There is enormous demand for speakers today, for organizations which need speakers for their meetings, luncheons or dinners, for conferences and industry events. If you calculate the number of speaking engagements you might be able to schedule in a year and the total number of people your skills and talents will be exposed to, this is definitely one good way to gain new contacts and increased visibility.

To continue moving up the career ladder, a woman faces the somewhat challenging task of gaining visibility. For men, the task is considerably easier: they are quickly brought into informal, all male, work networks: they drop by each other's offices for a casual chat, play golf together, perhaps have lunch, stop by the gym or meet for a drink after work.

"Men all know what the others are doing" says one female law partner, about the males in her firm," since they are always dropping by each other's offices and reminding one another of their accomplishments."

Naturally, they also swap news about openings for top positions, plum postings, or prestigious boards looking for outside directors. Women are left out of this particular loop and must work harder to find ways to compensate, to gain visibility and showcase and broadcast their accomplishments.

All of the following strategies will position you as an expert within your industry and will give you exposure and personal contact with people who will see you in action, displaying your best job skills:

Join Organizations With Clout in Your Industry

According to Women Breaking Through, Overcoming the Final 10 Obstacles At Work by Deborah J. Swiss, a woman often has to go outside her company to gain increased recognition which will translate into greater credibility within her company.

Swiss makes note of a lawyer, Catherine, who felt, just as she began to become a rain maker, in her own right, for her firm, she experienced increased resistance from male lawyers who were competing for the same leadership positions. They were not about to "talk up" a colleague, much less a female colleague, who might bypass them or their protégé for a plum, fiercely sought after, position within the firm.

Catherine decided to compensate for this by building credibility outside her firm. Her work, Swiss reports,"included co-chairing the Women's Law Section of the Maine State Bar Association, creating an institute for famly-owned business at the University of Southern Maine and spearheading a project on gender bias in the legal system as well as a program on breast cancer awareness." Her growing recognition outside the firm, as well as an award from the American Bar Association began to get her noticed and respected by fellow lawyers within the firm.


Position Yourself As An Expert

Write Articles for Your Local Paper or Professional Newsletter

Writing about your field is an excellent way to position yourself as an expert and, at the same time, receive publicity, exposure and perhaps offers of other positions, such as consulting or speaking at industry events.

You can go to Writer's Market.com, http://www.writersmarket.com/index_ns.asp or Writers Digest, http://www.writersdigest.com/ , to get access to editors, agents, descriptions of publications , print, as well as the best web sites for writers, target markets, and submission guidelines. Study very carefully the description of the publication's readership. A general or academic publication will give you exposure and a credit on your resume. A publication targeted to executives could get you a job offer or more clout in your industry. A biographical sketch which is published with your article should mention the company you are now working for and establish your credentials as an expert.

Making Speeches and Giving Seminars

There is enormous demand for speakers today, for organizations which need speakers for their meetings, luncheons or dinners, for conferences and industry events. If you calculate the number of speaking engagements you might be able to schedule in a year and the total number of people your skills and talents will be exposed to, this is definitely one good way to gain new contacts and increased visibility.

You should already be familiar with industry organizations in your local area. You may want to contact them and offer to speak. You can also look up associations related to your field, or contact major companies, determine if they have a management club and offer to speak to them. You can also go to universities or colleges in your area and contact their business or continuing education department which may offer speeches, seminars and presentations throughout the year.

Present Professional Papers At Industry Meetings

Attending a conference on your industry gives you exposure and additional contacts. You should make it your business to gather as many business cards as possible, since the people who are well positioned, energetic and ambitious enough to attend a conference are very likely to be ones who can offer you help, advice or additional contacts at some point.

Presenting a paper at such an event leverages your attendance even more, as it establishes your expertise, gives you top level exposure, and allows attendees as well as company executives and recruiters to have a permanent record of you and your credentials through the various documentation of the event and your paper.

Become Your Own Public Relations Director

A simple and proven technique is to send out your own publicity release periodically. If you've accomplished anything noteworthy, published an article or given a speech, you have a good topic "For Immediate Release," which you type at the top of the description of what you want publicized. If you have a photograph of yourself, send it along, with your contact information. The publication may want to send their own photographer to get a new photo which fits the style of their publication. This definitely increases interest in the article.

You can seek your target market through Standard Rate and Data Service, http://www.srds.com/, which publishes different directories and descriptions of the many publications available.

You should also line up your local paper's business editor, or the reporter in your field on a business paper, and make yourself available for quotes on your industry. When the newspaper writes about anyone in your industry, if you are on file and available for this kind of access, a reporter frequently will call you for a comment to use as a quote in an article he's writing.

All of these strategies and techniques will gain you visibility and increase the recognition of your expertise. It is very likely that you already display excellent performance in your job and all you need is this extra boost to power your move up to the next rung of the career ladder.