It can make us feel a bit icky, can’t it?  Talking about our wins…

Last week I won an award for my book, Email Attraction.

It snagged highly commended at the Business Book Awards, and I posted this on LinkedIn:

It received over 5000 impressions and counting at the time of writing. Not bad for a ‘me me me’ post.

But I did spend a little while crafting it.  Because it’s not easy to blow your own trumpet without sounding braggy.  As my dad used to say ‘No-one likes a show off, Kim.‘

So, here’s my advice for talking about your successes without everyone hating you:

1. Have brownie points stored up – if the only time you ever go on social media is to talk about your achievements, you’ll quickly turn people off. The overwhelming majority of your posts should offer value to others in some way.  That way, when you do want to share some news, your audience will be more open to it.
    
2. Warm up your audience – don’t expect everyone to love your big news if you don’t congratulate others on theirs.  Make it a regular habit to big up your network on their achievements.
    
3. Loosen up – if you wouldn’t say it, don’t write it.  I’ve never told my kids that I’m ‘Humbled and honoured to share’ or my husband that I’m ‘delighted to announce’.  Conversational language makes it feel more genuine and less showy-offy. 
    
4. Tell a story – is there a personal story or struggle you can share behind the win?  Mine was worrying my book was just a little too ‘out there’ to be a successful business book.
    
5. It’s not just about you – is there a way you can include others in your success?  Give a shout out to people who’ve helped or inspired you. 
    
6. Try humour – We Brits especially can feel uncomfortable talking about our achievements.  A little humour can help.  I tell the true story of my writing coach wanting to stick a fork in her eye reading my early drafts.

What’s your advice on celebrating success?  How do you do it?  (Or maybe you don’t.)  I’d love to hear your take.