Are you comfortable with self-promotion? Are you comfortable talking about yourself? If you are like most women, you probably aren’t. Unfortunately, being able to promote yourself is an essential career skill that is often left to trial and error learning. Below are seven tips for becoming promotional savvy that will allow you to show your competence while being comfortable, connective, and confident.
- Working Hard Doesn’t Do It
What we do and what we say tells others about us– much like a corporate brand. Most of the time our actions and communications are not conscious, and definitely not strategic. We assume that whatever we do and say will magically let others know about our skills, successes, and experience, without ever mentioning them. Similarly, we believe that if we work hard enough and do it all perfectly, word will get out about our talent and skill. It is important to recognize that most work places are not meritocracies and making your value visible to others does not work that way.
- Know Yourself
Many of us self-promote with one foot on the gas and the other on the brake. We feel uncomfortable talking about ourselves and our achievements, but know that we need to do it. The discomfort is commonly based on self-limiting beliefs learned in childhood. Perhaps you were told by a parent not to “toot your own horn” when you had done well and were enthusiastically telling others about it. As Canadians, we are taught that humility is an important value, so we don’t want to appear too full of ourselves. Whatever the reasons for your unease, once you understand your resistance, you will be better able to move past it. And once your foot is off the brake, self-promotion becomes so much easier and so much smoother.
- Know Your Value
To promote yourself well, it is important to know your strengths, skills, and successes. Paradoxically, to be casual and conversational in self-promotion you need to be prepared. You need to know what you want to tell others. You can do this in several ways: listing your strengths and unique skills; recalling what others have told you about your strengths; writing down your successes; analyzing the pattern that runs through your successes, and identifying what you find easiest and most enjoyable to do at work. This information will allow you to target what you want to tell others about yourself.
- Make It Conversational
Once you are clear on what you do well, the next step is being able to talk about yourself in a comfortable and conversational way. This involves being able to weave in your credentials, achievements and successes in a way that is authentic and natural . Once you know your value, you can create sound bites and weave-ins that illustrate your competence and expertise. “I enjoy dealing with change and challenge; I enjoy helping our product divisions with thorny issues; I like to collaborate” are examples of sound bites for talking about your work and what you enjoy about it.
- Know Your Audience
It is important to note that it does not matter how well you think you self-promote — it is ultimately about what the listener thinks. You want them to be curious and engaged in the conversation – self-promotion is always a dialogue, not a monologue. Listen fully without resistance or anticipation. Use surprising sound bites or weave-ins that tie into the conversation to get them interested in hearing about you. Get them to ask questions. Balance your questions with information sharing so that in the process, you make yourself memorable and likeable.
- Seize Opportunities
Are you one of the few people who recognizes opportunities to self-promote outside of networking events? If so – great! If not, start looking for other opportunities, and understand how best to promote in those situations. In terms of career advancement, recognize that any interaction or conversation in the workplace can potentially help you further your career. Being able to talk about yourself in different settings in a comfortable, confident, and connective way is a very worthwhile skill.
- Be A Savvy Networker
Many clients are initially surprised with the idea of preparing for a networking event, but quickly concede that it makes sense. Networking is similar to interviewing for a job, and for interviews, it is common to prepare and to research the workplace – so why not do the same with networking. Preparation is key for making your value visible and connecting with others, especially when you are new to your position or to networking. Find out who will be there, and something about the event. If you are going with colleagues, talk with them about who they know and have met. If it’s held by an organization, find out about that organization. Have some light, easy conversational points ready and some interesting questions prepared. Preparation will make the networking so much easier.
These tips will allow you to make your value visible to others in a confident, comfortable and connective way. You will be able to consciously self-promote in a way that makes you credible and competent, while no longer having to rely on others to do it for you. A more fulsome discussion of networking and self-promotion can be found in my new book Understanding Gender at Work.