Writing a compelling corporate biography is critical for anyone who wants to describe themselves accurately and succinctly to a professional audience. It’s essential when posting about yourself on your company’s website, submitting to who’s whos, and for speaking event introductions. But how to write a corporate biography like a corporate career coach?

If you’re not sure where to start, take a look at the tips below. We show you what you need to do to authentically introduce yourself while also cramming in all relevant professional achievements. 

Tailor The Tone Of Your Bio To The Platform

How you pitch your bio depends heavily on the platform you intend to use. If you’re posting on professional websites, speaking in the third person (referring to yourself as he or she or they) is a reasonable approach. However, if you’re addressing an audience directly, you might want to stick with the first person instead. 

You’ll also want to tailor the level of professionalism to your likely audience. Bios you post on LinkedIn are usually serious and formal while those on Twitter might be more laid back and contain jokes. 

Here’s a pro tip: create a relatively dry master corporate bio first. Then, once you have something you can use, adapt it slightly to different platforms instead of writing it from scratch each time. 

Here are some of the places that a professional bio might appear: 

• A company website or blog
• Inside a press release about your company 
• On social media accounts
• On your personal portfolio, website, or blog
• On a guest post for another brand. 

Begin With Your Name And Job Responsibilities

Whether you’re actively working for a brand or not, you should include your generic job title and key responsibilities in your bio. So, for example, if you’re a trained accountant, you would mention that you are an accountant in the first line and then list your competencies, such as tax, payroll, or financial statement preparation soon after.

Don’t wait until the end to tell your audience what it is that you do. Try to get your core competency into the first or second sentence so that people know who you are and what they should hire you to do. 

Please note that the language that you use to describe yourself can subtly influence how people reading your bio see you. Words like “part-time” or “freelancer” can negatively bias them against you. 

Be Honest About Your Achievements

Any good corporate career coach will tell you that you should be honest about your achievements in your bio. At the same time, however, you shouldn’t hold back on the things that you can do. It’s okay to let your achievements stand out.

Feel free to list your accolades in your bio, but also be sure to explain them too. Remember, some members of your audience won’t understand what your accomplishments mean without you explaining them more thoroughly. 

Make Yourself More Relatable

You can also use your corporate bio to make yourself appear more relatable to your audience by mentioning some of the things that you like to do outside work. For instance, you could share tidbits on your side-hustles, hobbies, favorite music, or family. 

You can also try injecting a little humor or quirkiness into the bio if it is appropriate. Humor is powerful because it makes you memorable and it indicates to people that you are probably fun to work with – one of the great unspoken factors that contribute to candidate success. 

Just be careful, though, that employers don’t interpret your humor in the wrong way. Avoid jokes about hot potato topics, such as race, politics, and religion. 

Keep It Concise

There is no one-size-fits-all approach for corporate biographies, so there is no set length that your bio needs to be. However, you should avoid waffling on unnecessarily for too long if you can avoid it.

Generally, if you’re looking for a corporate bio to appear in a press release or boilerplate, you need around a paragraph. If you want it for a corporate website, three paragraphs are usually enough to communicate all that you need to say. 

There will be some niche instances – such as visiting professors listing all their publications – where you will need more space, but these are rare. Most bios can get the message across in a few short, snappy sentences. 

Get A Professional To Help You

Given the importance of a corporate biography, it is a good idea to get a professional, such as Kylie Hammond, to help you. Experts can guide your writing or even take over the process on your behalf. They tailor any copy to your audience and make sure that they present you in an engaging way that will encourage people to read more about you. 

Talk About Your Passions And Values

After you describe what you do and how you do it, you’ll also need to describe why you do what you do. Sure, you’re great at your work. But most audiences will want to know what’s motivating you to continue coming back to it, day after day, week after week, even when you sometimes want to be doing something else. Add a section that talks about what gets you out of bed in the morning. What’s the driving force behind the project? 

If it helps, you can think of your corporate bio as a kind of mission statement (like a miniature version of what you might write for a company as a whole). Perhaps your core goal is to learn a new skill, serve others or improve some aspect of society. Whatever it is, write it down. Audiences find people with a purpose compelling. 

Being able to communicate effectively immediately puts you at an advantage against your peers. Learning how to write a corporate biography can push your career forwards and help you build a compelling personal brand.