I came across a great article that I recommend to you, no matter your level of comfort with telling your career story on LinkedIn, relating your achievements in your past that make you who you are today, so others will want to ride into your respective futures together with you: (you gotta read this).

Overarching the next 6 pointers the author asserts, and I fully agree, this skill of self-branding needs to be practiced, refined, perfected, until it rolls off your tongue, or keyboard, and I took the liberty of adding my LinkedIn focus to each:

  1. Reframe how you think about self-promotion. We were raised not to talk about ourselves. No thanks to teachers, parents and /or clergy, we hesitate to tell our own story, and that’s a shame. Overcome the inbred fear and be proud of how you fought to arrive to the business, service, or product you offer. Tell us. With pride, with confidence, with conviction. It’s infectious and will serve you well on your LinkedIn profile and in all your posts, articles, and comments there. We really do want to know, so tell us.
  2. Build a culture at work that celebrates self-promotion. The culture you bring with you to an office setting, to the zoom screen, to an email, in short, anyway you communicate, is a glimpse into why you do what you do. And that’s the best self-promotion you can offer. That  nanosecond the other person is judging your value is all-important. Make or break. Self-assess, self-develop, and self-project. No one else can do it as well as you can, nor should.
  3. Practice saying the things you’re proud of out loud. Open a zoom meeting with yourself. Practice your pitch, for the elevator speech, for the sales narrative, for your introductory remarks. Save it and play it back. Rinse repeat until you get all the tangles and suds out and you are squeaky clean and crisp in your message. Yes, it takes time, but it’s an investment in yourself.
  4. Keep track of your achievements. OK, you probably expect me to say this, so I will not disappoint: make your LinkedIn profile the historic accumulation of all you want people to know about you before they ever meet you,. In  your past work experience, tell us in a way that professes firm confidence of how you achieved, and why you achieved, (notice I did not say what you achieved, and not a dollar amount of what you saved, or a factoid that without context is undecipherable). Remember to keep that profile, in all its sections,  up to date, adding, tweaking, condensing as you move forward and upward.
  5. Learn to accept — not deflect — compliments. Ask the right people to endorse you for the right skills you list on your profile, those they have experiences you aced. Manage the Recommendations section by reminding the recommender exactly what you want them to add color and impression to, as you have pre-decided who and why you asked them to put their name and reputation on the line for your well-being. Oh yeah, thank them in a phone call or zoom chat, not an email. They spent the time and you can too-they are worth it. So was their contribution to your profile.
  6. Build a culture at work that celebrates self-promotion. Finally, you bring a work culture wherever you go, even if you conduct business in your basement home office like so many of us do, and never be hesitant or remiss to tell a story that surrounds a point you want to make that you are (here’s that word…) amazing-er than your competition.

Have I enhanced the author’s 6 points to make LinkedIn seem more you-friendly? Have you decided today is the day to start feeling great about your offering, the time continuum of your past-present-future, your uniqueness, and your visionary thought leadership?

I hope you are yelling “Hell yes!” and getting down to the hard but fruitful task of making your heart and mind resonate in your voice on LinkedIn.