Hi friends,
This is a slightly different piece of content. By popular demand, I’m sharing here a lecture I delivered a year ago (and again a few days ago), about Personal Branding.
Many people don’t know that I’ve been teaching the art of Personal Branding for the past decade, to thousands of people around the world.
I can go DEEP into this topic, as I’ve been developing my methods, evolving them, and sharing them with the world for many years. Maybe one day I’ll write a book. Who knows?
The way I see “Personal Branding” is not the way most people think about it. I see it as a tool for self-exploration, breaking down the pieces of our identity, to construct an abstract entity called a “brand” which is constructed by who we truly are, our deep essence, based on our values, mission and vision. It’s a tool to know ourselves better. A tool to advance our goals in life, a tool to understand a bit of the psyche behind human perception and demand generation.
I believe I managed, after many years, to pure my love, my heart, soul and spirit into this craft. I hope you get value out of it, and I’d love to hear your feedback in the comments.
by the way, I found it fascinating to see that my approach to Personal Branding is very similar to how Federico Faggin, one of the people I really love and learn so much from, is describing the “Seity”:
“In the philosophy of physicist Federico Faggin, particularly in his book Irreducible, a seity is defined as an individual, conscious entity possessing intrinsic identity, free will, and creativity, all fused into one indivisible whole. Derived from the Latin se (”oneself”), a seity represents a “self” that generates meaning from within and cannot be simulated by code or algorithms.
Key aspects of a seity according to Faggin include:
Fundamental Consciousness: Seities are the “living threads” of quantum information, which Faggin posits is the fabric of reality. They are not emergent properties of the brain, but fundamental agents.
Indivisible Selfhood: A seity is an indivisible, irreducible unit of awareness, often described as a “part-whole” of the “One” (the ultimate, holistic reality).
Source of Meaning and Agency: Seities generate meaning from within and use free will to make choices, which Faggin interprets as the act of collapsing quantum wave functions.
Difference from AI: While AI can manipulate symbols, a seity generates internal experience (qualia) and creates meaning. Therefore, a seity is fundamentally different from a machine.
Eternal Nature: Faggin argues that seities are eternal; they do not extinguish upon the death of the physical body but rather return to or reorganize back into the “One”.
In short, a seity is a conscious self that observes, creates, and communicates meaning in a universe that is fundamentally alive and interconnected.
*This lecture was given last year (2025) to students of the Plan B Network Business Program.
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Key Takeaways from My Personal Branding Presentation
1. Personal branding starts with self-knowledge
Personal branding is not marketing or PR first — it begins with understanding who you are.
Your brand is the combination of your values, character, skills, and expertise.
It reflects how you present yourself and how others perceive you.
Real branding comes from authenticity, not performance.
2. Your brand already exists
Whether you manage it or not, people already have a perception of you.
Your brand is essentially:
“What people say about you when you are not in the room.”The goal of personal branding is to consciously shape that perception.
3. A strong personal brand creates opportunity
Benefits include:
New job offers
More business opportunities
Higher trust and credibility
Promotions and salary growth
More influence in your community
Inbound opportunities instead of chasing them
Example from the presentation:
After building her personal brand, the speaker received 32 job offers within a year.
4. Most people struggle with the same psychological barriers
Common obstacles:
Shyness or fear of self-promotion
Imposter syndrome
Lack of confidence
Fear of sounding arrogant
Difficulty articulating achievements
Key insight:
If you can praise others but not yourself, you likely undervalue your own worth.
5. Authenticity beats self-promotion
Good personal branding:
Shares real achievements
Uses facts instead of exaggeration
Focuses on actions rather than adjectives
Example:
Bad
“I’m the best marketer.”
Better
“I built a global marketing team managing millions in budget.”
6. The 5 core elements of brand identity
A personal brand can be broken into five building blocks:
1. Target audience
Who are you speaking to?
Examples:
CEOs
investors
Bitcoin companies
customers
employers
2. Values
Deep principles you stand for.
Examples:
freedom
truth
sovereignty
integrity
3. Characteristics
How others would describe you.
Examples:
creative
bold
analytical
disciplined
4. Look & feel
Your external presentation:
clothing
posture
smile
body language
presence
5. Tone of voice
Your communication style:
direct
humorous
analytical
conversational
Together these form your brand identity system.
7. Non-verbal communication matters more than words
Human communication breakdown:
55% body language & facial expression
38% tone of voice
7% actual words
Meaning:
Your presence and confidence influence perception more than what you say.
8. Your biography is your first branding tool
Everyone should create:
A one-line positioning statement
A short biography (1–2 paragraphs)
A full bio (about a page)
Example structure:
Who you are
Your background
What you specialize in
What you stand for
These are used for:
conferences
interviews
networking
media appearances
9. Practice your self-introduction
You should be able to introduce yourself clearly in 30–60 seconds.
A good introduction includes:
name
background
expertise
mission or focus
Goal:
Make it easy for people to remember and describe you.
10. Proof of work builds credibility
Claims alone don’t build a brand.
People verify through:
your work
articles
projects
speaking
community contributions
Your brand becomes strong when your actions consistently match your claims.
11. Community accelerates personal branding
Building communities helps establish authority.
Examples:
professional groups
meetups
podcasts
newsletters
industry networks
Community participation increases:
visibility
credibility
influence.
12. Personal branding strengthens sovereignty
A strong brand protects reputation.
Reason:
When people cannot control you, they often try to attack your credibility.
If your brand is strong:
attacks have less impact
people trust your track record.
13. The deeper level: mission, vision, and essence
Advanced branding includes:
Mission
What you actively do.
Example:
“Expose hidden truths through journalism.”
Vision
The world you want to create.
Example:
peace, freedom, decentralization.
Brand essence
Your core identity in one idea or word.
Example:
truth
voice
freedom.
14. Personal branding is “being” before “doing”
Branding is not just tactics.
It starts with:
self-awareness
authenticity
values
Then comes:
content
networking
visibility
15. Practical starting steps
If someone wants to begin building their personal brand:
Write your values
Define your target audience
List your skills and characteristics
Create your bio and positioning statement
Practice your self-introduction
Start sharing content or ideas publicly
Build relationships in your community
✔ Bottom line
A personal brand is not about self-promotion.
It is about clearly expressing who you are, what you stand for, and how you contribute value to others.
Please take a moment to write in the comment what you got from this presentation and content, I do this for you!
Thanks,
Efrat
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— Support my work —
I was recently banned from Stripe, so I cannot have paid memberships on Substack… but there’s always another way!
