You're Certified. So What.
- Timothy Rouse
- Aug 11, 2023
- 5 min read
Updated: Sep 5, 2023
Imagine you have a passion. Let’s say, wine. You immerse yourself in all things wine. You study, you taste, you network, and then you study, you taste, you network. And then an organization that represents all the AOCs (Appellation d’Originie Controlee) of one of France’s most prominent winegrowing regions, in this case Rhone Valley, offers a specialist certification. You know about it because you network. You relate to the wine because you taste. And you pass the certification exam because you study. You’re proud of your hard work. You go to share your new certificate with your peers. You feel good and you’re riding high. And then someone whose opinion you highly respect asks you: Is this a big deal?
Suddenly you realize, even though you passed an exam, you failed to impress a peer. More important, it’s clear to you that your peer’s enthusiasm is foggy.
The solution to this problem was education. Once I noticed my peer’s confusion, I informed them of the specialization of the certificate and who gave it to me:
Passing this exam gives me certification as a specialist in Rhone Valley Vineyards. The exam is given by Academy du Rhone. Academy du Rhone is an education program provided by Inter Rhone. Check out their website Who are we ? | Vins Rhône (vins-rhone.com). Inter Rhone is a professional organization that represents Rhone Valley Vineyards AOCs. Also, news of this [Rhone Valley Vineyards 2023 marketing campaign] was announced this past June right here. Rhône Valley Vineyards Announces a Series of Exciting Upcoming Events in Cities Across the US - Wine Industry Advisor In other words, the certificate is legit.
My peer was not fully satisfied. Sharing links to the certificate and issuing authority only provided context. But did the context relate my material to my audience? All they knew now was congratulations were in order. They knew they wanted to express Congrats, but they were still unsure how enthusiastic their Congrats should be. There was a question left to be answered: Was this hard to do?
My answer was “Yes”. Well, it was easy to pass the certification exam to become a Rhone Valley specialist. It was not hard to do for me. But my peer is not me. I thought the test was easy because of all the time invested in studying, tasting and networking.
I’m far from being a Master Sommelier, yet I’m more invested than the average wine enthusiast. Even though I’m mid-level, I lost sight of how I sound to an outsider.
At this point, my peer appeared agitated. They asked, “HOW DOES ANYONE WHO DOESN’T KNOW JACK-[expletive] ABOUT THE WINE INDUSTRY KNOW WHAT THIS CERTIFICATE REPRESENTS?”
“HOW DOES ANYONE WHO DOESN’T KNOW JACK-[expletive] ABOUT THE WINE INDUSTRY KNOW WHAT THIS CERTIFICATE REPRESENTS?”
The problem is ignorance. The solution is education, and, in addition, marketing. Education and Marketing are not mutually exclusive in this regard, the two can work together to fight off fogs of not knowing, clearing clouds of doubt and like a lighthouse, shine a light in the eye of the Ignorance Storm. Poetry aside, they can provide a guide away from anxiety.
As a Wine Educator and Marketing Strategist, it was my duty and responsibility to educate and inspire my peer that the certificate is legitimate, the issuing authority is credible, the exam is not hard if you study hard, and the specialty is a middle level achievement for my field.
This conversation with my peer was an important exchange. It taught me: do not assume everyone is going to know your field and the industry terms you use. Context matters. Define your terms but don’t be like Merriam-Webster. Your peers care but don’t test them. They don’t care about what you care about with the same level of enthusiasm. That could very well be why they are in their field and you are in your field.
Any detail can be considered context, but does the context help the audience relate to the material? So, if context matters when sharing, then grounding your context matters the most. Think of grounding context as details that answer questions like: Why is this relevant? Why should I care? How much should I care? In other words, grounding context answers: Is this a big deal?
My peer rewarded me with enthusiastic congratulations on my new certificate, but only after I provided grounding context on the achievement.
My peer apologized for not knowing my achievement, in their words was “a big deal”. Keep in mind becoming a specialist in one wine region might not be the biggest deal for a Master Sommelier; this wine class was led by David Keck who is himself a Master Somm. However, earning the title of Rhone Valley Specialist for a mid-level Wine Educator such as myself is in fact a very big deal.
Seeing how drastic the dynamic shift in tone and mood was from my peers’ first Congrats to their second Congrats proved to me right away grounding the context is important when sharing achievements with peers.
Today’s conversation with my peer taught me to not just tell my peers that I passed an exam. Today’s conversation taught me to not assume everyone knows my industry. By providing details on credibility, level of difficulty, and rank in hierarchy (also known as #groundingcontext), my peer knew my certification was legitimate, hard to do, and impressive, more like appropriate, for a mid-level Wine Educator and Marketer. I realized it is my duty and responsibility as a Wine Educator and Marketer to educate and inspire; this includes adding grounding context to achievements I share with my peers.
This article was supposed to be about Inter Rhone’s 2023 initiative to generate more awareness of Rhone Valley Vineyards in the U.S. market, specifically New Orleans. This article was supposed to be about the Rhone Valley Masterclass this author attended yesterday, which was hosted by one of the best restaurants in the world and a New Orleans staple, Commander’s Palace. This article was supposed to be about the young wines this author tasted that are now on the market and (for the most part) available for purchase under $30 a bottle for restaurants and retailers alike. That’s what this article was supposed to be about.
But the insight gained from a peer trumps the good intentions of sharing the takeaways from Tuesday’s wine class experience. Learning how to better communicate is more important than sharing emerging trends from the wine industry and marketing industry. We'll discuss the Rhone Valley Vineyards shift to prioritize more eco-friendly environmental practices and how AI will help another time.
So, just remember to add grounding context when sharing to help answer the question: Is this a big deal? Ease all anxiety by adding informative details that are relevant so the audience can relate to the material. Delight your audience. Communicate better.
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If you enjoyed this article and would like to learn more about how to be a better communicator or you want to talk about wine, leave a comment, connect with me on LinkedIn and let's start a dialogue!
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