Your Signature Brand Story Is the Only Thing Your Competition Cannot Duplicate 

10 questions: clues to what you stand for

Excavating our signature brand story takes a bit of self-reflection, and we might have more than one. In our live, facilitated Summit and online self-paced course, we introduce disruptive questions to get us thinking. These questions have proven to uncover nuggets of gold. Set a timer for three minutes and try on one or more of the following prompts. You may be delightfully surprised at what comes up:

1) Tell me in your own words about you, what’s your story?

2) Tell me about your current state and future state: Where are you now? What are you striving for?

3) If you had one minute to offer three to five bullet points that summarize your strengths, what would you say?

4) What are one to three of your proudest accomplishments and why?

5) What is the big, relevant change in the world that you are passionate about? (For example, Arianna Huffington is addressing lack of sleep. She posits it is endemic to our society.)

6) What is your favorite quote or mantra that you live by?

7) What are three of your core values?

8) If you could do just one TED Talk, what would your topic be?

9) Who are your heroes (could be living, deceased, even a cartoon character) and most importantly, why.

10) What is your extraordinary why?

Once you have spent three minutes with one or more of these prompts, list a headline for a possible signature story that only you could tell, one that your competition couldn’t touch.

Mary E. Maloney, FACHE

An executive advisor, educator, speaker, author and producer, Mary E. Maloney is the founder of Revealing Genius and the expert that accomplished leaders trust for positioning, messaging and brand strategy for themselves, their teams and their organizations. A former CEO and CMO, Maloney guides healthcare C-suite leaders, founders, physicians and board directors to powerfully and strategically message their expertise and “why” so they lead with conviction and achieve their most coveted goals. She is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE), one of only ~8,000 in the world to earn the credential, the benchmark for board certification in healthcare management.