As a speaker, author, coach or industry expert, there will be many situations where you will be asked to provide your bio for promotional purposes.

With these simple rules, you will be able to write a dazzling bio for yourself in less time, with less effort and with amazing results.

1) THE NARRATIVE
Bios are typically written in the third person narrative and should sound as though it were objectively written by someone else (although it is obviously anything but).

2) THE VERSIONS
It is becoming more common, however, to use the first-person narrative for your website. Doing this can make your bio more personalized, casual, personality-driven and will allow you to be more creative in how you connect with your website visitors. But in all other scenarios, it’s best to stick with third person narrative.
(Keep in mind that media professionals and people who book you to speak or be guest on a webinar, will often copy and paste your bio from your website so you may want to include two separate versions of your bio on your website like I did on mine.)

Here is an example of a great professional bio > CLICK HERE.

3) THE LENGTH
Most entrepreneurs can benefit from writing several bios in various lengths for different purposes. I personally keep a document in the cloud with various iterations of my bio, including versions at 1-sentence, 1-paragraph, and 1-page. I’ve used this document countless times over the years and strongly recommend that all authors create a similar document.

Your 1-sentence bio can be used as your elevator pitch and on your social media profiles.
The 1-paragraph bio should be about one-hundred words long and should include everything briefly.
The 1-pager should be your most thorough and complete bio version.

4) THE BASICS
Just like when you are introduced to somebody, you will start with your name and then move on to your occupation. The reader needs to be hooked and enticed to keep reading, so you may want to include an impressive accomplishment or statistic.

5) THE RELEVANT DETAILS
Your bio should include the most relevant details pertaining to your subject matter or expertise which can include: The title of your book, your area of expertise, any major media coverage you’ve received, publications that you write for, foundations or boards you serve on and relevant business experience (if you offer related business services or you’re a speaker)

6) THE PERSONALITY
Add some flavor to your bio by including something unexpected. This can be a bit of humor or just curious information that you think people will be interested in, such as you being a fine wine connoisseur or a motorcycle enthusiast. A transition for this may be: “and in his/her spare time, he/she really enjoys _____”. A little witty twist at the end can tell a lot about your personality.

Here is another example of a great professional bio > CLICK HERE.

7) THE CONTACT DETAILS
End your bio with your contact details or hyperlink to your website, Facebook Business Page or LinkedIn Profile.

8) THE TWEAK
Ask a friend or peer to proof your bio before you publish it anywhere.

9) THE REVIEW
Remember that your bio is a living document and you should review it on a monthly basis. As it’s fairly short it won’t take you too long to make changes that can be quite important to the reader.

Here is one more example of a dazzling author bio > CLICK HERE.

Your Bio Will Also Be Needed in Following Places:

Your website’s “About” page and “Media” page.
The back cover or the last page of your book. If you don’t have a book yet, CLICK HERE.
At the end of articles, you write for other publications.
Blog posts on your website.
Social media profiles.
On the event agenda when you’re a speaker.
Marketing when you present as a tele-summit, webinar or podcast guest.

Conclusion:

Your bio is getting more and more important and you should make sure it sells you and brings out your personal brand. I hope these tips and sample bios have been helpful, do let me know if you have any other thoughts and ideas on bios. Now that you have a great bio, remember to reach out to the right people and make sure they read it!

Make sure you also take a moment to check out my bio > CLICK HERE.

I hope you find these tips super helpful!

Hugs!!! CR