Be confident in your abilities. Artifact 1: Build confidence with self-promotion. [REFLECTION]

When you are confident you are able to acknowledge what you are talented at doing, the value you bring to an organisation and carry yourself in a manner that communicates this to others. Sometimes the lack of confidence is from not being able to recognise your talents, skills and past achievements. With this in mind, I discovered the Build confidence with self-promotion GOOGLE course. This course teaches the tools need to recognise your talents, skills and past achievements and the ability to communicate it to others. As a consequence of this there is an increase in confidence.

First lesson: Introduction to self-promotion

What is self-promotion?

Self-promotion is about educating the relevant people about skills and value that you can bring to the organisation. So that people can make the best possible choice in terms of recruiting you and knowing that you are the best person for the job. Self-promotion is a process where you look at what you are doing daily, analysing the skill you have, what you do, and using them to further yourself. Self-promotion is essential to succeed in careers.

Why is self-promotion hard?

There is a misconception around it that it is bragging. This can stem from upbringings or cultural backgrounds which shun speaking about one’s achievements. Therefore, self-promotion brings up feelings of disgust for some people. But there is a solution, there is scientific evidence to show that as soon as people assign the feeling to something ese apart from the act of self-promotion, they are much better at doing it.

 Why is self-promotion important?

A very minuscule amount of people who apply for job get the opportunity to have an interview. Consequently, if you put yourself in the context of applying for job with people who are as competent and capable as you, you need to have that added extra that makes you stand out. This is where self-promotion comes in. Most jobs are ascertained through networking and the ability to talk confidently about your skills to a group of people who you are networking with. There is evidence that being able to self-promote not only is more likely to secure you the job, but it sin more likely to secure you the job that you really thrive at. The more accurate that you are able to be about your talents, qualities and past achievements the more able the person you are interacting with is to make the right decision about you.  

Check your knowledge:

Kira wants to master the art of self-promotion so she can use it more in work, and with her family and friends. It's proving difficult though, as she's struggling to get over some of the misconceptions she's heard about it.

Can you help her out?

Question 3: Answer is incorrect. Self-promotion is not about being forceful.

Second lesson: Explore what makes you stand out.

Take a few minutes and write down what makes you remarkable.

1.      I am remarkable because since primary school I have been able to consistently perform well in academics.

2.      I am remarkable because I enjoy taking initiative in group projects and achieving goals for the project that the team has set.

3.      I am remarkable because I am resilient and have an unfaltering belief in my ability to reach the goals I have set for myself.

Check your knowledge:

Self-promotion has nothing to do with boasting, bragging or being pushy. It's about recognising your personal achievements and what makes you remarkable. Just like in the video you watched; what qualities make you remarkable?

Select as many as you like.

Third Lesson: How to practice self-promotion.

How can you become better at self-promoting?

1.      Write out your accomplishment list: Write down what makes you remarkable. Perhaps you won an award for sports or perhaps you were involved in fundraising for your community. Write them down it makes it easier for you to recall how successful you have been.

2.      Email your friends and colleagues: Ask them when was the last time that I did something that helped you? And what was it? Then ask: What are three things that you really value about me?

3.      Create your confidence backpack: One way to increase your confidence around self-promotion is to practice talking passionately about your skills, your talents, and your past achievements. A classic skill or classic technique for increasing our confidence is something called confidence backpack. Thinking about all the things you have done that you are really proud of, all of your achievements, imagine that situation and put it in that mental backpack. Then in situations where you are nervous or concerned remember all those time that you were able to do it before and believe that you will be able to do it again.

4.      Try power posing: With your feet firmly on the floor and your hands on your hips. It changes your physiology and helps you to be more confident so you can take on the world. This is helpful for stressful situations like interviews.

5.      Self-promotion is something that you need to exercise like a muscle. To be able to talk about your skills, your strengths, your achievements, your accomplishments, in a way that feels right for you. And when you do that, eventually with time, you will own it and you’ll be proud to tell the world what you’re great at.

Check your knowledge:

Dave's been out of work for a while. He's currently job hunting and just secured an interview where he'll need to give a short presentation on his past achievements.

What self-promotion tips would you give Dave to help him nail it?

End of GOOGLE course quiz:

Build confidence with self-promotion

Before completing this course I was unsure where to begin with developing competency five. After completing this course about self-promotion, I am capable of acknowledging what I am talented at doing, the value I bring to an organisation and carry myself in a manner that communicates this to others. The tools I learned are something I have to continuously work on for it to be fully realised in my life.

Link to Google Course: Build confidence with self-promotion

https://skillshop.exceedlms.com/student/collection/656748/path/1172351