Mastering the Fine Art of Self-Promotion
by Marta Kagan
Career Coach, Business Coach, & Motivational Speaker

"You are living in the Age of the Entrepreneur, even if you don't work for yourself. The workplace is no longer a safe and secure haven for anyone or any career -- job security is virtually nonexistent. People are shedding jobs and careers at an unprecedented rate. The only sure thing is that no one is going to look after your best interests except you. And if you don't speak up for yourself, who will? Jobs and bosses will come and go. So the best way to thrive in this environment is to start thinking like an entrepreneur and to start bragging about your most valuable product: you!"
- Peggy Klaus

Most of us, from a very early age, were taught that humility is a virtue. Our parents instilled in us the idea that bragging was distasteful; that we should do our very best and our accomplishments would speak for themselves.

But in today's world, where college diplomas are a dime a dozen and competition for jobs is fierce, our well-developed humility seems more of a hindrance than a help. Our challenge is to develop the ability to talk about our accomplishments and ourselves gracefully -- in a way that allows us to subtly yet effectively sell ourselves -- without turning off the very people we're trying to impress.

In her best-selling book, BRAG! The Art of Tooting Your Own Horn Without Blowing It, communication expert Peggy Klaus teaches us how to do just that. Bragging, Peggy proclaims, doesn't have to be distasteful, annoying, or pompous. The fine art of self-promotion doesn't require us to become self-serving egomaniacs or sleazy used car salesmen. Quite the contrary. "It's about becoming more of who you are and bringing forward your best parts with authenticity, pride, and enthusiasm," she says. "It's about telling your story in a way that showcases your strengths."

So how do we develop this all-important skill?

"Effective bragging starts with you," Peggy insists. "It is based on having a clear sense of who you are and what you have accomplished, as well as what you are accomplishing right at this moment." With that in mind, she suggests completing her "Take 12" inventory (download a copy by at www.bragbetter.com) -- a self-evaluation that helps individuals reflect on where they've been, what they've done, what they have to offer, and what makes them memorable. Using your answers to the inventory, Peggy suggests creating a personal "brag bag" -- a collection of catchy and immediately useable self- promotion sound bites ("brag bites") and monologues ("bragologues").

Critical to this process is the notion that colorful details make all the difference. Talking about yourself shouldn't mean reciting a boring list of facts or generic terms, in other words. "To really stick, brag bites and bragologues need to be authentic, compelling, and delivered in a conversational way," Peggy explains. To illustrate, Peggy provides a classic example of how one client turned an otherwise generic personality trait ("outgoing") and a job title into a colorful, memorable bragologue:

"Well, as the presidential attache at a large university, I am constantly in front of people -- talking to them, putting people together, making visitors feel welcome. So it's essential that I be outgoing and friendly. The university's president, in fact, nicknamed me 'den mother' the first week of work because he said I was so good at caring for other people. My mom says I've been like this since preschool. I was always the person in charge of planning social events. So now instead of setting up slumber parties or proms, I'm in charge of arranging high-level meetings with trustees, politicians, foreign diplomats, and dignitaries, including every president from Reagan forward."

Whether you can weave your own story as gracefully as the example above or not, you better start practicing, because the only thing quiet humility will get you in this day and age is underappreciated and overlooked.

*Start Building Your Brag Bag*
If you're tired of not getting the credit you deserve and ready to start your own artful campaign of self-promotion, try these six steps -- and definitely get a copy of Peggy's book!

1. Complete the "Take 12" inventory (www.bragbetter.com).

2. Read over your answers and select the three things you are most proud of and/or passionate about to create your very first "brag bite". Do it in writing, initially, stringing together 5 or 6 sentences that tell the story of that particular accomplishment or personality trait in a colorful way. Feel free to throw in an anecdote, statistic, or famous quote to set the tone or tie it all together.

3. Practice telling the story out loud. Once you feel comfortable enough saying it out loud in an empty room, start practicing it on your friends/family members. Let it become natural, authentic, sincere.

4. Take your brag bite on the road! Next time you're at a job interview, a networking event, or any situation where someone asks you what you do or what your story is, use your brag bite!

5. Keep adding to your brag bag. Every day remind yourself of four things: your name, your title, your responsibilities, and the positive things you are accomplishing right now for your organization. Have them on the tip of your tongue, raring to go.*

6. For the rest of your career, when you're in a meeting, look around the room and, size permitting, make it a point to personally introduce yourself to every single person in the room. When doing so, imagine you are introducing a very good friend and not yourself (-it makes it much easier!). Just do it. Say your name, mention what you do with a smile and upbeat energy, and then let the bragging begin!*

*Note: Items 5 and 6 were taken verbatim from Peggy's book, BRAG! The Art of Tooting Your Own Horn Without Blowing It, pages 50 and 52, respectively.*

© 2004 Marta Z. Kagan

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Business coach, life coach, and motivational speaker Marta Kagan helps professional women and entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses, increase their confidence, design careers that honor their values, and live their lives on purpose. To find out more about Marta's innovative life coaching and business coaching products and to sign up for FREE confidence-building tips like these, go to http://www.lifelinecoaching.com

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