Why do you need a bio?
An important question, for which you should know the answer. If you're looking up how to write your bio, it's because someone is requesting it. In every case, the why and for who to read will dramatically change your approach.
For marketing and media outreach, like if you're a keynote speaker at a conference or interview on a podcast, reputable interviewers (or their team) should be able to sleuth a great bio just by researching you. This may or may not involve someone from their party reaching out for a pre-interview to ask specific questions. It's best to leave this work to them, as they know the proper format for bios for their audience.
If you're making a public appearance or interview on a show, and no one reaches out to you (and they ask you to provide your bio for the event), they might not care enough about what's in it; a harsh critique, but it's true. That doesn't mean it's always malicious, and it just means the staff doesn't have the time, resources, or insight to tailor their guest bios specifically to their show or audience. I say take the opportunity to spin an advantage. Instead of a detailed biography or summary of your work, provide a one-line description and a link to your website where you have a more robust background summary available. Should anyone watching, listening, or attending be curious enough to want to learn more about you, you'll at least get them into space you own.
Focus on your audience
Whether you're writing a standard bio for your own website, on your LinkedIn summary, social media, your employer website, or for a specific event, identifying the audience will get you 90% of the way to a perfect bio.
When you know your audience, you know what they care about. You'll know what they're looking for, which elements of your background are most applicable, and how you can position yourself to fit in nicely within that ecosystem.
If your entire life's work is a series of shaped blocks, think of narrowing in on your audience as choosing the correct shaped holes. Then filter out all of the wrong-shaped blocks, so you're working with pieces that will always resonate with the reader, listener, or attendee.
There will be a series of brainstorming questions that will help you flush out the material to make those blocks later on. Please don't take them too literally, and think of them as inspiration. If you go off on a tangent and think about something different from the question prompts, that's still valuable. It may be more useful since your passion fuels that tangent.
What is the ideal bio length?
Every piece of copy, and assuredly every bio, should only be as long as it needs to convey the necessary information. Fluff and fancy words help nobody*. Writing your bio yourself (or working with a writer that understands this) will ensure it's more authentic. Specific phrases, trade terms, tone, and cadence can all be modified to reflect your unique personality. If it's a third-person bio typical to a company staff page, or if you're introduced in a pre-interview setting, that tone should match the organization's personality doing the interview.
*In niche settings where your audience is very similar and each member shares a standard credential, accreditation, or experience background, those readers and listeners may be expecting specific phrases or terms. You might want to use a buzz word or phrase your passages in such a way that your audience acclimated to it. Regardless of your skills and experience, you may feel straying outside of that standard will lower your value in the eyes of those readers. This is your gut talking. Trust your gut. This feeling is often primarily true and presents a strategic choice early on in your bio writing process.
Being bold and stepping outside of the template can work on a niche audience if your personality can back it up. If you're not that bold, you can still get away with leaving the buzz words behind you through authenticity and empathy-- let your honest and transparent passion, interest, and actions take center stage. Think of this choice as more of a slider than a switch.
For your overall length, start by pairing down the bulleted notes you're taking on your relevant accomplishments, goals, and aspirations. Reducing it as much as you can while still making a coherent string of thoughts will get you to where you need to be. When asked for a bio, it's common practice to be given some maximum limits; a single page, half a page, a couple of paragraphs, five lines, or even a short character limit.
For short-short bios with hard character limits (like in social media bios), people tend to enjoy singularly focused copy. Just state the facts. Alternatively, you can write a catchy tagline that either represents your personality or philosophy. When available, peppering in emojis helps include elements that wouldn't usually fit within character limits with the bonus of making the reader participate.
For executive bios, summaries, or anywhere you're not the primary focus keeping your bio to five lines is a good guideline. Even in context, most readers wouldn't want to linger on if they have other things to do (like purchasing your product or service on your website, listening to the rest of the speakers at a conference, or anticipating the start of the podcast they downloaded). Five lines of text will roughly correlate to a single screen of copy on a mobile phone. Where most webpage readers are doing so on their cell phones, as you write your bio, ask yourself if what you're including is genuinely worth extra scrolls down.
Context is Everything
We all have multiple facets to our lives. Our hobbies, interests, and professions change over time. Where we received our training or formal education might not support a current avenue we're pursuing now. A 20-year career in a previous industry could be unrelated to the role we have right now. The common interests and leisure activities we share with our friends, family, and colleagues aren't likely to focus on the presentation for which we're writing a new bio.
The above statements are all true. What is also true is that every action, experience, and interest we've taken or held in the past did its part to shape who we are today. These can build up into what makes us unique. For that reason, I would argue to include them within your bio. But do it in a subtle, nuanced, and strategic way.
Your first instinct might want to bring your entire tool shed or a well-equipped utility belt. What your readers are anticipating might be a multi-tool. What sort of multi-tool are you?
Look for Examples
When you're trying to figure out anything, looking to see how others have successfully done the same task is a logical step. Many other valuable guides include one or two bios that support the "rules" or templates they recommend.
I don't believe too much in canned templates as a turnkey solution, and I encourage everyone to write a new bio from scratch whenever asked, and not before. There's too much of an advantage to gain with empathy, nuance, and relevancy when you know the audience—trying to cut up or modify existing bios limits that advantage.
Your goal should be to write a bio that showcases your history in a way where your intended reader will trust you. People read about impressive leaders and captains of industry every day, but that doesn't automatically translate to trust. When you're looking to find examples to inspire you, make your search two-fold.
First, look for examples of bios from people you admire. You'll get excited reading them. That's the same reaction you want to have, and understanding that emotion on a visceral level is crucial. Second, look at your peers. Who in your position has written a bio previously? For a media or press spot like a podcast or show, review some previous guests. If it's for an organization staff page or executive bio, look at your team members and colleagues from partnering companies.
Get a good mix of examples you choose for yourself—some that energize you, others that represent your industry or trade. Once you've thought about everything we've discussed here and have taken a look at a few examples, it's time to get to work and do some brainstorming.
How to (actually) write your bio
Use the following questions as jumping-off points. Read through this questionnaire and respond to each of the following casually. Let all of your ideas come out naturally. Digitally or in print, you should finish with a thick wall of text.
Don't worry. After you've finished, take a break. Walk away and grab a coffee. Cycle your mind from creative to analytical. Then, come back with a highlighter as you read through what you've written. Highlight only the relevant, meaningful, and impactful passages. Think of these passages as interchangeable blocks. Get rid of any redundancies by choosing the most powerful to remain. Arrange them in an order that paints the narrative you want. Your bio does not have to be chronological.
What's your pitch? Imagine having a quick 1-2 minute conversation with a new colleague, client, or even an old friend over drinks. Be casual and write down what comes to mind. Don't worry about rambling on or jotting down quick bullet points—this step establishes a baseline of ideas to pull from, narrow down, and refine later.
What drives you to grow professionally? Another way to think about this is to figure out elements of your work life that supercharge your motivation. When was your last fantastic day? What made it great? What were you doing?
Are there any singular moments or experiences you feel have shaped your work ethic or changed your perspective?
Are there any notable accomplishments that showcase your key strengths? Any accolades or credentials you feel appropriate to include within the bio? Alternatively, how do you think a professional peer or client would describe your best attributes?
Don't Forget to edit and revise.
Revisions are magic. Wait a day or more after you've finished writing your bio. Come back to it, share it with others, and fix any grammatical errors. Polish it up by reading it aloud and adjusting any passages where you need to slow down or stop to catch your thoughts.
Do this as many times as you feel comfortable. 1-3 revisions will typically get you close enough to perfection. Anything more runs the risk of busywork, where further changes add depreciative improvement.
