How to Talk about Yourself in the Best Possible Way
No one wants to hear you talk about yourself all day long.
I can’t stand arrogant people.
Ugh, that humblebrag is so obvious.
Sound familiar? Growing up, these sentiments were constant choruses in my household. If I boasted to a friend about acing a test (“SO easy!”) and was within earshot of my mom, I was sure to see her shake her head with the deep disappointment of a thousand Chinese ancestors bearing witness to my transgression of Confucian humility.
Eighteen years of such conditioning, and I could gush modesty like the best of them! I deferred compliments so well, I sometimes turned them all the way back around (“Oh, my dress? It isn’t as nice as yours!”) I gave away credit like Oprah gives away cars (“It wasn’t me, it was this amazing team!”) I gave countless thanks to the gods of luck (“I was so fortunate that my project turned out well!”).
I was the poster child for the golden rule of humility: Whatever you do, don’t give anyone the impression that you think you’re all that.
Except, well… then I wrote a book about management. And as I found out very early on from my publishers, it was non-negotiable that an author establish her credibility to market her book. I was to write an author bio…
