on fire with the amount of crap they need to do on a daily basis, affording yourself the opportunity to have your profile picture “speak” on your behalf shaves off time you would be spending on an introductory phone call.
Make life easy on your audience and leverage tighter-framed profile pictures that focus on your facial expression. Don’t post a head-to-toe photo because your face is barely recognizable in a thumbnail.
Those are useful images, don’t get me wrong, but they’re ill-suited as an introductory photo.
Let’s not go buckwild on the retouching, ok?
If the first question for your photographer is, “can you make me look younger and thinner?” then you need to read this.
Much like the wardrobe situation described above, it’s important that you present yourself in a way that is congruent with how you present yourself in real life.
Otherwise, you’re lying to those you serve and that will affect the trust factor they feel towards you. You’re offering them the opportunity to think, “well, if h/she is lying about themselves with their photos, what else are they lying about?”
Does that mean you should purposefully present yourself in a completely unflattering way to prove a point? Of course not - there is a line between a flattering image and being too vanity-driven.
The key for you is that the photographer with whom you hire understands your concerns and presents you in a flattering light without manipulating the final product that presents you as a completely different person.
Own your appearance in the same way that you own your expertise and value to those you serve.
Keep distractions to a minimum
If I see another hand or prop in a profile picture, I’m going to lose my mind!
Your professional profile picture is a headshot - not a head and hand shot, not a head and arm shot - it’s just the head with a focus on the face, folks.
When you incorporate anything else into the photo, it’s distracting your audience from getting to know you through your facial expression.
Please stop doing that!
Other potential distractions to keep in mind is jewelry and other accessories.
You have ample opportunity to show off that stuff in other lifestyle portraits that you can leverage in other areas of your digital footprint. But for profile pictures, specifically, it’s best to keep the potential distractions to a minimum.
Allow your audience to get an obstructed view of your expression.
Keep all of these important points in mind the next time that you look to update your professional profile pictures.
And for heaven's sake, please STOP using selfies!
Set the tone for building a relationship with your audience with a powerful speaker profile image that presents you confidently while also being in line with who you are as a human being.
If you’d like to learn more about how to leverage visual content in order to build a memorable and referable online presence, I can’t shut about it on my blog, so head over there.
If you want to avoid the online commute over to my blog, no problem - I’ll send it to your inbox. Sign up for it here, and I’ll throw in a magical lil’ gift for ya, :)