Alright, let\u2019s get real for a second. The first time I had to write a bio about myself, I froze harder than a Midwestern driveway in January. It was for a freelance writing gig, and I spent hours staring at that blank document like it owed me money. Should I sound professional? Funny? Humble? (Spoiler: I tried all three and ended up sounding like a confused LinkedIn robot.)<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s the thing nobody tells you: your bio isn\u2019t your r\u00e9sum\u00e9\u2019s echo chamber<\/strong>. It\u2019s more like the \u201cBehind the Music\u201d episode of you<\/em>\u2014except shorter and without the dramatic bass solos. After writing bios for everything from my pottery Etsy shop to my kid\u2019s school volunteer page, here\u2019s what finally clicked:<\/p>\n Imagine you\u2019re telling your story to a stranger at Starbucks. You\u2019ve got 30 seconds before their latte arrives. What do you lead with? That\u2019s your hook.<\/p>\n My disaster draft:<\/strong> What worked:<\/strong> Start with the "Why," Not the "What"<\/strong> Embrace the "And Also"<\/strong> Cut the Fluff Like Overgrown Hedges<\/strong> Here\u2019s the exact structure I use (steal it):<\/p>\n Write it in third person\u2026 then switch back.<\/strong> Sounds weird, but it works. Writing "She once accidentally livestreamed her cat walking across her keyboard during a client Zoom call"<\/em> feels less cringy than starting with "I." Then just edit it to first person later. You\u2019ll avoid that icky salesy tone.<\/p>\n Grab your phone. Open Notes. Type one messy sentence about yourself you\u2019d never put in a bio. Mine was "I alphabetize my spices but forget my kids\u2019 dentist appointments."<\/em> That became the intro to my parenting blog bio.<\/p>\n Remember, your bio isn\u2019t a monument\u2014it\u2019s a Post-It note that says "Hey, I\u2019m interesting. Let\u2019s talk."<\/em> And if all else fails? Do what I did: Ask your bluntest friend to read it and say, "Would you swipe right on this person?"<\/em> Brutal? Yes. Effective? Like Dollar Tree duct tape.<\/p>\n Now go write that thing. And if you get stuck, blame it on the Wi-Fi and eat a Twinkie. Tomorrow\u2019s another draft.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Alright, let\u2019s get real for a second. The first time I had to write a bio about myself, I froze harder than a Midwestern driveway in January. It was for a freelance writing gig, and I spent hours staring at that blank document like it owed me money. Should I sound professional? Funny? Humble? (Spoiler:…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1751,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4023","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-content"],"modified_by":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oreateai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4023","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oreateai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oreateai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oreateai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oreateai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4023"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.oreateai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4023\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oreateai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oreateai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4023"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oreateai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4023"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oreateai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nThe "Coffee Shop Test" Template<\/h3>\n
\n"John Smith is a passionate content creator with 5+ years of experience leveraging cross-functional synergies\u2014"<\/em>
\nYawn.<\/strong> The hiring manager\u2019s eyes glazed over faster than a Krispy Kreme doughnut.<\/p>\n
\n"I\u2019m the guy who accidentally became a spreadsheet wizard after my DIY garden project required 17 trips to Home Depot. Now I help small businesses stop drowning in data and actually use it."<\/em>
\nBoom. Human first, credentials second.<\/p>\n
\n3 Lessons I Learned the Hard Way<\/h3>\n
\n
\nMy early bios read like a grocery list: jobs, degrees, skills. But when I shared why<\/em> I got into tech writing (shout-out to my 2012 blog that had 3 readers\u2014all my cousins), people remembered me.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
\nYou\u2019re allowed to be multidimensional! My freelance bio used to hide that I teach yoga. Then I added: "When I\u2019m not debugging code, I\u2019m teaching sunrise vinyasa flows\u2014because nothing balances out tech stress like downward dog."<\/em> Clients started mentioning it in emails. Turns out, quirks build trust.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
\nI once described myself as a "dynamic innovator passionate about paradigm shifts."<\/em> My buddy read it and said, "So\u2026 you like fixing stuff?"<\/em> Mortifying. Now I use Hemingway App to axe jargon.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
\nThe Template That Finally Stopped My Overthinking<\/h3>\n
\n
\n"Former wedding DJ turned project manager who geeks out on Gantt charts."<\/em><\/li>\n
\n"Saved a 200-person event company $20K\/year by switching their RSVP system from Post-its to Airtable."<\/em><\/li>\n
\n"Currently bribing my kids with Pok\u00e9mon cards to help me test new productivity apps."<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
\nThe Cheat Code No One Talks About<\/h3>\n
\nYour Turn (No Perfection Allowed)<\/h3>\n