Do you struggle with self-promotion? Does the thought of actively promoting yourself make you cringe? Self-promotion doesn’t come naturally to most people, however, that doesn’t mean you have to be bad at self-promotion. In this post, you’ll find 5 ways to improve your self-promotion skills.
According to Collins Dictionary self-promotion is defined as “the act or practice of promoting one’s own interests, profile, etc”. This means you are going to have to tell others about what you do and why you are great.
1. Understand your skills, strengths and accomplishments
In order to promote yourself, you first need to really know what you are great at and what you’ve achieved. Spend some time thinking about what you are great at and write it down. It can also be useful to keep a running list of accomplishments. It is crazy how when you are put on the spot you might forget all the great things you’ve done so having a list handy is always useful. You could also create a folder where you can collate evidence to back up your accomplishments, as well as capturing positive feedback and testimonials.
2. Share your knowledge
A great way to self-promote is to share your knowledge. Sharing your knowledge is seen as being helpful and since most people like to be thought of as helpful it comes easier to most people. However, sharing your knowledge can be a great way to show another person just how much of an expert you are.
3. Put yourself forward
Part of self-promotion is putting yourself in situations where you can truly shine. This could mean asking to lead an upcoming project, putting yourself forward to speak at events and even entering awards. Rather than thinking someone else will choose you it is time to actively put your hand up and ask for opportunities.
4. Build your network
For self-promotion to really work you need to be promoting yourself to the right people. Sitting there telling your colleague about all the great work you’ve done for a company isn’t going to help you get a promotion, but telling that someone in your leadership team might. Identify who are the people who need to know about you. This could be managers, heads of departments, the press, journalist, investors, potential clients, potential business partners etc. This is where quality wins over quantity. Get really specific about who needs to know about you and work out how to get on their radar.
5. Practise your elevator pitch
A key part of your self-promotion tool kit is having a confident elevator pitch. Your elevator pitch is your 30-second introductory statement. Now if you want to be a self-promotion pro you might have a few variations based on the different people you might meet. However, as a minimum, you should have your standard 30-second version well-rehearsed.
That’s it! You now have 5 ways to improve your self-promotion skills.
I would love to know in the comments below, which tip you are going to try for yourself.
