Self-Advocating and Selling Your Ideas

Whether you currently have a job or you’re job hunting, when it comes to your career you’ll do well to get comfortable with self-advocating—in other words, promoting yourself. If talking about yourself seems in poor taste or if you are an introvert, being your own advocate may seem difficult at first. However, it’s an important step in furthering your career, landing a job or promotion, or even just selling ideas to management or clients. 

The best way to get comfortable with self-advocating is through preparation and practice. For example, if you’re interviewing for a job, research the job and company to understand how your skills and experience match the job requirements.  Practice delivering your elevator pitch and get comfortable sharing examples of your achievements, such as how you solved a problem that resulted in a savings for an employer. 

When promoting your ideas, know your audience and what is important to them professionally.  State your purpose up front, and be succinct and specific in sharing key points and benefits.  Use logic to appeal to your audience and frame things in terms of “what’s in it for them.”  Additionally, anticipate and identify ways to productively counter your audience’s objections, if necessary. 

In addition to promoting yourself, the following are also good rules of thumb to follow for a successful career:

• Maintain a professional reputation for being dependable and trustworthy
• Establish and continue to grow your professional network
• Seek opportunities for professional development and learning
• Actively participate at meetings
• Be a team player