Self-promotion can be rather difficult, especially in the workplace. 

Joel Garfinkle discusses the understandable hesitation many may have around self-promotion, and identifying and sharing their accomplishments. 

Here are a few tips on ways to reframe and overcome self-promotion difficulties: 

Reason No. 1: “They don’t have time to talk with me.” 

Instead of discounting your own value and thinking of yourself as a burden on their time, think of yourself as a key catalyst and necessary component of the organization. 

Reason No. 2: “I don’t have anything worth talking about.” 

See the value in who you are, what you have done, and why this should be shared with others. This form of self-promotion may require sitting down and writing out everything you’ve done in the last week, the last month, the last year. Start a list and add to it as you remember things; chances are, there’s a lot more than you realize. 

Reason No. 3: “If I do get a chance to talk with them, I will blow it and not say the right thing.” 

Practice some of your key messages so you can recap your successes confidently, succinctly, and with conviction when the opportunity arises. 

Reason No. 4: “People will think I’m sucking up.” 

If talking about your success makes you uncomfortable, one way to overcome this is to also credit others on your team while making sure your supervisor knows your role in the accomplishment. Just be sure not to give all the credit away – you were a key catalyst to the overall result. 

Read more in Garfinkle’s article “Why Don’t Women Brag at Work? How to Practice Self-Promotion”