How to write your bio or about page and make it mean something

I’ve been helping a client in my business advice sessions to write bio pages for each of her staff members and associates this week.

Here are some top tips on how to get your staff bios (or just the personal part of your ‘about us’ page) to stand out.

Top tips for staff bio pages

• Put a photo on your bio page. I keep talking about this, but pictures do engender trust, help you at networking events and give a better view (!) of your company.

• Don’t make it read like a cv. You might want some credibility building points there, such as ‘author of How to Write Great Software’ or ‘used to work for Google’. Don’t bother with degrees, where you went to uni or that you went to Thailand in your gap year.

• Do drill down into detail about the person’s specialisms. If you’re a lawyer who loves to use mediation as a way of keeping your clients out of court, say so. If you’re a digital marketing manager who specialises in building online brands or increasing conversion rates, say so.

• Do give detail about the person as a human being, but avoid making them sound dull, apologetic or cheesy. Avoid saying they’re not very good at skiing (even if they are genuinely rubbish) or talking about their greatest achievement. Or their favourite type of cheese.

• If you speak several languages, say so. For a UK company, this is slightly unusual and makes you look smart, which is a good thing.

• Don’t lie. If you have O level French from 30 years ago, don’t say “I speak French”.

• Talk about good things. If you’re passionate about saving your local community centre, or you volunteer at your local church, tell people.

Give your bio page a bit of flavour

Giving your bio page some flavour can make it more interesting for your reader. Have a look at the statements below.

Both of these statements are true, but which one sounds more interesting?

“In her spare time, Julia likes reading, hill walking and cooking Indian food.”

“Julia reads between 3-5 novels a week, cooks Indian food like it’s cooked in India, and is often seen exploring the Sussex countryside with her digital OS maps and Viewranger app.”

The second one says more about me and creates some interaction, where you wonder what the hell a Viewranger app is and if you want one too (you probably do, by the way).

Have a look at your staff bio page and see if it could do with a little more seasoning.

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Photo of me hill walking above the cloud line, but not in Sussex, cheese from Pxsphere and picture of me from Vervate.