The presidential debate last week demonstrated how importantcommunication skills are. President Obama is generally thought ofas a well-spoken man. During the debate he was anything but. Thepresident was fumbling and looking down at the podium at his notesand maybe just an errant ink stain for all we know. The way hepresented himself was in sharp contrast to a very sure Mitt Romney,who appeared confident, looking his audience in the eye–from thepresident to the moderator to the television viewers. GOP candidateRomney is certain to get a bump in the polls after theperformance.

A performance was exactly what it was. Every day we all put on alittle performance, for bosses and colleagues, for family and forour members and customers. Think about how you present yourself toall of your different audiences. Do you look them in the eye orstammer and stutter with eyes cast down?

How do you and your employees are behaving when addressing amember? It may not be that obvious. It may be something as minor asfolding your arms when talking to them or a tone that gives awaythe argument you had with your significant other this morning.

Whatever it is, try to set it aside and watch for minor cluesthat might give you away when dealing with others.

Following the debates came the interminable deluge of punditsputting their spin on things. Predictably, Fox News found Romneythe clear winner and MSNBC declared President Obama earned adecisive victory. The more centric CNN leaned toward Romney. Lookat why Fox and MSNBC's positions are predictable. It's becausethat's their brand. Everyone knew what to expect from them based onhistoric performance. Once an impression has been established it'shard to shake–like the mental image of Chris Matthews getting atingle in his leg when he thinks of President Obama.

Interestingly, CNN, generally considered to lean a bit left butis least biased of the cable news networks, is also the leastsuccessful network in terms of number of viewers. Consumers railagainst the biased media franchise yet collectively consumers ofthat information prefer bias and demagoguery. How you presentyourself and how you're perceived are important but are notnecessarily in lockstep with what you think you're presenting.

Yahoo made a bold statement recently by hiring Marissa Mayer asits CEO while she was just 37 and pregnant. (She gave birth to ababy boy on Sunday, Sept. 30.) Immediately the questions flew aboutwhether Yahoo was making a mistake hiring a pregnant woman who'dneed maternity leave, become sleep deprived and might take off forgeneral childcare. Others cast judgment that a new mother couldn'tpossibly hold that type of job and be a good parent. Yahoo wasprepared with a media blitz and pictures of a pregnant Mayerappeared everywhere. She was talking to numerous business andconsumer news outlets, during each of which she presented herselfas someone who had her act together. As long as the movie is asgood as the trailer, it's a very positive step for femaleexecutives, particularly mothers. Good performance and branding allaround here.

The way you communicate in all ways by all employees says a lotabout your credit union. Make sure your employees are building theright brand for your business. It may take some extensive training,particularly with your frontline staff, but they, and not acorporate edict or a blue and green logo, are building yourbrand.

Which brings branding down to the personal level, something ourNot for CEOssession, designed to help young credit union professionals alongtheir credit union career path, during the Credit Union WaterCooler Symposium is slated to address.

Decide the image you want to present to other people, whethercolleagues, superiors or clients. How you speak communicates a lot,but how you appear does even more. Everyone has their own personaltastes and habits, but they need to realize how that may comeacross to others. You want to express how you feel about yourselfbut realize the impression that might leave on the person you'remeeting with. They may have an entirely different life experiencethan you and all the prejudices that come with it. In professionalsituations, drop the “I don't care what other people think”routine. Fair or not, sometimes the right impression is what's mostimportant in business and in life.