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Home › Articles › Teenagers › Nice Teens Do Brag

Nice Teens Do Brag

Expert Advice From Communication Coach Peggy Klaus

By Tamekia Reece

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Before you can even try to get your teen to brag, you must first get rid of your own negative attitude about bragging and the people who do it. You can do this by first thinking about your own definition of the word "brag" and comparing it to Klaus' definition. To you, "brag" probably means talking about yourself and what you did and how much greater you are than others. According to Klaus, the new meaning of "brag" is to talk about your best self with pride and passion, in a short and peppy conversational-like manner, intended to excite admiration, interest and wonder – without being obnoxious. Doesn't seem so bad when you think of it that way, does it?

Once you've got it, don't forget to tell your teen about your change of heart. "Admit that you were taught it was bad, and that's why you taught it to your teen," says Klaus. Be sure to mention that you now know there are ways you can talk about yourself and have it be a good thing, and then promise to teach your teen how to do it.

Bragging 101
Before you can teach your teen how to brag effectively, you've got to first make sure that you know how to do it. "Some of the ways [parents] can practice their own bragging techniques is by creating little bragalogues about themselves – little stories where they talk about perhaps what it is they do, and mention something that they're proud of in terms of their job, volunteer work or raising a family," says Klaus.

Once you've got it down, pass the lesson along to your teen. If your teen tries to get out of it by saying there's nothing worth bragging about, or he doesn't know what to say, have him take Klaus' "Take 12" self-evaluation

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