Writing A Bio

Writing a Bio can be difficult and time consuming. Coming up with a bio that is NOT boring is needed to keep your reader’s attention. I recently found an article that will help you write a good bio quickly. Here is the link to the article on Copylicious and below is the meat of the article.  I personally would like to see something different in a person’s bio.

Besides the questions featured in the article why not answer some questions that show how human you are or show your honesty?

Besides all of your accomplishments, I would love to hear about your life’s funniest moment, your most embarrassing moment, how an iconic figure molded your personality from the time you were young, the wisest thing once said to you or how some impact on your life, for example – living with a loved-one in a wheel chair or a relative who had hearing impairment – made you more patient and understanding.  These are all insights into your life that make reading a bio more interesting.  Also, just like writing a paper, why not “wow” the reader with your opening statement by writing one of these stories.

What would you do if you won the lottery? If you had a second career, what would it be?  If you could choose just one super power, what would that be? I would like to have the power to stop time (does that give you insight into my personality?) Do NOT expose your political or religious views, you may be eliminating a segment of your clientele.

The following 16 questions are designed to help you produce the raw ingredients to write bios.

But before you dig in, please read these instructions:

1. Set a timer for 26 minutes. This is very important. Do not skip this step! If you’re a Level-9 Procrastinator like me, you’ll never start this exercise if you don’t give yourself permission to do it quickly. This doesn’t have to become a 3-hour, story-of-my-life writing intervention. (Unless you want it to.)
2. Answer the questions in a rambling, conversational style. You might even write them in the body of an email you pretend to send to a friend. Don’t worry about perfect sentences. This exercise is not designed to help you craft your bio. It’s simply to help you dig up all the good, fresh stuff buried in your brain, which you can then use to craft your bio. If you hate writing and are better at thinking on your feet, then speak your answers into a recorder or iPhone and transcribe them.
3. Let your answers sit for a while. Then bold the answers that seem interesting, unexpected, insightful, profound, or just plain feel like you.

Now you’re ready to go. Here are 16 questions to get you started and to keep you from writing a bio-speak bio.

16 Questions to Help You Write Your Bio

1. How did you arrive at running this business? What path brought you here?
2. What are you known for professionally? What do you have a knack for?
3. What’s the one problem you are best at solving for your clients? What do your ideal clients say about you?
4. Who have you worked with in the past? And what have you done for them?
5. What are you most passionate about professionally? What most excites you about your work & the contribution you can make?
6. What are you passionate about personally? What do you really enjoy? What can’t you stop talking about?
7. Where can we find you when you’re not working? What’s your favorite way to spend a weekend or a Sunday afternoon?
8. How long have you been doing what you do?
9. Where did you grow up and why aren’t you there now?
10. Any volunteer activities you’re crazy about?
11. Any nonprofits you love, & why?
12. Any awards or medals, or even medallions? Personal okay, too.
13. What would be impossible for you to give up?
14. Why would someone not want to work with you?
15. How do you want to be remembered?
16. Anything else you’d like to tell people about yourself?