職場自我推銷的10大創意金點子

Dear Annie: I just came from my year-end evaluation and, as usual, it was excellent, except for one thing, also as usual. My boss told me I often have great ideas for how to do things faster and cheaper, but I don't sell them enough. For example, I don't speak up too often in meetings and, when we were asked to do a self-evaluation as part of the review process, I listed my achievements for the year without saying what's so great about them.
親愛的安妮： 我的年底績效評估剛剛結束，與往常一樣，評估結果依然是優秀，但有一點除外。我的上司對我說，在如何更快速、更經濟地完成工作方面，我總能有一些好的點子，但我並沒有努力推銷自己這個特長。例如，在開會的時候我很少發言，在評估過程中，我們要求進行自我評估，可我經常只是列出當年的成績，卻從不解釋其中的卓越之處。

I've heard this from managers before, in past jobs, and as in the past, I really don't know what to do about it. I'm not a rah-rah type by nature, and certainly not a salesperson. Also, I was brought up to think that people who are always plugging their own wonderfulness are jerks, and that modesty is a sign of a strong character. So how am I supposed to learn to sell myself at work? Do you or your readers have any suggestions? -- Baffled in Boston
我在之前的工作中也曾聽到管理者給出同樣的評價。只是，與往常一樣，我確實不知道該怎麼做。我天性不喜歡張揚，也不是銷售員那種類型的性格。而且，從小到大我一直都認爲，經常宣揚自己成就的人非常愚蠢，謙遜纔是堅強個性的標誌。我到底該如何才能學會在工作中推銷自己？您和您的讀者有什麼建議嗎？——B.B.

Dear B.B.: It may interest you to know that you're not the only one wondering. Almost 80% of 1, 082 employed Americans in a recent survey by sales development firm Sandler Training believe that "in today's world, people need to be better at selling themselves." Still, two-thirds (63%) say they spend less than an hour a day doing so.
親愛的B.B.： 你可能會覺得很有意思的一件事是，跟你一樣感到疑惑的人不在少數。銷售培訓公司Sandler Training近期對1,082名就業的美國人進行了調查。其中有80%認爲，“在當今社會，人們應該更加擅長自我推銷。”然而，依然有三分之二（63%）的受訪者表示，他們每天在自我推銷上所花的時間不到一個小時。

"Our biggest audience now is not professional salespeople, but other kinds of businesspeople who want to get attention for their ideas without seeming pushy, " says Dave Mattson, Sandler's CEO. It doesn't help, he adds, that most of us were brought up to believe that hard work alone would lead to the corner office. "We all know that the smartest people aren't always the most Successful, " he notes. "It boils down to being able to sell yourself effectively.
Sandler公司CEO大衛•馬特森說：“我們最大的受衆並不是專業的銷售人員，而是其他商務人士。他們希望自己的創意引起關注，同時又不會給人留下愛出風頭的印象。”他補充道，我們大多數人一直堅信，只要努力工作必能出人頭地，這樣的觀點沒有幫助。他說：“衆所周知，最聰明的人不見得就是最成功的人。歸根結底，還是要具備能力，開展有效的自我推銷。”

About 45% of the people Sandler surveyed say their workplace is the hardest place to pitch a good idea. (The next largest group, 21%, said home is.) For you, and for those folks, Mattson offers 10 ways of putting an idea across so that the right people will listen.
約有45%的受訪者表示，職場是推銷好創意最困難的地方。（其次是家庭，比例爲21%。）至於如何清楚表達自己的創意，以便讓合適的人聽到，馬特森爲你，以及和你處境相同的人提供了以下十條建議。

1. Don't take rejection personally. "One of the major stumbling blocks for people trying to sell a concept is that, if the idea is rejected, they take it as a rejection of them personally -- and they stop trying, " Mattson says. Instead, he suggests, take professional athletes as your role model, at least in this respect: "Most major-league players strike out far more than they hit. Even so, they keep trying."
1. 不要把拒絕看成是針對個人。 馬特森說：“人們在推銷一種觀念的時候，主要的障礙在於，一旦自己的觀點被拒絕，他們會把它看成對自身的一種否定，進而停止嘗試。”相反，馬特森建議，至少在這方面，要向專業運動員學習：“大多數一流的美國職業棒球運動員，三振出局的次數要遠遠多於安打的次數。但即便如此，他們也從來不會放棄努力。”

2. Use your voice, rather than email. Many of us (especially the shy) use email to put our best ideas forward, but that's not nearly as effective as doing it in person or, if necessary, on the phone. "The phone is much more effective, " Mattson says. "You have your tone of voice working for you, and you can be far more responsive to any questions the other person may have."
2. 打電話，而不是發郵件。 許多人（尤其是害羞的人）在提出自己最好的創意時，往往會使用電子郵件，但這種方式的效率卻要遠遠低於面對面或（若有必要）打電話。馬特森說：“打電話的效率更高。你可以利用自己的語調，也可以對其他人可能提出的任何問題給予更積極地迴應。”

3. Listen 70% of the time, and talk 30%. "In the sales world there's a saying: Everybody hates to be sold but loves to buy, " Mattson says. "Top salespeople don't steamroll others. Instead, they listen, which forces you to focus on the other person -- what their position is, and why they're responding the way they are."
3. 70%的時間用來傾聽，30%的時間用來說話。 馬特森說：“銷售領域有一種說法：沒有人喜歡被推銷，但所有人都喜歡購買。優秀的銷售人員從來不會強賣。相反，他們擅長傾聽，因爲傾聽能讓你專注於別人——他們的職位以及他們做出某種反應的原因等。”4. Practice. Find a friend or trusted colleague who will hear you out while you practice your pitch. Mattson recommends repeating your idea six times before presenting it to decision-makers. "The first one or two times, you'll still be figuring out how you want to put it, " he says. "By the sixth time, you're usually speaking with real conviction."
4. 練習。 找一位願意聽你練習推銷的朋友或信得過的同事。馬特森建議，在將自己的創意呈獻給決策者之前，重複練習六次。他說：“前一兩次的主要任務是解決陳述創意所用的方式。到第六次的時候，你就能用切實可信的言語推銷自己的創意。”

5. Get others to weigh in. "Successful selling isn't 'I, ' it's 'we, '" Mattson says. "Our subconscious can tell one from the other even if our conscious mind doesn't. People want to be part of a solution. So include their suggestions in your idea." Not only will that probably make the idea even better, but you'll still get the credit for having gotten the ball rolling.
5. 融入其他人的觀點。 馬特森說：“成功的推銷不能以‘我’爲主體，而是‘我們’。即便顯意識並未進行區分，但從潛意識仍能分辨出你的陳述是以‘我’還是‘我們’爲主體。每個人都希望能成爲解決問題的一份子。所以，在自己的創意中融入他們的建議。”這樣做不僅能讓自己的創意更加完善，你也會因爲推動了項目而獲得聲譽。

6. Start with a problem statement. First, state the problem: "I've noticed there's an issue with X." Advises Mattson, "Keep it short and concise. Then suggest two or three alternative solutions and see how people respond." The end result will almost always be "some hybrid of what you've said it should be," he adds. "People love to edit what you say, so give them something to work on."
6. 從陳述問題開始。馬特森建議，首先，陳述問題：“我注意到，某方面存在一個問題。”“陳述要簡明扼要。然後建議兩三個備選選擇方案，觀察一下人們的反應。”他補充道，最終的結果幾乎都是：“某個根據你提出的願景的混合方案。人們喜歡修改其他人的話，所以不妨給他們一些事情做。”

7. Point to an impartial authority. Make your case, where possible, by mentioning a survey or article by some third party who has no skin in the game. "Getting backup for your position from a trusted source gives you extra credibility," Mattson says.
7. 以公正的權威作爲支持。如果可行，利用沒有利益關係的第三方調查或文章來證明自己的觀點。馬特森說：“從可靠來源爲自己的觀點獲得支持，能夠爲你帶來額外的可信度。”

8. Give praise where it's due. Most people are starved for praise and recognition, Mattson notes, and making it a habit to notice a task well done will make people more likely to listen to you when it's your turn. "You have to be sincere, of course," he adds. "But most people get so little appreciation for what they do that the simple act of noticing can make them more likely to listen to you."
8. 不要吝嗇自己的讚揚。馬特森表示，大多數人都渴望讚揚和認可。平時多讚美其他人完成的出色任務，把它變成一種習慣。如此一來，在立場互換的時候，他們也會更願意傾聽你的陳述。他補充說：“當然，你必須要真誠。不過，大多數人的工作很少能夠得到別人的讚賞，所以即便只是‘讚賞’這樣一個簡單的舉動，也能贏得他們真誠的傾聽。”

9. Take a personal interest. Mattson keeps what he calls a "fuzzy file" on people he encounters regularly, so that "if I see an article somewhere about a new kind of ski, I know to send it along to someone I know is a ski buff, for instance," he says. "Showing some interest in who people are outside of the office makes a powerful impression."
9. 瞭解別人的個人愛好。對於經常遇到的人，馬特森有一份所謂的“模糊檔案”。比如，他說：“如果我看到一篇關於新型滑雪板的文章，就會把它轉發給某個人，因爲我知道他是一位滑雪愛好者。對於人們在工作之外的生活表現出一定的興趣，會給人留下深刻的印象。”

10. Repeat steps No. 1 through 9 regularly. "If you only do these little things once a year leading up to evaluation time, it'll be really hard, you'll take everything too personally, and you'll hate it," Mattson points out. "You need to get in the habit of doing them all through the year, a little bit at a time, but all the time."
10. 經常重複第1至第9步。馬特森指出：“對於這些小事而言，如果你只是在每年績效評估之前做一次而已，那將會變得很艱難——你會讓所有事情都帶上過多的個人色彩，進而感到厭惡。你應該一直堅持做這些事情，養成習慣，每次做一點，但不要放棄。”

Notice, if you will, that none of these requires being pushy, arrogant, or otherwise jerky -- quite the opposite, in fact -- but selling oneself does call for "reinforcement," Mattson says, "which can only come with time."
你會注意到，這些建議並不會給人留下愛出風頭、自大或者愚蠢的印象，事實上，結果恰恰相反。不過，馬特森認爲，自我推銷確實需要“強化訓練”，而這需要時間。