How To Write A Good Bio

Many good people write bad bios for themselves. Anyone asking you for a bio, or reading it, wants you to sound awesome, but what they need and what your ego wants to say are often different things. With these five simple rules you can write a good bio for yourself in less time, with less effort and everyone wins.

1. Impressive people have short bios

Compare this:

Bob Smith won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry, twice. He invented air. He’s currently the head of Amazingness at Wonderment University.

With this:

Bob Smith spent 2001-2004 staring blankly at piles of yard waste in Atlantic City, NJ. During the better part of the 90’s he read several mediocre comic books. He studied in 2002-2008 licensing regulations for circus clowns in West Palm Beach, FL. and garnered a second place industry award while merchandising mouse yogurt in Las Vegas, NV. He consulted in near-UFO experiences with random tourists on the street in Ocean City, NJ. and spent two years unsuccessfully licensing cannibalism for farmers, while maintaing his Pez dispenser collection.*

Everyone wants your bio to be shorter. The shorter your bio, the more people will read it. No one is impressed by a long series of unimpressive things. If you have a great one sentence bio, people will be curious enough to find out more. On the other hand, if you have a bad and long bio they are certain never to want to learn anything about you. When you are famous enough to appear on TV or write an article for The New York Times, your by-line will be a few words long: Author. Senator. Musician. Keep this in mind. The goal is to make your bio shorter, not longer.

2. Write for the real audience

If you are asked for a bio because you are speaking somewhere, perhaps Ignite Seattle, shape your bio to best fit what you are speaking about. Your bio will be read by people at that event to help them understand why you’re credible on your topic.

For example, if you are speaking on fly fishing, don’t do this:

Sally Shmeckes is a software developer and designer who has written code in every language known to mankind.  She works mostly as a hired gun for startups in trouble, who need a superhero to help turn trainwreck projects around. She studied 3-D Film Theory and Anti-Nuclear Architecture at the University of Ridiculousness, and has 3 children if you count her husband.

Do something like this instead:

Sally Shmeckes is a veteran software developer and designer. Her Dad taught her to fly fish before she could walk and she has fished every day since he died. She’s on twitter at @sallyschemkes56.

3. Invert your pyramid

Put the important facts first. The fancy term for this is the inverted pyramid. Assume with each word in your bio that fewer and fewer people will keep reading. It’s a great assumption because it’s true.

This is good:

Bono is the lead singer for the rock band U2. He is an advocate for many important political and social causes. His real name is Paul Hewson. He owns many interesting pairs of glasses.

Not this:

Bono likes the color red, especially on Tuesdays. He loves to drink whiskey (on all days). He learned to drink whisky from his childhood friend Zippo, when they went to school together at Mount Temple Comprehensive School. His real name is Paul Hewson, He is best known as the lead singer for the band U2.

Have two versions of your bio, one two sentences long and a longer full paragraph version. When asked for a bio, provide both. For most marketing materials a short and long version are needed.

4. Be clever only if you’re certain it’s actually clever

From the Department of Made up Facts:

  • Percent of people who think they are clever: 64%
  • Percent of people who are actually clever: 7%

If you think you are clever: write your clever bio and get feedback on it from someone else you know who you’re certain is clever. If they approve, you’re in, but don’t try to be clever all on your own. One good joke in a bio is more than enough.

5. Watch the slashes, Jack

A sad trend born of Twitter are bios where people self describe themselves by a dozen different traits. This makes you look like someone who sucks at everything. It’s fine to be a Jack of All Trades, but to insist on telling everyone you’re a Jack of All Trades mostly makes you Jack of Many Annoyances. Our species has small brains: we need you to tell us the one or two of your trades that will be most relevant to us, or to what you will be talking about.

Instead of this, which seems written like SEO metadata:

Nina Nana is a designer / juggler / smuggler / hellraiser / accountant / anti-ninja / metallurgist / snake charmer

Try this:

Nina Nana is a designer who has mastered juggling, smuggling and many glorious pursuits of diverse ingenuity.

That’s all. Happy bio writing!

[*Note: The second example from #1 is a revised creation of the auto bio generator.]

85 Responses to “How To Write A Good Bio”

  1. cee bee

    This cknfirms why i hat moat bios. soup er helpful. Thank you!

    For dome ridiculous reason my phone won’t let me correct my text. Sorry.

    Reply
    1. Adrian

      Lol funny comment indeed, I hate a long bio as well. You have no time to read all of it. Bio should be short and meaningful as said in this post.

      Reply
      1. abhisekh bashyal

        this is a nice

        Reply
    2. Graham

      That’ s really funny!

      Reply
    3. graham jones

      good one Cee Bee

      Reply
  2. Mark Sutherland

    Scott, thanks for the post: useful and very timely (the e-mail following your asked for for my bio).

    Reply
  3. EricLaw

    Excellent article, as always. one typo: “PerCept of people who”

    Reply
      1. mark

        Scott dumb post didn’t help me at all, never post anything so useless ever again. You are a waist of time.

        Reply
        1. ally

          Clearly considering all the comments besides yours is saying contrarily. And if you thought his previous posts we useless, why even bother even coming on to this website?!

          Shit… every day I find some ridiculous, ignorant common, it never ceases to amaze me. How are there so many people trying to act all tough and believe that *somehow* they’re entitled to put others down, that it’s all of a sudden justified because they can hide behind their computer. Not saying that this is the case here, or how often you leave unnecessary comments & just being a facetious asshole but the reason why I’m so adamant about it is because my cousin’s best friend killed herself because of things said online towards her. You might say the wrong thing to the wrong person at the wrong time. You’re basically just being a fucking bully. Grow the hell up…

          (Unless you’re actually his friend just bein a dick to fuck around with him… than that would be a totally different story.)

          Reply
          1. Kenneth A. Ryan

            Excellent lesson Ally. Very good point as well. We never know what we might say, at what time in someone’s life. Once we make the decision to launch those missles (words) they can not be called back.
            Scott I enjoyed reading your input. Humorous as well as to the point. Thank you sir.

          2. karla

            Yes, Ally. What a dumb comment, when this blog post was obviously the shit. The comments were cool until one loser had to ef it up.

        2. Rob

          Mark,
          Your bio might be best crafted as follows:
          “Insecure bully with spelling deficiencies (waist?!), seeking to become a better person, just afraid to admit it”. I hope you come to your senses one day – life is short.

          Reply
        3. PineappleBetty

          Do you feel better now Mark? It’s obvious you hate yourself, get a therapist.

          Scott,

          Excellent article! It’s witty, entertaining, and full of useful information. Thank you for sharing with us.

          Reply
  4. Mike Raia

    Scott, thanks for mentioning our Bio Generator. Never thought it would actually serve a useful purpose!

    Mike Raia
    generatorland.com

    Reply
  5. Julien

    Hi Scott,

    Thank you for this very interesting post. With all those social media and other website profiles, I find that most people are struggling with writing bios. Describing ourselves is a difficult exercise, probably because we believe that everything that we do/did/will do is relevant to get to know us.
    I will definitely remember this one advice when editing my bios: “if you have a great short bio, people will be curious enough to find out more”.

    @Cee Bee: so funny! Loved your comment!

    Reply
  6. Chris Marr

    Thanks for this info Scott. I’m attempting to craft a new Bio…this will help greatly.

    Reply
  7. Arvind Nath

    Very informative. Very funny, I laughed so hard my ribs hurt. I am going to sue. Thanks Scott.

    Reply
  8. Barbra

    Nice to read an article on how to write a bio that not only has sound advice, but a few laughs too. I especially like your point about “Put the important facts first.” I would add “don’t forget to state specifically what your job title is.” I can’t tell you how many bios I have read that fail to do that.

    Reply
  9. Parameswaran Pengad

    Very useful points for those who are trying autobiography! Elaboration may sometimes create a bad impression on readers too much of a.good.thing,even it is AMRUTH, is also bad!!
    Thank you, beloved author ,for your esteemed words!!!

    Reply
  10. New Music

    I don’t know about this. Short and sweet is all well and good but there is some (actually a heap) of conflicting info out there about what makes a good bio. I’ve decided to compile a list of 10 or so really good ones and ask others what they thing and go from there. They are all more comprehensive than 2 lines I should add.

    Reply
  11. Jen

    Sorry I wrote down New Music as my name in the last comment its Jen.

    Reply
  12. Natalie

    A very funny and useful post. I actually read the whole thing word for word. How often does that happen on the net?… um never!

    Reply
  13. Frank

    I’m in the process of creating my about page so i found this very timely.

    I was told to make the About page on your blog about the visitor and not so much about you. Of course you introduce yourself and validate your story/experience but make sure to give the reader a reason to stick around. You want your story to be relatable and not one sided. I’m sure I’ll need to revise it occasionally but I feel like I should be able to put something together that works well.

    Reply
  14. Liz Estes

    Scott: Wondering if perhaps there is there an inverse law–the more well-known you are the shorter (and funnier) your bio can be? Barack Obama, POTUS. Santa Clause. Bruce.

    Reply
  15. David

    Nice info.

    I am actually guilty of that jack of all trade syndrome. Reason: I do not know. That’s exactly what I wrote on my twitter bio page, but immediately I read this, I change it immediately!

    Reply
  16. Guillermo Avendaño-Franco

    Thank you very much,

    My search on google put me right on front of your
    post, really good and useful post.

    Thanks

    Reply
  17. Boss Books

    Great post. I’m going away and changing my bio based on your advice. The only thing I might say to disagree is that some very unimpressive people have the shortest bios.

    Reply
  18. Greg

    This post is awesome. I’m going to re-write my bio now on all my public pages.
    The hardest part will be making a long bio for myself as i’m still young.

    Thank you for this.

    Reply
  19. Gretchen Beck

    Thank you! The info I was looking for, presented in a way that’s easy to apply.

    Reply
  20. Rio

    heh heh, great post & quite entertaining!! *****

    Reply
  21. PEAK SEO

    Interesting read. Definitely had me looking at the way a bio is written in a whole new way.

    Reply
  22. Farhad

    First, thank you very much indeed for the priceless comments. I would like to ask if a certain institute requires us to write a length-set autobios, say a 2-page one, how should we act then?

    Reply
  23. Paul Stewart

    “How to write a good bio” listed in sixth position in Google. A couple of things:
    1. To save time for all, it should be #1.
    2. I’m glad I kept looking for better advice after reading 1, 2, 3, 4, & 5.

    Reply
  24. Rex

    Great article. I am currently editing my bio and I really find this helpful.

    Reply
  25. Monchichi

    What to write when we are not even in the “think I’m clever” category? Basically how to write impressively when the credentials sink like Titanic.

    Reply
  26. Dhoriz

    ” and has 3 children if you count her husband.”
    This made my day ridiculously funny lol..!

    Anyway, old post but still very helpful..
    Nice one, thanks!

    Reply
  27. Kathy S.

    Thanks Scott! After 17 years in business, it’s hard to believe I hadn’t written a short bio, but will be doing a speaking engagement and needed one. Your article really helped me narrow down the content, and it’s some very precise verbiage that draws a person in with only 2-3 sentences. Thanks for helping me achieve that. Cheers! ~ Kathy

    Reply
  28. Vera

    Thanks to you scott, I have a great bio now

    Reply
  29. Bill

    Great article. Found it during an internet search on writing a good Bio. Have a radio interview coming up next week and wanted to make some changes to mine. So very helpful. I ended up reversing the order of my Bio contents and shortening by about 70%. Excellent

    Reply
  30. Ammar Ali

    Writing about ourselves isn’t an easy task. I find it hard to write about myself. But, your tips helped me a lot to find the right direction. :)

    Reply
  31. Linden

    I might/could/sometimes/maybe use slashes too much in my bio ;). I did not run that through a clever check though…Haha.

    Thanks for the tips! When I read “Spent two years licensing cannibalism for farmers, and recycling Pez dispensers.” I died laughing for some reason.

    Reply
  32. Paul Tufts

    Excellent content regarding how to make a bio stand out in a busy world. I will use your points next time I write one up. Thanks for the article and will look forward to more.

    Reply
  33. Rob

    Scott,
    Some valuable pointers I will take from this post – many thanks.
    Rob

    Reply
  34. Sam Clarks

    I also related this guide with Twitter BIO. In few words, you need to show a lot more – That’s the writing science of using few words and expressing more.

    Thanks for the nice information.

    Reply
  35. Chavdar

    Yes it’s all about conversion. Showing the people how they can benefit from contacting you engaging with you and reading your content is critical for getting better CRT from your bio. Ecential part of it is the credibility info. Grat points here. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
  36. Chalkshare

    Thank you for your info, I’ll make use of this in my future bio’s

    Reply
  37. Set Kamar Tidur Ukir

    Thank you all for sharing knowledge of how to write a bio that is good and simple. Very interesting for me to learn about your ideas well.

    Reply
  38. Paul Tufts

    Scott has done a terrific job laying out the best way to cut through all the fluff and write a bio that dominates.

    Reply
  39. Jim Beals

    thanks to this fine article I am about to completely rewrite my bio and change it on all my social media. Well done and thanks to Scott.

    Reply
  40. Cora

    Thanks! This was extremely helpful! Especially examples of what to do and what to avoid in bio writing!
    Cora

    Reply
  41. James Harrington

    This is the most helpful bio article i have found yet!

    Reply
  42. christine lukose

    Thanks. I havd learnt something new and good for me. Am about to finish writting my bio.

    Reply
  43. Brian Kim

    Thank you for sharing this post on how one can write a good bio! Keep ’em coming.

    Reply
  44. VT

    Working on a conference talk form now and stuck on how to best write Bio, this really helped.

    Reply
  45. Cici

    Thanks for this! Entertaining and dead on!

    Reply
  46. Rosella

    This is a useful and excellent share. Will definitely share it with people I know.

    Reply
  47. Rosella

    An amazing post with great tips as always. Anyone will find your post useful. Keep up the good work.

    Reply
  48. Alex Gardner

    Amazing article Scott!

    Definitely enjoyed tip #3 the most, thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  49. Tom Frank

    Definitely a good read. Would share it many and wish you a good reach. What Fun!

    Reply

Pingbacks

Leave a Reply

* Required