If you want to grow quickly and stand out, start teaching. This chapter shows you how to build credibility by sharing what you already know.

• Teach within your team or publicly
• Use teaching as a signal of leadership

Output: Draft LinkedIn post or internal training/workshop outline

Many people have experience. You will have experience too, everyone does. The thing about experience is that you have to describe it in the correct way as a project manager. You need to use the correct jargon. You need to learn the correct jargon and use the correct jargon. Because if you don't, then you don't have project management experience. People can't hire you because they can't read your mind. They can't know exactly what you've been doing. So in order to sell yourself as a project manager, you need to describe yourself as a project manager. And you need to practice doing that.

To describe your unique experience effectively in project management language, consider these approaches:

Quantify your impact with metrics. Instead of saying "managed projects," specify "delivered 15+ cross-functional initiatives totaling $2M budget with 95% on-time completion rate." Use numbers for team sizes, budgets, timelines, stakeholder groups, and success rates.

Highlight methodology expertise. Frame your experience around recognized frameworks: "Led agile transformation across 3 departments using Scrum methodology" or "Applied Lean Six Sigma principles to reduce process cycle time by 40%."

Emphasize stakeholder complexity. Describe the breadth of your influence: "Coordinated initiatives involving C-suite executives, external vendors, regulatory bodies, and 50+ end users across 4 time zones."

Focus on problem-solving scenarios. Use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to showcase how you navigated challenges: "When faced with scope creep threatening delivery timeline, implemented change control process that maintained original deadline while accommodating 20% additional requirements."

Demonstrate risk management. Show proactive thinking: "Identified and mitigated 12 project risks through contingency planning, preventing potential $500K cost overrun."

Showcase process improvement. Frame efficiency gains: "Streamlined project intake process, reducing initiation timeline from 6 weeks to 10 days while improving requirement clarity."

Highlight cross-functional leadership. Emphasize collaboration: "Facilitated consensus among competing priorities across Sales, Engineering, and Legal teams to deliver integrated solution."

Use industry-specific terminology. Incorporate relevant buzzwords for your field - whether it's "digital transformation," "regulatory compliance," "vendor management," or "change management."

What specific experiences or achievements would you like help translating into project management language?