Anything good happen to you lately?
I bet it did. I bet you had a “SQUEE!” moment or two in the office or out with friends. Or you had a celebration dinner with a toast to the great news. You were walking around like the total badass that you were for a good part of the day.
But when it came to talking about yourself + your big win online you got … timid.
You got spooked.
Maybe you created a post, and then you edited it to “water it down.”
You started thinking about the Judgy McJudgerson’s out there who were surely circulating the rumor that you didn’t deserve it – and so you dialed it back to a humblebrag.
You were Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan in You’ve Got Mail, wondering if you were about to say the wrong thing or, gasp, be vulnerable with the person on the other side of the screen.
So you tamed it. You took all the actual excitement + raw feelings of expression out of the damn thing. And when you defaulted to the standard language everyone else uses – you hit “post.”
But here’s where you missed a key opportunity.
Instead of:
“I’m excited to share…”
“I’m honored to receive…”
“I’m thrilled to announce…”
Why not try:
“Celebration Dance Activated!”
“It’s OFFICIALLY on!”
“It took me 2,567 workdays to get to the biggest day in my career.”
Interjecting personality into a celebratory or achievement post or email announcement right off the bat is never a bad idea.
Stand out from the canned self-promo posts for all the right reasons – show a little bit more personality + enthusiasm and a little bit less of the snooze button.
Keep doing big things, friend. And celebrate them well.
Nikki James Zellner is a writer, military spouse, mom and founder of Where Content Connects, a boutique content consultancy helping women leaders and community builders grow their voice, audience, influence and brands. For the inside scoop on actionable content advice delivered straight to your inbox, sign up for her weekly MemoRandom.