How to Write a Good Short Bio

A short biography forces you to highlight the most important aspects of your life and professional career in one clear, condensed paragraph. A good short bio not only helps readers learn more about you, but it also increases brand awareness, credibility, authority and trust, which later translate into more potential customers and clients. Short one-paragraph bios are preferred over longer multiple-paragraph bios when you can only use a limited author bio box, which is often the case when writing articles for content sites and guest posts for other blogs.

Things You Will Need

• Computer

• Word processor

Note your achievements, interests, education history, certifications, organizations you are a member of and all the interesting characteristics that make you unique. Shorten the list and highlight the things that best describe you and your profession. Out of this shortened list, choose three to six significant items to write in your short bio, depending on how long the bio will be.

Write your bio in the third person. Because people are more likely to trust what other people say about someone, you should always write in the third person, even though you are writing about yourself. A short bio written in the third person also sounds more professional than one written in the first person and can help you build credibility. For example, use pronouns like "he" or "she" when referring to yourself, depending on what gender you are, instead of first-person pronouns such as "I." You can also refer to yourself by name.

Start the short bio off with your main achievements and include only the high points of your career, rather than your whole work history. Your achievements will give readers a reason to find out more about your business, helping you develop more authority and ultimately increase sales.

Describe who you are, your main goal or objective, information about your profession and how readers can contact you. When talking about yourself, use your first and last name initially in the short bio. Then continue addressing yourself with either your first or last name, depending on whether you want to develop a friendly relationship with the reader or take a more formal, professional approach.

Make your bio easy to read. Readers usually skim over large blocks of text, so a good short bio should have no more than three sentences in each paragraph. If you find any paragraphs on the lengthy side, try condensing them and take out any sentences not strengthening your main argument.

Let your personality shine through. A good short bio portrays who you are without the reader actually knowing you, so show off your personality. If you enjoy a good laugh, make your bio humorous. If you have a passion, let your readers know. The more real your bio sounds, the more your readers will be able to relate to you.

Tip

A good short bio is normally 50 to 200 words long.