Fashion and lifestyle company Breuninger invited me for an interview, and of course I gladly accepted and shared some of my best career tips. (Not least because my parents are big Breuninger fans—a little hello home here 😉 ) In our conversation with the long-established Stuttgart company, we discuss my experiences as German debating champion, rhetoric coach and woman business founder—and giving other women tools to achieve their goals too! Female leadership was at the centre of the conversation: what strategies can women use to communicate successfully? Many women find it hard to assert themselves at work. Many struggle to appear confident and voice their demands clearly, especially in salary negotiations. So I put together my top six career tips —not just for women. I don’t want to keep them from you here either:  

1. Demand recognition and status for your work that reflect your achievements.
2. Aim higher in salary negotiations so you end up where you wanted. Test your market value.
3. Address what bothers you and tell yourself: I want this! I deserve it too!
4. Remove softeners, hesitant conditionals and any wording that diminishes you from your vocabulary.
5. Ask questions publicly at events. This increases visibility and makes networking easier.
6. Take defeats sportingly: see them as opportunities for the future. Competition means the better candidate at that moment wins.

How can you put these six career tips into practice? It involves confidence, presence and communication. My approach is naturally strategic empathy, one of my specialisms. How do you use it? And is that manipulation? Find the answer here in the interview Enjoy reading! Want more communication and career tips? Don’t miss our series on dark rhetoric and manipulation! With our tips against bluffer, provocation, name-dropping , playing the victim or nasty questions you can outsmart dark rhetoricians. Or write to us and learn about our executive coaching and give your career the ultimate boost towards success!