Influencers Aren't Born, They're Built — Here's How

Serial entrepreneur and networking maven Angie Chang deconstructs the art of influence in three steps.

First, Convince Yourself

Before becoming a leader of any organization, Chang made a conscious choice to become an influencer. There wasn’t one revelatory moment, but rather a sustained commitment to approaching everyday interactions with people in a persuasive way. Here are four tenets that she adopted early and practiced vigilantly to amplify her voice.

Construct your confidence — everyone else is figuring it out, too.

Networking at tech meetups in the Bay Area means a lot of exchanged business cards. “Nearly every guy I met handed me a card that read ‘CEO of ‘Company X’ and I was impressed. I listened to what they had to say,” says Chang. “Then I’d go through my stack of business cards, put their companies’ URLs in my web browser and realize that many were not only the CEO, but also the first and only employee of whatever company it was.”

Chang was careful not to dismiss the lesson. While she realized it took very little to print a business card with a CEO title, the important thing is to adopt the confidence of a CEO or founder. “That confidence leads to the credibility and belief that you can do something greater,” says Chang. “Early on, I was determined to project — and feel — that confidence like anyone else.” She also actively sought out women who embodied the same attitude.

One of those women was Sandy Jen, co-founder and CTO of instant messaging company Meebo, which was acquired by Google in 2012. Jen has said that one of the reasons she started Meebo was because one of her male friends launched a startup. Immediately, she knew she was capable of the same thing, too. Really grounding yourself in what you already know — that your peers and friends are just like you — is one of the best ways to break down misbeliefs that you lack what it takes to start something or do something aspirational.

One thing that helped Chang is drawing confidence differently. “I see commonalities first. As humans, we notice differences easily, but we connect through similarities,” says Chang. “Maybe it’s through practice, but I don’t find that I’m all that different than the next person, to be honest. If you see yourself in someone else, it’s like you’re connecting with the person you’ve known the longest.”

Deconstruct your networking events.

From the beginning, networking events have been a key platform for Chang to build her personal brand. Yet she’ll be the first to admit that making an impact or a good impression at meetups can be intimidating. She attended a Tessel.io hack night...

Here are Chang’s tips for newbies and veterans alike:

• Count conversations if it’s hard to start them. For more nervous or introverted meetup attendees, go into a networking situation with a quantitative goal. It might be staying an hour or meeting three people.
• Pair your arrival time with your purpose. A well-timed entrance doesn’t always mean arriving before the free pizza runs out.
• Channel your inner peacock. Connection and influence can come faster if others initiate the conversation. “Wear something catchy — either a funny t-shirt, a startup hoodie or Lego earrings,” says Chang.
• When in doubt, approach groups of two. If you have to take the daunting step of joining a conversation of strangers, always pick a duo.

Always default to yes. Seriously.

A key part to being an influencer is being truly accessible to others. “I usually say ‘yes’ to most requests and invitations,” says Chang. “Some people screen and are very hesitant unless there’s a clear, direct impact.