How To Promote Your Work

Does your good work go unnoticed? 

Have you been overlooked for a promotion or special project at work? It might be that people do not know about your expertise because you have failed to share about what you do. It is rare that other people will talk about your good work unless you have won an award. Good leaders will do this for their team members, but even a good leader may not be aware of the good work you do. If you want to be included on special projects or move up in the company, you will have to engage in some strategic self-promotion.

This blog is a nudge for those of you who find it difficult to promote your work. If you have good ideas and are not sharing them, please read until the end, and don’t just skim. If you have been operating on the belief that others will notice and talk about your good work, consider the arguments I make below as reasons you should promote your work and ideas.

Balance modesty and self-promotion norms

Many of us were admonished that bragging violates the rules of politeness. Such rules or societal norms exist so that we take into consideration how our actions might make others feel. Repeated practice of these norms may have conditioned you to hesitate to share much, if anything about your accomplishments for fear you might make others feel uncomfortable. In fact, because of this modesty mindset, you may even find it difficult to highlight your accomplishments in the employment interview process.

I’d like to offer some advice regarding how to challenge this way of thinking and suggest strategies for promoting your work so that you can increase your influence.

You can promote your work without bragging

Others will not know about the work unless you tell them. In most organizational cultures, the expectation or norm is to be strategic about self-promotion. This norm does not necessarily conflict with the “politeness” norm of not bragging. 

Incorporating even a few strategic self-promotion strategies into your conversations consistently can make a significant difference in how you are perceived. You can retain humility and self-promote if you follow these communication strategies.

Promotion begins with a good opener

A conversation starter often begins with a statement about something we like or know and is followed by a question that invites the other party to share something. We hope to discover something we have in common through the disclosure. For example, if I want to get to know someone while I am visiting family or friends in Denver, CO, I might strike up a conversation with someone I don’t know by saying, “Hi there! I’m visiting from Indiana. Where are you from?” By disclosing something about myself and asking a question, others are likely to reciprocate and disclose something.

Another type of conversation starter is to share something exciting you are working on and inviting the other party to share their experience. When we do this, we are inviting someone into a conversation and gaining knowledge about what is important to them. This type of conversation starter is also a good strategy to help you become comfortable with promoting work you find exciting.

One of my clients employed this strategy when he was about to announce his run for public office. He had made this a daily practice that began while he was on vacation with the thought that if he received any negative reactions, he would not see most of those people again. As this became part of his daily routine, he tried it at a wedding reception at a table full of guests he had never met. One interested couple peppered him with questions and eventually offered their support. He had not asked for support. He just opened a conversation by talking about something exciting he was working on.

Advantages of conversation starters that promote

When we frame our conversation as something exciting, people are all ears. Who doesn’t want to hear exciting news? When we talk about something in the present, we don’t have to recall a lot of details, and highlights tend to be more vivid. Good recall helps when you employ the storytelling strategy discussed below. 

Strategies for promoting your work

If you have been finding it difficult to talk about your work, use a few of these strategies:

1) Make a daily habit to share with one person about something you are excited to be working on. Increase the number of times daily and continue until this habit helps you to be comfortable sharing at any time.  You might start this practice while you are traveling and are not likely to see these folks again (if that seems less threatening).

2) Use a conversation starter and ask questions to invite the other person to share. Be sure to reciprocate by asking them, “What are you working on that is exciting?” By exercising your empathy muscle (showing interest in someone else), you can benefit by learning things like the latest gardening techniques, exciting vacation destinations, or an invention that may spur new ideas for you. Emily Post would applaud this behavior because you are affirming someone else.

3) Share the spotlight. It is often easier to share about someone else’s accomplishments than our own. When you do, share about a project you worked on together and highlight ways you contributed. The result is you earn social capital by promoting someone else and have shared something positive about your own work. When this becomes a habit, you continue to enjoy the benefits.

4) Tell a story. One of the best ways to promote yourself is through storytelling. Stories are memorable and sustain interest. Using a framework such as SOAR (situation, obstacle, action, result) will help you organize your points quickly and offer details sure to interest your listeners. When your delivery captures the passion you have for your work, listeners are likely to join in your passion and even re-tell your story.

If you are not adept at promoting your work, give these strategies a try. The intention and consistent practice will help you become more comfortable. Setting a goal to do this multiple times a day, will help you see the impact this practice can make.

Which of these strategies have you found most successful? Share your story.