On your "About" page, in conference materials, in media kits or elsewhere, a business bio should not be a cold, dry list of qualifications, with every fact in its appropriate slot.
Nor should it be a chronology of your career.
Instead, in your bio, provide an overview of your achievements and distinctive work approach. Through what you say or how you say it, also impart a sense of you as a person.
To warm up your bio with sparks of life, include one or more of these:
- A quote from you or your personal motto
- A phrase clients or an authority figure use about you (clients call him "the uncoach" because his advice is so laid back and subtle)
- Fanciful or unexpected language (paints the scenes that beckon to her)
- Concrete details (trained his first dog, a Schnauzer, at age 10)
- Vivid extremes or contrasts (has taught everyone from CEOs to imprisoned drug dealers)
- Tantalizing numbers (the third most quoted Canadian chartered accountant)
- A fact that humbles you (Alan Weiss once appeared on Jeopardy, where he lost to a dancing waiter)
Thanks for the advice, Marcia. It's amazing how a 'human interest' snippet about an author or expert can make them so much more real and approachable.
Posted by: Fiona Ingram | July 30, 2010 at 09:18 AM
Your post is very timely as I'm thinking about web pages and what to put in my 'About Me' or 'Bio'.
Thanks for the pointers, Marcia.
Posted by: Jessie Mac | July 30, 2010 at 11:42 AM
Most thought-provoking. Great tips.Thank you!
Posted by: sheila glazov | July 30, 2010 at 01:10 PM
Thanks for your comments, Fiona, Jessie and Sheila -- I agree that Marcia's tips are great! And I encourage everyone to sign up for her newsletter to get more tips like this.
Dana
Posted by: Dana Lynn Smith | July 30, 2010 at 01:33 PM