How to create your Speaker Bio

If you’re anything like me, you’ll have found it a real challenge to produce a professional profile or bio.  

• Where do I start?  
• What should I say, (without sounding too cocky and yet still getting across  my expertise?)  
• How can I make it sound interesting? 
• How can I adapt it to fit different requirements or length, purpose, etc? 

These were just some of the questions that went through my mind, and probably yours too. 

Coaches and trainers had me writing 3 different length bios that I could use for any occasion, but in reality, I found myself starting from scratch each time. 

Everyone seemed to want something different – a different angle, a different length, for a different audience or a different purpose so even when I’d created 3 different length versions of my ‘standard bio’ they still didn’t always fit the bill. 

And yet I know that a good bio is really important. It creates interest in you and what you’re about to talk about. If your bio isn’t compelling, people will likely assume that your presentation won’t be either. 

Recognising this as a challenge some of my clients might face too, eventually, I came up with a simple 5 step process to give me everything I needed in one place so that I can put together a bio at short notice, to meet anyone's requirements at any time. 

Here are the principles of that process: 

Step 1

Ask yourself some key questions and note down your answers in a format you can easily access, edit, etc.  

My full list has about 20 questions. Here are just some of the questions to give you a flavour and you might have more to add to the list: 

What are you: 

• Committed to?  E.g …to achieving equality for minority groups 

What is/are  

• Your attitude to challenges? Give an example that’s relevant to what you’re doing now, or that you’re going to be talking about if the bio is needed in relation to a presentation you’re giving. 

And finally: 

• What sets you apart? There has to be something so don’t be shy on this one! It might be an expansion of any of the answers already given, it might be an achievement or something unusual about you,  your life, etc. 

Step 2

Decide on the most relevant points to include in this particular version of your profile.  

Step 3

Which of those relevant points is the most compelling or important? Start your profile with that. Weave the rest in accordingly. 

Step 4

Which answers go well together? Start putting your answers together into sentences, writing in the 3rd person using she/he/they or your name(unless this is for your website, in which case you might choose to use 1st person, I or we.) 

An expert in fitness and physical resilience with a can-do attitude to challenge, (your name) has completed 27 marathons in 27 days, in 27 different countries. 

Step 5

Check your draft profile for the correct number of words. 

Of course, you can copy and paste to put things in a different order, to add or take out according to the brief you’ve been given, but following these simple steps – and remembering to update your responses when things change - you can use this bank of information to create any bio you might need. 

And if you need any further help, check out my quick self-learning course: 

How to Create your Professional Bio.