3 tricks to step up your self-promotion skills

3 tricks to step up your self-promotion skills3 tricks to step up your self-promotion skillsI recently attended a womens leadership dinner and heard a young woman ask the speaker - a corporate woman executive - her best strategy for promoting her accomplishments. Coolly, the executive responded, Have others do it for you.Ever since, Ive been turning this advice over uncomfortably in my head.Im the first person to say that you need to enlist others in your career advancement. And of course, it helps your career if people speak positively about you when youre not around.But taking an outer approach to self-promotion puts an awful lot of hope and trust in others. And it negates your own voice and power to a mere whisper. Just consider the experience of Marcia Reynolds, Psy.D., a versed executive coach and author of Wander Women How High-Achieving Women Find Contentment and Direction. Reynolds often hears leaders remark about her female coachees Shes valued more by senior management t han she values herself.Whether youve landed a new client, settled a case, launched a product or won an award, consider some of the approaches below as you fine-tune your own voice for talking about accomplishmentsBe a betterstorytellerIf its true that you have to tell it to sell it, then youd better think about how you can package your accomplishments in story format. Narrate your success so it has a clear beginning, middle, and end. By telling a story, it not only humanizes your success for the listener, but its often easier for you, the storyteller, to share without feeling conceited. Need help thinking of good story material?Paul Smith, author of Lead with a Story A Guide to Crafting Business Narratives That Captivate, Convince, and Inspire asks, Whats the toughest problem you ever solved? Whats the fruchtwein creative thing youve ever done? Whats the best working relationship youve ever had? For great story content, recall your greatest successes, challenges, and failures.Keep i t factualMany women avoid self-promotion for fear their accomplishment will sound overblown. Sara Canuso, founder of training and coaching firm Women That Influence, suggests a different tactic.Recommends Sara, Try to state your accomplishments in ways that are irrefutable. Avoid innuendo or hearsay by focusing on your concrete actions and behaviors, and most of all, results you were responsible for.If your efforts led to a very happy client, return business or an important efficiency, then own it Doing so allows you to speak about your victory without hesitation or being overly modest. If its true, its not bragging.Use drop-insIf you succeeded in drafting a winning strategic plan, lets say, and want to be recognized and called for your strategic mindset in the future, then you need to frame your success using the right language - even after the fact. Kathleen Cashman, CEO of Cashman Consulting LLC, a management consulting and training firm, advises using simple yet consistent word s or drop ins that reinforce your accomplishment.For example, you might say, You can rely on me. I have a strategic view on this topic or Strategically, I think we should Cashman notes, Youd be surprised how the consistent drop-in influences others to use these words when theyre speaking about you.With study after study showing that women are more apprehensive about discussing their general competence - let alone major accomplishments - this is something we need to do.Ultimately, self-promotion is self-preservation.This article first appeared on Be Leaderly.