How to Blow Your Own Horn

You know how great you are, but how do you get that across to your audience – subtly? It’s tough to tell others that you’re an expert without coming across as a bragging bore, plus, your telling them doesn’t really enhance your credibility. To blow your own horn, so to speak, you have to demonstrate or show your audience that you are the expert. Chris Witt, founder and president of Witt Communications, a consulting company that helps businesses get better results from their presentations, says that it’s important to remember that the relationship you establish with your audience verbally as well as nonverbally is going to determine the outcome of your presentation. Knowing that, you’ve got to dress well, carry yourself well, and be articulate.

"The one thing that you have to remember is that you, as the presenter, are the primary medium of the presentation," says Witt, also author of Real Leaders Don’t Do PowerPoint: How to Sell Yourself and Your Business (Crown Business, February, 2009). "A lot of people try to disappear behind PowerPoint and let the facts speak for themselves, but the most potent instrument is yourself."

Witt explains that while most successful presenters always determine an objective for their presentations, some fail to determine their objectives on two levels – one is the explicit objective that you can share with your audience, such as, "At the end of this presentation, you’ll see how my widget can cut production time by 50 percent."

The second-level objective is what you want your audience to know about you. This objective is one that you won’t share with your audience. However, Witt recommends being very explicit to yourself about what you want your audience to think of you. For example, you may want your audience to walk away thinking that you are trustworthy, credible, or an expert in your field. List what the audience needs to know to feel this way about you. Then think of a story (a real one) that can relate this to your audience.

Witt suggests following the "SAR" (Situation Action Result) formula to get your point across. First, describe a situation that is similar to your prospect’s (or audience), describe the pain and the problem – make them feel the pain. Next, talk about the action or the intervention of your product or service (or in this case, you). Finally, tell them about the results – a positive outcome that is specific and measurable, such as, "They were able to cut down on error rate in the laboratory by 68 percent." You can then position yourself as a resource. For example, you can say, "I had a client just like you who was losing valuable time; I worked with them over the course of three months and here is what we figured out together. Then I showed them…" The story is about your client, but it’s also about you as a helpful resource.

And finally, if you want to come across to your prospects as the "go-to" person in your industry, Witt suggests using your client list, especially if you have worked with and helped well-known names. For instance, you could say, "When I helped IBM…" or, "When I was working with MicroSoft…"

"You are gaining credibility through others and how you helped them," Witt says. "The spotlight isn’t on you, but on how you helped a profile client. Mention your involvement, but do it in a subtle, non-bragging way. If you are associated with winners, people will see you as a winner."

You can use this same technique if you are a well-known speaker in your field or you have been quoted in articles. For instance, you can say, "When I was speaking at the (Blank) conference, I met with …"

Remember, it’s not enough for you to know how great you are, you’ve got to let your audience know – subtly.