Write a Brief Description of Yourself

Chances are, at some point in your life you're going to have to write a brief description of yourself. It may be for a school application, or a work-related presentation, or maybe you just need to write a blurb about yourself for your book club's newsletter. Whatever your reason may be, follow the steps listed here to create a well-crafted (and concise) bio.

Steps

Prewriting for Your Description

  1. Identify your audience. Chances are, you aren’t just writing a description of yourself just because you feel like it. In order to write to the best of your ability, you will have to keep in mind the person (or people) you are writing for. Your readers may be your professor, colleagues, an academic committee or members of your local community.[1]
  2. Follow the guidelines if you have been given them. When writing a description of yourself for a class or for an application, you will be provided with guidelines outlining what you information you should have in your description.
    • If you are applying for a scholarship, the deciding committee may have outlined the types of information they want to receive from you.
    • In other situations, such as a personal description for a work environment, you may have to consult with your manager or colleagues to guide the contents of your description.
  3. Create a list of your academic and professional achievements. Write down your academic accomplishments. You may have overcome extensive academic obstacles, excelled in a particular subject or graduated with honors from a reputable school. Review your professional achievements. Consider the highlights of your professional experience and make a list of sales awards, promotions, employee recognition awards and other noteworthy accomplishments.
    • Examples of accomplishments: I am the first person in my family to attend college, I was on the Dean’s List all four years of college, I triple majored with two minors, etc.
    • Examples of achievements: Sold the highest number of back scratchers of an employee in the history of Back Scratchers Inc., Was employee of the month 10 months in a row, Started out as a dishwasher and am now the executive chef at La Lune.
  4. Create a list of your characteristics and interests. Reflect on your personal characteristics. It helps to think of common adjectives people have used to describe you in the past. Pick words that you think will portray you in the best light for the specific institution you are writing your description for. As with your characteristics, you will want to list interests that pertain to what you are applying for. You may be known in your community for volunteering or planning community events. Sports and the arts are other areas of possible interests.
    • Examples of characteristics:: If you are applying to a volunteer organization such as AmeriCorps, you may consider using words such as compassionate, dedicated, and organized. These are all traits that a volunteer organization would look for in a potential volunteer--someone who can be compassionate with the people the organization helps, is dedicated to the cause, and can stay organized in the face of a lot of paperwork.
    • Examples of interests:: If you are applying for a position such as a member on a team of scientists that will travel to the Arctic together, you would want to list interests that show you are an adventurous team player. Things like, soccer player, rock climber, hiker, etc. would work well.

Writing Your Description

  1. Review your list to select the content you will use in your bio. Look at all of your lists and choose the combination of accomplishments, achievements, characteristics, and interests that will best create the most complete picture of who you are while still catering to the institution you are writing this bio for.
    • Example The following combination of examples paints the picture of someone who is a dedicated team player that has faced adversity to get where she is, and is now the best at what she does: 1. I play doubles tennis every week. 2. I have volunteered at the same animal shelter since I was nine. 3. I was the first woman in my family to go to college. 3. I have been the employee of the month at my law firm for four months straight.
  2. Determine if the brief description must be written in first or third person. When submitting an application to a school or scholarship committee, your description will be in the first person. When writing a brief bio to be read as your introduction prior to a presentation you are giving, write it in the third person.[1]
    • Example of a sentence written in first person: I have been named employee of the month 11 times since joining the Best Buy team.
    • Example of a sentence written in third person: Jane Doe has been named employee of the month 11 times since she joined the Best Buy team.
  3. Exclude all irrelevant facts and information. The key word of this assignment is ‘brief.’ While you may have an opportunity to write a longer bio at some point in your future, you will want to keep this description of yourself to the point. That means that you will not want to list any information that your reader doesn’t need to know.
    • Whereas inclusion of information about extracurricular activities may be of interest to a school admissions committee, it should be excluded from a professional description.
  4. Write your bio and keep it short. Follow the guidelines provided by the requestor of the description. If you were not given guidelines, err on the side of brevity. The saying ‘less is more’ applies here--paint as complete a picture of yourself in as few words as possible. Generally, a personal description should be limited to a length of between 100 and 200 words.[2]
    • Write your bio in a conversational tone that is to the point but not stuck up. You want to promote yourself without sounding like a pompous jerk. So, instead of writing “My father owns 12 antique race cars, which I enjoy working on after a morning at the yacht club” say something like “I enjoy spending time with my dad, helping him fix up old cars and learning about what makes a machine run the most smoothly.”
  5. Proofread and edit your brief description. Set it aside for a few hours or days, and read it again to correct all typos and edit any awkward sentences. Setting it aside will help to clear your mind--when you look at it again, you will be able to read it more objectively (as if it was about someone else, rather than yourself.)
    • Read it aloud. Often, reading allow helps you to discover where your writing might sound awkward or stiff.
    • Double check the spelling of all proper nouns (this includes businesses, schools, organizations, programs, people you’ve worked with, etc.) In particular, make sure that you are correctly spelling the name of the organization you are writing the bio for.
  6. Ask someone who knows you to read it. Request feedback on the tone and accuracy of your description to ensure that you are not being too humble or overstated. Ask them, is your bio clear? Does it represent you well? If they didn’t know you, would they have a better understanding of you after reading your bio? Is there anything you should add or take out of the bio?

Sample Short Biographies

Doc:School Bio,Professional Bio,Professional Introduction,Dating Bio

Related Articles

  • Write a Job Description for a Project Manager

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 http://www.forbes.com/sites/denakouremetis/2012/10/01/dont-write-yourself-off-bio-writing-secrets-to-living-larger-online/
  2. ↑ http://wondergrow.com/2009/07/16-questions-to-help-you-write-a-douche-free-bio/
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