Stand out without the hard sell
For some people, having to impress is their worst nightmare. But getting noticed doesn't have to mean over-selling or blowing your own trumpet – and best-selling author John Lees is here to tell you how to go about making an authentic impact
By 
Psychologies
If you dread networking and the mere thought of talking about yourself makes you break out in a cold sweat, new book The Success Code is the one for you.
Written for both introverts and extroverts, careers expert and author John Lees will help anyone whose style is naturally self-effacing how to find an authentic voice.
He writes: ‘How do you find a voice that feels authentic to you and sounds it to others? I suggest you talk the way you talk when you’re most relaxed. With friends you’re far more likely to express interest, curiosity or happiness than to talk about your abilities. If you’re pleased with something you’ve done, you will talk about it without sounding vain.’
Consider these authentic alternatives:
So the real alternative to ‘selling yourself’ isn’t to hide away – or to allow yourself to make a mess of every conversation and go home feeling beaten up. You don’t have to become someone else or transform what you do.
Seek out your authentic voice, and practise using it.
Excerpt from The Success Code: How to Stand Out and Get Noticed by John Lees, published by John Murray Learning and out now in trade paperback, £12.99. Also available as an ebook
