What’s the best way to impress other people?

What’s the best way to impress other people?

What's the best way to impress other people?

Pretty much anything other than self-promotion. There's a lot of evidence that when people toot their own horns it tends to backfire. People will judge them as arrogant, narcissistic, and especially as insecure. They know that if you were really amazing you wouldn't have to work so hard to tell other people how amazing you are. Research suggests that instead of promoting yourself it's more effective if other people promote you because after all you're not a credible judge of your own abilities and accomplishments. But if other people think highly of you and they're willing to talk about that that can go a long way. And so, if you're in a situation where you feel like you have to self-promote, then it's worth asking, "OK, over my career, who are the people that I've really impressed?" "Who are not only willing but maybe even excited to sing my praises." And then, "how can I invite them to do that in an honest and genuine way?"

More from GZERO Media

Displaced Palestinian woman Mai Anseir stands with children at a school where they shelter as they prepare to flee Rafah after Israeli forces launched a ground and air operation in the eastern part of the southern Gaza City, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip May 13, 2024.
REUTERS/Mohammed Salem
Dutch far-right politician and leader of the PVV party Geert Wilders.
REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw

Geert Wilders, the far-right Dutch politician notorious for his fervent anti-Islam and anti-migrant views, has struck a deal to form a coalition government — making the Netherlands the latest EU country to drift to the hard right.

FILE PHOTO: Chinese Coast Guard vessels fire water cannons towards a Philippine resupply vessel Unaizah on May 4 as it made its way to the Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea, March 5, 2024.
REUTERS/Adrian Portugal//File Photo

A flotilla of Philippine fishing vessels was put to sea Wednesday to assert sovereignty over the disputed Scarborough Shoal — where China has dozens of ships waiting for them.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden participate in their first 2020 presidential campaign debate held on the campus of the Cleveland Clinic at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, U.S., September 29, 2020.
REUTERS/Brian Snyder

President Joe Biden and Donald Trump have agreed to two head-to-head presidential debates.

Jess Frampton

Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, a school where I teach a class on applied geopolitics, invited me to deliver this year’s commencement speech. It was a privilege – and a challenge – that I took very seriously.

President Joe Biden is delivering remarks on his agenda to promote American investments and jobs today in Washington, DC, USA, on May 14, 2024, at the Rose Garden/White House.
Lenin Nolly/Reuters

President Joe Bidenannounced earlier this week that the United States will quadruple the tariffs on electric vehicles imported from China to 100% of their value while also imposing higher duties on metals and other clean energy products.

Mourners react next to the body of a Palestinian killed in Israeli strikes, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, at Al-Aqsa hospital, in Deir Al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, May 12, 2024.
REUTERS/Ramadan Abed

The UN is now playing cleanup, maintaining that the overall death toll has not changed and is roughly 35,000.

Putin visits Xi to continue "no-limit" relationship with China | Ian Bremmer | World In :60

Does Putin's upcoming visit with Xi Jinping signal a continuing “no-limits” partnership between China and Russia? Why is Europe alarmed with Georgia's “foreign agents” law? How will Biden respond if Israel continues to push into Rafah? Ian Bremmer shares his insights on global politics this week on World In :60.

Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman meets with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Al Yamamah Palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, April 29, 2024.
REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

Saudi Arabia is reportedly showing fresh interest in a roadmap to peace in Yemen that was iced late last year in the wake of the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel.