Ken Burgin

Taking the Stress & Shame Out of Self Promotion

Where did we learn that self promotion is a bad thing, and why do we accept that as the truth? Marie Forleo feels you should feel ashamed if you don’t promote your skills and achievements.

This should resonate with people in hospitality – by definition most of us have to be ‘out there’ with the public and promoting the next event, tomorrow’s lunch or just an extra round of coffees. In many small operations, the owner is the business.

She sums up the issues in this snappy video:

  • Focus on what you can give, rather than what you can get – see self-promotion as service.
  • Stop caring! Not about other people, just what they think – who are you living your life for? If they don’t like you, being quiet probably won’t make much difference!
  • Don’t be a broken record – endlessly talking about how great you are! In Australia we have the expression FIGJAM – it stands for F* I’m Great, Just Ask Me. We’ve all met the FIGJAM people – and you’re not one of them!

A few more suggestions… from Ken Burgin 😉

  • Update your Linkedin profile (here’s how) – it does the promotion for you. When you describe yourself in the ‘Summary section’, use some numbers to show the scale of what you’ve done eg number of people in your team, or number of customers served each day.
  • Talk about ‘our team’ when appropriate – you may feel more comfortable including the people who work for you., when describing achievements.
  • There are many simple ways you can stand out as someone with interesting insights and ideas – a thought-leader. More suggestions here

Most people grow up being told not to brag or show off – let’s untangle that message from the importance of sharing your gifts with the world.

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