5 Tips to excel when self-promoting
- Mums Tips
- Mumpreneurs & Mums at work
- Published on Wednesday, 01 May 2019 15:00
- Last Updated on 01 May 2019
- hiraali1
- 0 Comments
With imposter syndrome being a common feeling amongst women, self-promoting in the right circles can be difficult without feeling awkward or boastful.
Many women find tooting their own horn extremely uncomfortable and hence avoid talking about themselves. However, self-promotion is necessary to be seen and heard at all the right places.
Here are some ways you can incorporate this incredibly important tool into your skill-set:
Start Thinking of Yourself as A Brand: The best way to overcome your hesitation to self-promote is to start considering yourself a brand. This way when you are sharing successes it is about the brand you represent. We create a personal image to build a brand around ourselves that lead people to think of us in a certain way. If you’re serious about rebranding yourself in a specific way, then you need to expand your network to include new people who never knew the old you and don’t have to be convinced. Remember, it’s no longer about you but the brand you represent! Stay focused on proactively choosing how you promote your brand in the most relevant circles.
Show Vulnerability: Inspiring stories that retell how you created your success from bottom up always inspire others. By retelling how you survived and overcame a challenge, you make your story authentic, motivating and relatable for others around you. You could even consider injecting a healthy dose of self-deprecating humour while promoting yourself. Self-deprecating humour often minimises status distinctions between leaders and followers and can help make you more likeable.
Show Humility: It’s one thing internalising your success and knowing that you had a role to play in it, often more than anyone else, but it’s another thing to say that out loud without recognising all of the people who helped make you successful along the way. Often humility and expressing gratitude to those that were instrumental in the project makes people look more agreeable. Humble leaders are in tune with their teams and are often the most well-liked and respected leaders as they recognise the invaluable contribution others bring.
Make Use of Elevator Pitches: These are succinct and persuasive sales pitches about yourself, your experience and/or your offerings. These speeches should take the same time as an elevator (lift) ride, hence the name. By preparing them in advance you can ensure that you don’t come across as pushy or disingenuous and if you have one of these ready to go, you will be always be prepared to promote yourself and your business whenever the opportunity arises.
Story-telling: If you feel uncomfortable sharing a personal accomplishment outright, you could situate it within a story. Not only does this take some of the attention off you directly, but it can make your achievement much more memorable.
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Hira Ali is an author, executive career coach, leadership trainer and keynote speaker. She is Chief Executive Officer at Advancing Your Potential and Founding Director of The Career Excel for Trailblazing Women. She is the author of the new, revolutionary book Her Way To The Top (Panoma Press) designed to empower women across the world to work together to overcome barriers towards success.
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