Conventional wisdom is that you have to toot your own horn to get hired or promoted. That’s great advice when you’re comfortable talking boldly and confidently about yourself.
Not all of us feel okay talking about ourselves. Instead of speaking up and getting attention, some of we freeze. And shrink away. We can’t even speak.
Here’s are some tips to build your self-promotion muscles:
Get out of your head. Stop talking to yourself and listening to the inner critic who is afraid of interviews.
The following steps are ways to find inner strength and communicate strength on the outside, both in body, mind and spirit.
Get a foundation. Most of us spend lots of time occupied by our thoughts and our feelings. That translates into communicating from the chest up with little connection to our legs and feet. The result is that we get easily knocked off balance when we’re nervous or afraid. Learning to plant our feet solidly on the ground while drawing energy up from our roots communicates substance to others (and to ourselves).
Get a buddy, a champion or a protector. Come up with a symbol that represents strength, power or success. It might be a lion or a tiger, it might be a grandparent or a person you admire, it could be Ganesha, or perhaps the crocus that emerges at the end of winter. Pick something that you can take with you on interviews or put by the phone as a good luck charm. Let it be your own private secret- you and your champion are in this together.
Get things on paper. Get a pencil, sharpen the point and then write down the most important things you want someone to know about you: your top three skills, the top three qualities that make you great to work with, your top three accomplishments. Make sure you bottom line so that it’s clear what your impact has been in the workplace.
Get practice using your voice and your body. Practice speaking out loud and standing up. Take the notes you’ve written down and tell your stories out loud. Get used to hearing your voice and speaking with your whole body, feeling your feet on the floor and your head lifted and strong. Think of this as yoga for speaking skills. When you use your voice and your body- your whole instrument- you can feel your own substance and so can others.
Get feedback. Now that you’ve got practice talking to your lion or your grandmother about what you offer to an employer, find a friend who can give you feedback and encouragement. There’s no need to go through a career transition alone.
And if you want help getting out of your head and into action, that’s my job. I love helping people develop their communication muscles and get the jobs they’re after. Contact me: lparadise.coach@gmail.com
Image courtesy of Photokanok at FreeDigitalPhotos.net