Tips for Polishing Your Professional Bio
For some of us, talking about ourselves is easy. For others, it can feel like a stretch trying to eloquently boast about our expertise and accolades, especially when it comes to writing our biography down on paper.
Why does your bio matter? It shows clients and prospects who you are and how you can help them. And it shows referral sources the types of work to send your way.
While it may be easy to quickly write down a few things about yourself and move on, it’s best to devote a little bit of time to making your bio shine. You want it to accurately reflect your capabilities, how you make a difference, and a little bit of your personality.
It’s important to have an updated and polished bio so people who read it can immediately learn about you and how you can help. Plus, when you are asked to speak at a conference or submit an article for an industry publication, you’ll have a great bio ready to share.
Read on for some tips on the key items to include in your professional bio.
1. Overview and Experience
People read your bio because they want to learn about you and your capabilities. Explain what you do in your current role. Also, show prospective clients and COIs how you are different. For example, every attorney works with clients on their legal issues. Have you been a part of a significant acquisition that gives you better insight into the dealmaking process? Do you have experience in-house in a specific industry that is relevant to your clients? If so, share these experiences as much as you can!
Consider breaking out career highlights in a bulleted list so prospects and COIs can clearly and quickly see your experience. Also list any relevant past experience that shows other skills you’ve acquired in your career as well as recent publications, presentations or speaking engagements. This helps to establish you as a thought leader and gives more credibility to what you have to say.
2. Causes You Care About
We all have causes and organizations we are passionate about and support. Share those in your bio so people can get a more holistic view of you. Do you support a local food bank by volunteering monthly? Do you serve on the board of a cancer organization or children’s cause? You may make a connection with a prospect because you both care deeply about these issues.
3. Personality
Display some personality in your bio! Showing your sense of humor or talking about your love of a sports team makes you more human and can serve as great connection point with others. Consider throwing in a few fun facts about you to liven up your bio.
4. Polished Photo
Include a professional photo with your bio. Make sure you update your photo every couple of years or if you have drastically changed your image. You can do the traditional headshot or you could have your photo taken outside by a graffitied wall or with the city skyline in the background. A way to showcase personality is to use a candid shot instead of the traditional posed style.
Extra Tip: Consider writing a brief intro for your bio. Give readers a glimpse of who you are and how you help in just a couple of sentences. You could use this if a publication requests a short bio with your byline or when you’re a speaker at an event.
Remember, your career has evolved, so your bio should too. If it’s been years since you’ve touched it or updated your photo, now’s the time to polish it up. An added bonus – once your bio is updated, you can use it to make your LinkedIn profile shine as well.
If you need assistance with your firm’s bios, KSGilmore Consulting can help! Contact us today, and we can interview, rewrite and edit your bios, which will help you expand your personal brand, build awareness and get referrals.