亲爱的安妮：我的年底绩效评估刚刚结束，与往常一样，评估结果依然是优秀，但有一点除外。我的上司对我说，在如何更快速、更经济地完成工作方面，我总能有一些好的点子，但我并没有努力推销自己这个特长。例如，在开会的时候我很少发言，在评估过程中，我们要求进行自我评估，可我经常只是列出当年的成绩，却从不解释其中的卓越之处。

    我在之前的工作中也曾听到管理者给出同样的评价。只是，与往常一样，我确实不知道该怎么做。我天性不喜欢张扬，也不是销售员那种类型的性格。而且，从小到大我一直都认为，经常宣扬自己成就的人非常愚蠢，谦逊才是坚强个性的标志。我到底该如何才能学会在工作中推销自己？您和您的读者有什么建议吗？——B.B.

亲爱的B.B.：你可能会觉得很有意思的一件事是，跟你一样感到疑惑的人不在少数。销售培训公司Sandler Training近期对1,082名就业的美国人进行了调查。其中有80%认为，“在当今社会，人们应该更加擅长自我推销。”然而，依然有三分之二（63%）的受访者表示，他们每天在自我推销上所花的时间不到一个小时。

    Sandler公司CEO大卫•马特森说：“我们最大的受众并不是专业的销售人员，而是其他商务人士。他们希望自己的创意引起关注，同时又不会给人留下爱出风头的印象。”他补充道，我们大多数人一直坚信，只要努力工作必能出人头地，这样的观点没有帮助。他说：“众所周知，最聪明的人不见得就是最成功的人。归根结底，还是要具备能力，开展有效的自我推销。”

    约有45%的受访者表示，职场是推销好创意最困难的地方。（其次是家庭，比例为21%。）至于如何清楚表达自己的创意，以便让合适的人听到，马特森为你，以及和你处境相同的人提供了以下十条建议。

    1. 不要把拒绝看成是针对个人。马特森说：“人们在推销一种观念的时候，主要的障碍在于，一旦自己的观点被拒绝，他们会把它看成对自身的一种否定，进而停止尝试。”相反，马特森建议，至少在这方面，要向专业运动员学习：“大多数一流的美国职业棒球运动员，三振出局的次数要远远多于安打的次数。但即便如此，他们也从来不会放弃努力。”

    2. 打电话，而不是发邮件。许多人（尤其是害羞的人）在提出自己最好的创意时，往往会使用电子邮件，但这种方式的效率却要远远低于面对面或（若有必要）打电话。马特森说：“打电话的效率更高。你可以利用自己的语调，也可以对其他人可能提出的任何问题给予更积极地回应。”

    3. 70%的时间用来倾听，30%的时间用来说话。马特森说：“销售领域有一种说法：没有人喜欢被推销，但所有人都喜欢购买。优秀的销售人员从来不会强卖。相反，他们擅长倾听，因为倾听能让你专注于别人——他们的职位以及他们做出某种反应的原因等。”

    4. 练习。找一位愿意听你练习推销的朋友或信得过的同事。马特森建议，在将自己的创意呈献给决策者之前，重复练习六次。他说：“前一两次的主要任务是解决陈述创意所用的方式。到第六次的时候，你就能用切实可信的言语推销自己的创意。”

    5. 融入其他人的观点。马特森说：“成功的推销不能以‘我’为主体，而是‘我们’。即便显意识并未进行区分，但从潜意识仍能分辨出你的陈述是以‘我’还是‘我们’为主体。每个人都希望能成为解决问题的一份子。所以，在自己的创意中融入他们的建议。”这样做不仅能让自己的创意更加完善，你也会因为推动了项目而获得声誉。

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.

    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

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.

    "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.

    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.

    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."

    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."

    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."

    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."

    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.