There's nothing quite like answering your own question. No sooner had I posted the previous entry than I read an article in the current issue of Executive Update about self-promotion strategies that avoid being a blowhard or braggart. The author, Nancy Graham, offers these 12 "tooting tips" for bragging:

• Be your best, authentic self
• Think about to whom you are tooting
• Say it with meaningful and entertaining stories
• Keep it short and simple
• Talk with me, not at me
• Be able to back up what you say
• Know when to toot
• Turn small talk into big talk
• Keep bragalogues and brag bites current and fresh
• Be ready at a moment's notice
• Have a sense of humor
• Use it all: your eyes, ears, head, and heart

FC Now readers might also find Peggy Klaus' book Brag! The Art of Tooting Your Own Horn Without Blowing It useful.