8 Tips to Write a Professional Bio

September 3, 2008 by Pete Kistler
Filed under: All, Brand-Yourself.com, Careers, College, How To, Networking, Personal Branding, Uncategorized, Web Identity 

The more involved you become with various groups and projects, the more you need a professional bio. They are massively useful in a variety of settings - for example, if someone needs to post a description about you on a website, newsletter or article. Since people who don’t know you may only ever see your bio, you need to make it count. The following tips will help teach you how to write a professional bio on yourself:

1. Make three versions: short, medium and long. Most of the time, the length of your bio will be dictated by someone else. They will likely tell you how many words you can use to ensure that yours is the same length as other bios. Because of this, one bio will not do.

You need three bios:

  • One sentence bio
  • 100 word bio
  • 250 word bio

Each bio has it’s place. You will save you time and energy when the time comes time to post it, and establish consistency between every professional bio about you that is published.

2. Introduce yourself as if you’re meeting a stranger. Lead in with your name. People need to know who you are before they hear what you’re all about.

3. Immediately state what you do. If you are “Portrait Photographer,” don’t wait until the last moment to say it. Your most important details should go in the first sentence. Remember: people on the web rarely read more than the first and last sentence.

4. Touch upon your most important accomplishments. Don’t list them, and make sure they fit. A bio is not a resume, it is simply a quick summary of who you are. If you have space, mention them. If not, ignore them.

5. Include your contact information. You should have a line in your bio that makes it easy for people to contact you. Stick to the norm and put your contact info in the last sentence.

6. Talk in the third person. Since your bio is something other people use to describe you, make it sound like someone else is talking about you. Good: “John Doe is a portrait photographer with six years of hands-on experience working with clients… etc.” Bad: “I am a portrait photographer… etc.”

7. Get feedback from a friend. A great way to test your bio is to have someone else read it. Ask for their feedback. Does it accurately state who you are and what you do? If after reading your bio they still don’t understand what value you provide, revise it until they do.

8. Keep it up to date. You’re constantly moving forward in your career, and your bio should reflect that. Never send out your bio if it still says you work for a former employer.

The next step: Join me as I analyze Dan Schawbel’s bio, one sentence at a time.

Pete Kistler
Author: Pete Kistler


Tags: , , , , ,

Comments

12 Comments on 8 Tips to Write a Professional Bio

  1. How to Write a Short, Professional Bio On Yourself (Learn by example) | Brand-Yourself.com Blog on Fri, 7th Nov 2008 11:45 am

    2. [...] This analysis is a good starting point to think about how to write your bio. The next step is to read our second post in this series: 8 Tips to Write a Professional Bio. [...]

  2. Craig Fisher on Fri, 7th Nov 2008 2:52 pm

    3. Pete, Excellent post! Love the breakdown of Dan’s summary too. I will be passing this along.

    Craig Fisher
    http://www.fishdogs.com
    http://www.alistsolutions.com

  3. Martin Buckland on Fri, 7th Nov 2008 3:10 pm

    4. Thank you for your post. A bio accompanied with a powerful and enticing resume are your two most important sales tools.

    When presenting these documents you only have on chance, first impressions count. Your blog goes a long way in creating the correct image with a bio.

    Thanks again

  4. Everything You Need to Start Building Your Personal Brand Right Now | Brand-Yourself.com Blog on Sun, 23rd Nov 2008 8:32 am

    5. [...] your personal brand into all aspects of your career. Your resume, bio, cover letter, web presence, interview stories, business card and email signature should all [...]

  5. EASanders on Tue, 10th Feb 2009 10:14 am

    6. This info was very helpful. Is there any info on creating a health bio?

  6. nels1234 on Thu, 19th Feb 2009 2:21 pm

    7. Thanks for the input. One way I was able to create my own personal brand was by using a new website called personavita.com. it was really helpful in bringing all my thoughts ideas and accomplishments together. It builds credibility and others can validate my work. You can also create different Bios based on who you are showing it to. ( Future/existing employers, family, friends etc.) I think it really sets me apart.

  7. Sam Subotic » Blog Archive » Wie schreibe ich eine Kurzbiografie…? on Fri, 27th Feb 2009 4:01 am

    8. [...] 8 Tips to Write a Professional Bio [...]

  8. Tim Baker on Tue, 7th Apr 2009 1:47 pm

    9. Thank you for the tips. Being in the process of publishing my first book I’ve had to generate a bio and despite the fact that I call myself a writer I had a tough time with it. This site has given me a much better feel for the whole thing. Keep an ey on my site for the updated version.

  9. LaKaye Mbah on Mon, 20th Apr 2009 3:05 pm

    10. Thank you. These tips are easy to follow and I didn’t know about the 3 bio rule! I really enjoyed the breakdown of the other bio and used that to help me get started writing mine.

    Thanks again!

  10. rose webb on Thu, 23rd Apr 2009 11:34 pm

    11. Thanks this was nice and simpe and easy to use.

  11. Martie on Wed, 20th May 2009 2:00 am

    12. Thanks! As a novice this was really helpful.

  12. Sapp on Sun, 31st May 2009 5:34 am

    13. Thanks for posting this tool to the web. Over and over again, I recreate the wheel college course after college course and more recently for my introduction into the civilian arena. I am more confident now that I have this standardized method of writing bios in hand. Army Strong!

Please leave a comment so we know what you thought!