Self-Promotion

Advocating for yourself or your business is an important skill throughout your career as a life scientist and entrepreneur. When applying for a Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) grant, you need to describe the accomplishments that prepared you to complete the work described in your grant proposal. You also need to promote yourself and your business to investors and, later, to customers.

Some people have difficulty promoting themselves, especially women, because of internal programming and fear of a negative reaction from others. Unfortunately, the risks of self-promotion may be real in some cases and greater for women due to gender stereotypes. Many still hold ideas and expectations that it is acceptable and even important for men to self-advocate, but women should be more modest (Janoff-Bulman, 1996). This can result in some people viewing self-promotion more negatively for women than men. The combination of discomfort with self-promotion and some people viewing women’s self-promotion negatively results in women not benefitting from self-promotion as often as men.

How to Self-Promote

• Describe yourself and your accomplishments in an authentic, interesting, warm, and generous way.
• Describe your goals, passions, strengths, and what you love about your work.
• Describe how your work uses your skills and talents.
• Emphasize what is most exciting about your latest work and how it will benefit your business.
• Welcome similar information from others.
• Describe what might be valuable or relevant to the other person or their organization.
• Quantify your accomplishments if possible. Numbers make an impression.
• Provide the key details of your accomplishments rather than vague descriptions.
• Use the word I and own your role. (“My team and I are very proud of our results.”)
• Find both formal and informal opportunities to share accomplishments.
• Review and optimize your web presence. What forum do leaders in your field or industry utilize most often for self-promotion and networking? Make sure your social media and web pages clearly communicate what you have to offer, your vision and goals, etc.

Reluctance to Self-Promote, the Risks, and Overcoming Them

Reluctance to self-promote is driven by the following, which are often more common in women:

• The myth that hard work always gets noticed.
• Societal pressures promoting modesty and humility.
• Low self-confidence.
• Imposter syndrome, feeling they don’t deserve their position, and not owning their accomplishments or expertise.
• Double bind: When women do the same thing as men but it is viewed less favorably. For instance, asking for a salary increase can be seen as assertive if men do it but greedy if a woman does it.
• Needing to learn to balance humility and confidence.
• Needing to learn to endorse, advocate, and negotiate.

To address a reluctance to self-promote, try these tips:

• Rather than thinking of self-promotion as bragging, think of it as promoting yourself in the same way you might promote someone you care about.
• Think of self-promotion as making your work visible to offset a mindset that it is wrong to brag and important to appear humble.
• Ask others how they would promote you and then use their words.
• Advocate for another woman scientist and then use the same approach to self-advocate.
• Consider whether you hold any gender stereotypes contributing to your reluctance to self-promote.

These suggestions could help minimize the extent that others perceive you as bragging:

• Describe your accomplishments in terms of progress on major projects. Focus on their benefits for your business.
• Volunteer your expertise where you will be visible, and let others do your bragging for you when they express their gratitude. For example, volunteer to put together and lead a panel discussion in your field.
• Share your accomplishments as good news or an opportunity on social media.