by Brag!: The Art of Tooting Your Own Horn Without Blowing It
CHAPTER 4
Techno-Brag: Tooting in the 21st Century
• “I never see my boss anymore.”
• “I don’t see how bragging will warm up my cold calls.”
• “His bragging was a complete turnoff over the phone, but in person it worked.”
• “I’m nervous about my virtual presentation to a customer whom I’ve never met.”
• “The only time I hear from him is when he wants to toot his own horn.”
• “His e-mail has come back to haunt him.”
When I talk to my clients about bragging over the wires, they complain, “It’s too impersonal.” But when I talk to my clients about bragging in person, it elicits the opposite response: “It’s too personal.”
So there you are: You can’t win for losing! But let’s face it, more and more workplace communication today is faceless, and if you ignore this critical detail in your bragging campaign, you’re most likely to come up short. Learning how to take advantage of technology—to cast yourself in the best light and deliver your message with impact—is an essential skill when you’re promoting yourself in an e-mail, selling yourself on a voice mail, or tooting your own horn into the telephone receiver.
Techno-bragging can be used to keep people you want to impress up to speed on your progress and successes in an instant, whether you’re traveling, based thousands of miles from headquarters, have customers and co-workers scattered around the globe, or even when you’re in the office and can’t catch your boss or the person in the cubicle next to you!
It can be used to open doors that were once closed, letting you make personal contact with professionals whose opinions count. A rather timid junior client of mine was so excited about a speech given by the CEO of his corporation, one of the largest packaged-goods companies in the world, that he boldly sent off an e-mail telling her how her words of advice helped him land a new client. A few days later he got a call and was invited up to the CEO’s office to meet her.
Effective techno-bragging can keep you in the front of every key person’s mind for all sorts of career opportunities. One client of mine targeted the company human resources director, whom he first met while interviewing for his job, as someone whose radar screen he wanted to stay on. Even though three thousand miles separated them, he communicated with her casually every few months by dropping her an e-mail and occasionally calling to discuss how things were going for her, asking what she was working on. Eighteen months later, and before it was posted on the company’s intranet, he got a call from her about a great opportunity within the organization that was right up his alley. He was able to get a jump on angling for the position, calling the team manager and introducing himself. Two months later, he landed the job.
Who can ignore the power of today’s technology? The Internet, World Wide Web, and intranets all place insightful information at our fingertips that can help us look smarter in our bragging campaigns. There’s nothing more impressive or noteworthy than someone who has taken the time to find out everything about your background, your company, or your business. Armed with up-to-date information, effective self-promoters position themselves more strategically while at job interviews, pitching new business, working with clients and customers, and even maneuvering within their own companies.
Techno-bragging, however, is significantly different from face-to-face self-promotion, where facial expressions, tone of voice, and body language all help to persuasively sell ourselves. In the absence of visual cues, what we say and how we say it—whether written in e-mail, stated on a voice mail, or expressed over a telephone—becomes critically important. To stay visible and make a good impression, become a master of technology so that your unique personality still comes across in your bragging.
LEARN HOW TO REPLACE FACE TIME
“I never see my boss anymore.”
Not long ago all we had to do in order to strut our stuff was to get to the office. Because everyone generally worked on-site, there were more opportunities for face-to-face interaction. We could go from desk to desk, meeting to meeting, and hobnob in the hallway or around the coffeepot. Significant others like our bosses could actually see how hard we were working. But that scenario is changing. Thanks to the fax, Internet, mobile phone, and laptop computer, your boss—or really anyone, for that matter—is more frequently working from everywhere but the office!
George, a financial analyst, was feeling neglected by Liz, his boss of two years. Until about six months ago, the two had sat side by side, where he was able to give her daily detailed updates about his efforts, and she could literally see how hard he was working. Then the investment bank underwent a major merger. Liz’s region was redefined, her direct reports expanding from five people to fifteen, and from seventy-five employees at one site to nearly two hundred in three offices along the northeastern seaboard.
Since the merger George has become increasingly frustrated with his attempts to get in front of his boss for some quality time. Lately Liz is rarely in the office, her secretary screens and replies to all e-mails, and the only way to get an immediate response from her is via voice mail. George, unfortunately, feels uncomfortable constantly leaving voice mails for routine matters and even more uneasy leaving ones where he might come off as tooting his own horn. It’s one thing to subtly promote himself to his boss in face-to-face encounters within the context of a conversation, it’s an entirely different matter to dial Liz’s extension and shout into the voice mail void, “Oh, by the way, since you weren’t here and missed seeing it, I did a bang-up job today!”
Preferring the traditional in-person approach, George has chosen to wait for the one day each week when his boss is scheduled to be in the office. So he waits and waits. When Liz finally shows up, she might as well as have a “Do not disturb” sign hanging on her door. Her calendar is booked with back-to-back meetings. Every spare moment she seems engulfed in preparing for the next appointment. Increasingly desperate, George even resorted at one point to monitoring her powder room visits. But on his first approach, she hurried by with a wave and a smile before he could get a single word out of his mouth. Well, I’ll bet you can guess the rest of this story. The “weeks stretched out and before long, George was pretty much off Liz’s radar screen completely while plenty of others seemed to be on it.
When George asked me for a way around his problem, I told him his days of avoiding voice mail, Liz’s technology of choice, had to come to an immediate end. Since his boss seemed to be checking her voice mail on the run, I reminded him to keep his messages short and pithy; the last thing she wanted was to listen to a long, drawn-out tale. I advised him to check in every day, keeping her current on the progress he was making with his most important projects. I reminded him to keep his bragologues conversational, interesting, and enthusiastic. We practiced with a project he just completed: “Good news, Liz. I just wrapped up getting Joe Littlefield’s portfolio in order. We still need to iron out a few kinks on the mutual funds side, but he’s very pleased with my efforts. I consider those challenges secondary and expect to have all issues worked out by the end of the week. Joe and I are meeting this Wednesday.”
The following day, Liz responded immediately. “I loved hearing about your work with Joe. Thanks for letting me know what you’re up to. Call me after your meeting with him to give me an update.” George took my suggestion and called her daily for three weeks, then tapered off to every other day, unless there was something pressing. Next time Liz was in the office she said, “Stop by later this afternoon. I have another project that I could use your help on.”
In today’s wired world, you need to master technology and become a virtual extrovert. When contact is infrequent, people tend to think the worst about you, or even worse, think nothing about you at all. Be proactive in your virtual communication so that your presence is felt daily. Keep it constant and keep it coming.
DEVELOP A STORY
“I don’t see how bragging will warm up my cold calls.”
Do you find yourself leaving messages with customers but never getting a return call? Today’s technology offers more choices than ever for promoting ourselves, but for many, getting noticed has never been tougher. While it may seem like technology has made selling yourself easier, the reality is that more than ever, voice mail messages go unreturned and e-mails get deleted. If you are leaving predictable and canned messages, you may have only yourself to blame.
Selling Girl Scout cookies had been Gina’s highest level of experience in fundraising until she became responsible for raising a million dollars for a public television series she was producing. After being sent to voice mail 99.9 percent of the time when phoning potential sponsors, she quickly became frustrated at the very start of her campaign. Other than saying her name, the halfhearted messages she left went something like this: “Hi. I’m calling to, um, ask if you might be interested in, um, becoming an underwriter for an exciting new public television series that requires a million-dollar budget. If you are interested, please call me for more information. Thank you.”
It didn’t surprise me that nobody, but nobody, ever got back to her. My first question to Gina was, “Tell me why anyone would call you back?” And she said, “Oh Peggy, this project is going to be the most amazing one I have ever worked on! We’ll be taping on location in six countries, including China. This will be my sixth series. The last one not only won several prestigious awards, but also set a distribution record for being picked up by more stations, and seen by more viewers, than any other program of its kind. I’ve carefully targeted companies with incredible potential to benefit from being associated with this project, given their products.” I put my head on the desk and started to laugh. There was her bragologue! With a message like that, the wires should be burning up with callbacks.
So we started again, this time using some of the above bragologue and adding Gina’s own impressive credentials as a producer. She dropped in the brag bite about the ways each company could benefit from becoming a sponsor. And she stopped mentioning the daunting amount of the total budget. She delivered her bragologue with the same enthusiasm in her voice as when she told me about the project. Here is one she used when pitching the marketing director for a global electronics manufacturer, which landed her an immediate callback. After stating her name and company, she said:
I’m a television producer working on an educational documentary series on how global trade is raising the standard of living for people in Asia. This will be my sixth series—the last one reached all-time rating highs and set distribution records. I know that you have a very strong footing in Asia, and I would love the opportunity to describe how you could benefit from being associated with our program, which will attract millions of viewers. I look forward to hearing from you soon so that we can discuss the many opportunities we offer our sponsors. Once again, my name and number are …
It’s important to remember that a voice mail message is often your first shot at making a memorable impression. Just as when you prepare for an in-person presentation, take the time to script what you are going to say. Consider the points you want to make, working them into pithy and personalized thirty-second bragologues that you can string together in different ways to come across as conversational, not canned. Speak slowly and enunciate clearly. Smile as you dial so your voice comes across with vitality and warmth.
PUT YOUR BEST SELF ON THE LINE
“His bragging in person was a complete turnoff over the phone, but in person it worked.”
Often when we brag long-distance, the signals we send out can easily appear less than genuine or likeable, especially in an initial encounter. Without seeing and experiencing the person on the other end, our first impressions of someone can be distorted, as the following story illustrates.
Eric and Sally had scheduled a meeting with Harry, head of computer science at a prominent university, to see a demo of the software product he had developed and that their company was considering adding to its line. Eric was meeting Harry face to face, with Sally conferenced in by phone.
When Harry arrived a few minutes late, he entered the room with a burst of energy, literally. He was in athletic gear and all sweaty, having just finished his five-mile morning run. Eric was taken aback. Harry most definitely wasn’t the bow-tie, understated academic type. He smiled at Eric and extended a warm hello while looking him straight in the eye and asking him to excuse his appearance. Harry quickly grabbed a fresh T-shirt from his file cabinet and told Eric he would be right back. While he was changing, Eric conferenced Sally on the speaker-phone. When Harry returned, he offered Eric a cup of coffee. Eric liked him immediately. Although somewhat eccentric, Harry was definitely charming.
“But … I couldn’t have done it without everyone. It was the whole team’s accomplishment.”
You’re probably right; you couldn’t have done it without them. However, that doesn’t mean you didn’t have a lot to do with the team’s success. So while you’re out there tooting for everyone else, toot your own horn, too.
Eric introduced Sally over the speakerphone, but Harry barely acknowledged her and launched into his presentation. “Let me tell you a little bit about myself,” he said, and then went into a five-minute monologue about his history and successes. Although Harry’s self-introduction sounded like a pompous dissertation to Sally, Eric found it amusing and entertaining. As Harry spoke he smiled, made eye contact, and seemed genuinely excited about his work, pointing to the various devices on his desk that he had invented and the numerous awards lining his office walls. Eric was impressed. Sally was completely turned off.
Why did Harry bomb so badly with Sally in his bragging campaign?
Well, as Elizabeth Barrett Browning said, let me count the ways! Overall, he never built a bridge to Sally. First, he barely interacted with her, relegating her to a secondary, almost invisible status. In fact, at one point he knocked the speakerphone off his desk and kept going as if nothing had happened. Second, although Harry engaged in a little bit of small talk with Eric when they first met, he made no attempt to break the ice with Sally. When he offered Eric coffee, he could have said, “Sally, we have a fresh pot of coffee; I wish I could offer some to you!” Third, Harry didn’t modify his communication so that Sally could get a clearer picture of what he was talking about. For example, when he picked up one of his inventions he should have said something like, “Sally, I’m showing Eric my invention, the first computer input device, which looks just like a ball of wires with a pointer on it.” He never described it because he was playing to Eric who could see it, and not to Sally who could not. Instead, all Sally heard was a boring recitation of his inventions, one after another. Without visual cues, listening to Harry over the telephone for ten minutes felt like an eternity.
Today people come together in all sorts of ways. A meeting could easily be a mix of people who are actually there and people who aren’t. In your techno-bragging efforts, find ways to connect with everyone and to compensate for the lack of visual cues for those connected remotely. Otherwise, your bragging is bound to offend.
REACH OUT
“I’m nervous about my virtual presentation to a customer whom I’ve never met.”
Many of us, particularly at the junior level in an organization, never meet clients and customers. Twenty-three-year-old Janine was one of them. An assistant to the managing director of a major sales region, she was just getting started on Wall Street when she was asked to quickly pull together a sales orientation for a new customer and to present it via computer. She wanted to make the customer feel secure that she knew what she was doing, but at the same time felt unsteady meeting him for the first time in a long-distance presentation, with three of her more experienced associates in other parts of the country listening in. She felt equally unsettled about doing a bragologue in front of the group, especially since they all knew she was green. Janine was so nervous about the presentation that she was losing sleep over it. To overcome her paralyzing reluctanc
e, I advised her to conduct a little background research on the customer. Then she should pick up the phone and call him, introduce herself, explain she was preparing this orientation on his behalf, and ask if there were any particular areas he would like her to cover in more depth than others. Janine looked at me with a sigh of relief, and said, “Of course!” She later called him and left this voice mail:
Bill, this is Janine with Bluestar. I’ve worked with Marta for two years, and as you know she asked me prepare a presentation for next Thursday as an orientation to the firm. I want to make it as meaningful as possible for you, so I’ve spent several days checking out your portfolio and I noticed that you’re heavily invested in a few key markets. As it turns out, my expertise is in those areas! Of course I will cover them in the orientation, but I’d like to talk to you before Thursday about any other interests you might have, so I can make sure that experts in those fields are present at our meeting. And by the way, I noticed you and I share something else in common: I’m also from Chicago, born and raised there. Give me a call back at your convenience. My number is…
How long do you think it took for this new client to return Janine’s call? Within an hour she’d heard back from him and they spent a good thirty minutes talking about their common backgrounds and the areas of interest he wanted included in the presentation. The day she gave her virtual presentation, the client paid the ultimate compliment before she even got started. He told the group how much he appreciated Janine’s call, and her Midwestern style of welcoming him on board. Janine’s boss immediately took note of her budding customer-relations skills.
Last month when Janine was in California she gave me a call. We hadn’t spoken in ages. She had moved up the corporate ladder a few rungs and told me that her biggest client was none other than the one she had called a few years back at my urging. She said it was one of the best pieces of advice she had ever received. From then on, she had never gone cold into any presentation or pitch without first checking her brag bag, doing a little investigating, and then calling ahead to have a personal one-on-one chat with the prospective client. It was no wonder to me that in addition to breaking the ice, she was breaking all-time sales records for her region.