Mic Check by Rhetoric: Vol 3

How do you build influence on remote teams?

Whether we're too proud to admit it or not, we all care what our colleagues think about our work. If someone else signs your paycheck, this is especially important, but even founders have to care: the success of our businesses depends on the confidence our teams, customers, and investors have in us.

That's a lot of pressure. 

In an office setting, it's relatively easy to build influence and garner respect. People see your input all day—long hours in an office—and thus the output often carries less weight. In a remote setting, though, your performance is judged almost exclusively by the results you drive.

This is actually a good thing. It just means we need to be really, really good at communicating those results. Sharing a data dash or hoping everyone is tuned in to your Slacks and emails isn't good enough; we have to do the legwork to build and tell a compelling story.

It's one use case we've seen Rhetoric work really well for: delivering month- or quarter-end reports with key commentary so it doesn't get lost in the shuffle. 

What tools or practices have you found helpful when it comes to building influence on remote teams? 

- Raman

p.s. this webinar seems like a neat way to build this muscle and exude credibility...especially relevant to founders who are tackling outbound sales. 
 

📚 Open tabs

What team Rhetoric is reading during those awkwardly-timed few minutes between Zooms. 

If you've never read Julian Shapiro's blog, it's truly a joy. This Startup Handbook is a great primer for dozens of concepts and skills founders should be armed with, plus a free masterclass in effective content marketing. 

Here's a great rundown of skills you should collect (some as simple as being able to create a physically comfortable environment for yourself) to be a better virtual presenter. 

If you were on the cusp of ramping your headcount (or making your first few critical hires) before the R word started getting thrown around, here are some helpful thoughts from a founder who's grown a business through two economic downturns.

✨ New ways to present better

Here's what's new in your Rhetoric account this month. 

Introducing: workspaces!

Now, all of your team's presentations can roll into one workspaces, and everyone will automatically have access. 🤝

❤️ Your friends can be great presenters, too

Found this useful and know someone who wants to up their speaking game? Want to help us banish the grip that flat, written text has over our lives once and for all? Or perhaps you just like cool hats?

Share Mic Check with your network and we'll hook you up with some swag.