Q&A for How to Write a Personal Bio

An executive bio is a form of professional bio. It should highlight some of the major, defining moments of your career as well as some of the skills and personal experiences that make you stand out as an employee or company leader. You might also mention some of your major mentors and influences. Try to write the bio so it reflects your personal brand and approach to leadership.

Think about what appeals to your sense of humor. You might include a brief, funny anecdote, or use humorous devices like exaggeration, poking gentle fun at yourself, or including something random or incongruous to surprise the reader. For example, “Sandra lives in western Illinois with her husband and two cats. She enjoys crocheting, painting, and eating way too much cheese.”

It depends somewhat on the purpose. Generally, you can include your name and optionally age, that you're a student and what you're studying (and where, if you want), your aspirations, a couple of your defining qualities, a couple of interests/passions, and anything else you want to note about yourself.

Make a timeline of your history and then make it into a story. You can consult with family members and read other people's bios for reference as well.

First, write in Third Person, as though someone else is speaking to the crowd for you. This helps you to step back and look at yourself. What do you want the crowd to know about you? You might start with your name, where you're from, why you were asked to be the grand marshal and how that makes you feel. If you have time, you might want to include family, friends, hobbies, and anything else you think is interesting about yourself. When you're done, flip the bio to First Person before you speak it.

It just sounds more professional and seems unbiased. Also, (as it says in the article) assume that the person knows nothing about you.

People will have written guides for this. Try searching on the internet or go to your local library.

If it doesn't pertain to the group, simply mention the degrees and move quickly on.

Here is an example: "Hi my name is (Insert name) and I'm (insert age). I study/studied in (insert school name). I work at (Insert work place name) and my job is a (insert job [example: Cashier, Cook, Police] (etc.)."