This lesson suits intermediate learners. After listening, scroll down and test your knowledge with our quiz.
Learning notes
Language objective
How to promote yourself at work
Self-promotion is describing our skills, achievements or accomplishments to give people a positive impression about ourselves.
Different phrases you can use to promote yourself:
- I’m really proud of…
- I’ve been working on…
- I've received some great feedback on…
Some examples for your inspiration:
- I'm really proud of the way I handled a problem with a customer last week.
- I’ve been working on a software application, and I've been able to improve its functionality and add new features that I think will be beneficial for our users.
- I've received some great feedback from my patient’s brother. He thanked me for going above and beyond to make their loved one feel comfortable. It's experiences like these that make me proud to be a nurse.
- I’d love to share my experience rolling out a new sales strategy that I've been implementing for our team. I've been able to increase our conversion rates by 15% and have received positive feedback from clients.
- I think we had a great team that really pulled together and kept pushing to meet our goals.
- I'm pretty detail-oriented and organised, so that helped us stay on track and hit all our targets.
- I've been feeling pretty good about my own work lately too.
- A client gave us some great feedback recently and said that they were really impressed with our service.
Different phrases you can use to recognise the success of others:
- That's awesome news.
- Wow, that's fantastic!
- You've been putting in so much effort.
- Keep up the good work.
Vocabulary:
Achievements are things that you have done that you are proud of or that you have completed successfully.
Acknowledgment means recognizing and showing appreciation for someone's actions, contributions, or achievements.
Boastful means talking about yourself or your accomplishments proudly in a way that seems as excessive and arrogant.
Bragging means talking about one's own achievements or accomplishments, often with the intention of making oneself look better than others.
A call-to-action is some kind of contribution to the conversation that invites the other person to do something.
Cohesiveness means unity or togetherness among a group of people.
Competitive means having a strong desire to win or do better than others in a particular activity or situation.
If something is constructive, it is helpful, useful, or positive in some way.
Detail-oriented means paying attention to small things and being very thorough in your work or actions.
Expertise is a having a high level of knowledge, skill, or experience in a particular area or subject.
Feedback is information or comments about something that someone has said or done. It can be used to evaluate, improve, or adjust what has been done.
Reputation refers to the general opinion that many people hold of someone or something, based on their behaviour, actions, or qualities.
Colloquial expressions:
To blow your own trumpet, or to toot your own horn means to boast about yourself, your achievements or skills in a way that seems excessive or overly self-promoting.
To pull together means to come together as a group and work towards a common goal, especially in difficult or challenging circumstances.
To stay on track means staying focused and following a plan that helps to achieve a particular goal.
If you are hitting all your targets, you are achieving all the goals or objectives that have been set for you or your team.
If you go above and beyond to do something, you are doing more than is normally expected or required.
Cultural information:
When attending a networking event, it's important to have a self-promotion strategy in place.
Firstly, set a goal and prepare for the event. Think about what you want to achieve and practise how you'll talk about yourself.
Being proactive is the second important step.
Don't wait for others to approach you, take the initiative to introduce yourself and share your accomplishments to showcase your skills. Use the opportunity to position yourself as a valuable resource in your industry.
Finally, end your conversation with a call-to-action, such as "If you know of any upcoming projects I could contribute to, please let me know."
Don't forget to keep in touch with the people you meet after the event. You can send them a personalized email or connect with them on LinkedIn. Mention something you talked about during your conversation to show your interest.
Following these steps can help you to get the most out of networking events and build valuable connections in your industry.
Closeup on notebook over vintage desk surface, front focus on wooden blocks with letters making Build Your Personal Brand text. Business concept image with office tools and coffee cup in background.
(Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript)
Here at SBS we acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of Country and their connections and continuous care for the skies, lands, and waterways throughout Australia.
Hi, my name is Josipa, and I bet we have something in common: sometimes, we both struggle with self-promotion.
Self-promotion is when we talk positively about ourselves, our skills, and achievements or accomplishments - that is, those things that we have done successfully.
And let’s face it, for some of us, this can feel awkward and uncomfortable, and we don’t want to come across as someone who blows their own trumpet.
To blow your own trumpet, or to toot your own horn means to boast about yourself, your achievements or skills in a way that seems excessive or overly self-promoting.
But in a competitive world like ours, where everyone is trying to do better than everyone else, it's important to explain what we can do to show that we are different from other people. To do that, I looked up and found three different ways of talking about our achievements.
Let’s start.
I’m really proud of…Claire
This phrase is a great way to start talking about accomplishments without sounding boastful, that is, of talking about how great we are without being annoying or seeming arrogant. It allows us to share our achievements in a positive and constructive way.
For example you could say,
Claire
I'm really proud of the way I handled a problem with a customer last week. I was able to change a problem into a positive experience for both the customer and my company.
You’ve probably used the next phrase many times ,
I’ve been working on…Allan
I’ve been working on is a phrase that can help us talk about our skills and expertise without sounding like we are bragging - that means without sounding boastful.
It’s a useful way to talk about what you are doing in a way that also means you can say how good you are quite naturally.
So here is an example of how we can use this phrase for self-promotion, in let’s say, the IT sector,
Allan
I’ve been working on a software application, and I've been able to improve its functionality and add new features that I think will be beneficial for our users.
See what I mean, Allan talked about his skill and expertise without sounding like he’s bragging.
The next phrase I have is great if you want to say good things about other people while at the same time promoting yourself.
My last phrase is,
I've received some great feedback on…Claire
This phrase can help to build your credibility and reputation because it demonstrates that you're respected and valued.
Let’s say you work as a nurse, you could say,
Claire
I've received some great feedback. My patient’s brother thanked me for going above and beyond to make their loved one feel comfortable.
If you go above and beyond to do something, you are doing more than is normally expected or required.
And if you are the kind of person who is dedicated to your work and willing to take those extra steps to do quality work and achieve your goals, you should also master the art of self-promotion.
Self-promotion takes many forms. One of these is networking.
One type of networking is where you meet new people at events and talk to them in order to establish relationships and connections that can help you in your professional life.
Another form of self-promotion is sharing your achievements on social media or discussing your work accomplishments with colleagues.
Allan and Claire have mastered the art of self-promotion, which means they’ve learnt how to speak positively about their work in a way that sounds honest and genuine rather than arrogant or boastful.
Let’s hear how they do it,
Claire
Hey, Allan! Guess what? I got some amazing feedback from our manager about our last project. She loved what we did!
Allan
That's awesome news, Claire! What do you think made the project such a success?
Claire
Well, I think we had a great team that really pulled together and kept pushing to meet our goals. And personally, I'm pretty detail-oriented and organized, so that helped us stay on track and hit all our targets.
Allan
That's so true. And you know what? I've been feeling pretty good about my own work lately too. A client gave us some great feedback recently and said they were really impressed with our service.
Claire
Wow, that's fantastic Allan! You've been putting in so much effort to build those relationships with clients. Keep up the good work.
Allan
Thanks, Claire. It means a lot to hear you say that.
Allan and Claire were able to self-promote and recognize their own achievements while also acknowledging, meaning recognizing, the accomplishments and success of others.
I particularly liked when Claire said,
Claire
I think we had a great team that really pulled together and kept pushing to meet our goals. And personally, I'm pretty detail-oriented and organized, so that helped us stay on track and hit all our targets.
First, she acknowledged people she works with by saying that she had a great team that really pulled together and kept pushing to meet their goals.
To ‘pull together’ means to come together as a group and work towards a common goal, especially in difficult or challenging circumstances.
So, Claire first acknowledged her team’s cohesiveness, how well they worked together, and then promoted her own organisational skills by saying,
I'm pretty detail-oriented and organized, so that helped us stay on track and hit all our targets.Claire
If you are hitting all your targets, you are achieving the goals or objectives that have been set for you or your team.
Allan responded by sharing his reasons for self-promotion.
I've been feeling pretty good about my own work lately too.Allan
I've been feeling pretty good about my own work lately too. I like this phrase, but if you use it, make sure you add specific details about what is making you feel good about your work.
This can make your self-promotion stronger because you are talking about the things you have actually done and provide more context for your accomplishments.
But being good at self-promotion isn’t just about tooting your own horn, you know?
It's also about acknowledging and celebrating the accomplishments of others.
Allan and Claire believe in supporting each other and recognizing hard work, and we’ll hear the phrases they used a bit later.
Now, Grace Chen from TAFE NSW will share with us some strategies you can use for networking.
Hi Grace, can you share some self-promoting strategies that we can use at a networking event.
Grace
Sure, first you need to set a goal and prepare. Before you go to a event, set a goal for what you want to achieve from the networking opportunity. This could be something like meeting three new people in your industry. And then prepare, think and practise how you’re going to talk about yourself.
Secondly, you need to be proactive.
Josipa
What does it mean to be proactive?
Grace
Being proactive means being in charge and taking action instead of just reacting to what happens around you or waiting for things to happen. So, when you're at a networking event, don't just sit back and wait for people to come to you. Take the initiative to introduce yourself and share your accomplishments to show off your skills. This is your chance to let people know that you're a valuable resource in your industry.
Josipa
Anything else we should do?
Grace
Yes, end your conversation with a call-to-action, that is , say something that invites the other person to take the next step and engage with them.
Josipa
Can you give us an example of a phrase we can use to make a call-to-action?
Grace
Well, it can be something as simple as, “If you know of any upcoming projects I could contribute to, please let me know.”
Josipa
Ok, so to be successful at a networking event, we need to prepare and set up goals , then talk about our work in a way that showcases our skills and finish the conversation with a call-to-action, right?
Grace
Yep, that's right. And don't forget to keep in touch with the people you meet after the event. You can send them a nice email or connect with them on LinkedIn. I always like to mention in the email something we talked about at the event, so that they know I was listening and interested in what they had to say.
Josipa
Great tips Grace. Thanks for that. I’m looking forward to trying them at my next networking event.
After the networking event, a follow up email could look like this,
Dear Susan,
I wanted to reach out to thank you for taking the time to speak with me at the networking event in hospitality last night. It was great to connect with someone who shares my passion for the industry, and I really enjoyed our conversation about customer service.
I was particularly impressed by your insights on increasing the number of returning guests and would love to continue our conversation further. I would be grateful if we could set up a time for a call or meeting to discuss it in more detail.
Additionally, if there is anything I can assist you with in your business or projects, please do not hesitate to reach out.
Thank you again for your time and valuable insights. I look forward to staying in touch.
Best regards,
Justin
A big thank you to our educational consultant Professor Lynda Yates, our guests Grace Chen and Justin Park. Paul Nicholson and Lily O'Sullivan voiced the characters of Allan and Claire.
