Writing a Bio

Step 1
Gauge the appropriate length. Author bios often vary in length. A website bio can be significantly longer than the bio included on a press release or for print media. Keep your limitations in mind to help choose the right information to include in your bio.

Step 2
Refer to examples. If you encounter a case of writer's block, consult other author bios. Visit designers websites.

Step 3
Write like a professional. A great author bio can make a positive first impression, whereas a poorly crafted bio full of grammatical errors can tarnish an artist's credibility. Proofread your work multiple times, have a friend or family member read it over, or consult a professional writer to ensure quality.

Step 4
Remain professional. While it might be tempting to throw in fun details about your love of nude beaches or your dream to tap dance for a crowd, resist the urge. A bio should focus on pertinent professional information.

Step 5
Display your expertise. You are an expert on your work, so write about yourself and your work in a way that will draw attention and support your position as the creator of spectacular projects.

Helpful Hints:

1. Keep it short

When writing a bio, remember the difference between bio and biography.

Bio = short. Biography = long.

A good bio is short. Because if it's too long, people won't read it.

Most of the time it's best to limit your bio to three or four sentences.This is particularly true for a professional bio that you would use when being introduced as a speaker, or at the end of an article you have written.

When writing a bio for your website, you can make it a little longer if you wish.

2. Write in the third person

What this means is that you write your professional bio as though someone else is talking about you. So instead of writing "I am" and "I graduated", you would write "Jane Smith is" and "She graduated".

Use your full name (first and last) the first time. After that, it's up to you whether you want to refer to yourself by your full name, just your first name, or just your last name. Here are some tips to keep in mind about the use of your name:

first names are friendly and informal, while last names are more conservative and formal

use your first name if you are trying to develop a relationship with your reader (e.g. you want them to hire you)

use your last name (e.g. "Smith graduated from" instead of "Tom graduated from") if you want your reader to be impressed by you

consider the norms of the industry you work in: a personal coach may choose to use just the first name, whereas a medical doctor may choose to use a title "Dr. Smith"

whichever form you decide to use, keep it consistent throughout your bio

3. Briefly highlight your main achievements

The key words here are "briefly" and "achievements". The purpose of a professional bio is to demonstrate your professional credibility. Unlike a resume (which should include your complete career history), a professional bio only needs to cover the "high points" of your career.

Here's another way to think about it: your professional bio is a little advertisement for you or your business. And as you know, the best advertisements are memorable because they highlight the best features with very few words.

Ideally, your professional bio will address::

1) who you are
2) your expertise

4. Personal information is optional

You can include a paragraph where you can mention personal information such as where you're from, but who you live with, and what you like doing in your spare time may not be relevant. Think about it.

Some people say that personal information is not relevant in a professional bio, because it has nothing to do with the job. That may be true, but many readers like getting a sense of who you are outside of your professional role.

5. Don't be bland - let your personality show

Since your professional bio is an advertisement for you, make it reflect the real you. If you're a down-to-earth person, use unpretentious language. If you have a particular passion, let the reader know. If you love to joke around, include some humor in your bio (but be careful, humor can be tricky).

6. If you choose to write a longer bio

If you choose to write a longer bio, make sure you break it into short paragraphs (no more than three sentences in each paragraph). Studies show that when people are faced with a large block of text (especially on a computer screen), they just scan over it quickly.

By making your paragraphs nice and short, you'll increase the likelihood that people will actually read your bio. And that's what you want, right?

Summary

Rules to help:

1. Keep it short (3-4 sentences)

2. Write in the third person

3. Briefly highlight main achievements and cite relevant experiences (education, work experiences, etc)

4. Personal information: where from, where live, etc. Use only what will help you.

5. Let your personality show: language reflects personality

6. Break a longer bio into short paragraphs that are 3 sentences long

Examples:

Eric Chan
In 1989, Eric Chan formed ECCO Design, a creative consultancy based in New York City. Born in China and raised in Hong Kong. He received his Master of Fine Arts from the Cranbrook Academy of Art. A critical element of his approach to industrial design has been the Eastern philosophy of creating harmony of man, nature, and society. Technology has also become part of the equation. " The designer's task is to mediate balance between people and objects, poetry and logic, technology and nature," says Chan, "My interest is to translate complicated technology into simple, friendly products for people." Marketing plays an important role in his process. "We're not in business to place products in museums," he says. "If beautiful forms are meaningful in the marketplace, that's when we've done our jobs." ECCO's clients include companies from every major consumer segment, including Best Buy, Herman Miller, Lenovo, LG Electronics, Toyota/Lexus and Virgin. Foray is Chan's first collaboration with Geiger.

Mark Goetz
Born near Pittsburgh, Mark Goetz is principal and founder of TZ Design in New York City. He studied industrial design at Pratt Institute, including a semester abroad to study furniture design and architecture at the Danish Royal Academy in Copenhagen. To Goetz, furniture must solve a problem, but that's only half of the designer's mission. "You could live with a good solution and not really like it. Objects should be loved and wanted as well as provide a solution," Goetz says. In 1993, he returned to Pratt, this time as an industrial design professor. Goetz has designed consumer products for Marimekko, Le Sportsac, Crate & Barrel, and Steuben’Äîbut his first design for the commercial industry was Geiger's Washington Avenue guest chair. (Other Goetz designs include Geiger's Downtown, Uptown, and Washington Avenue lounge collections.) In addition, the iconic Goetz sofa was designed as part of the Herman Miller Collection of home products that define 20th century design.

Brian Graham
Since 1984 Brian Graham has utilized his talents in a wide array of design concerns, most notably interior design, retail store design, showroom and product design. His namesake studio, Graham Design focuses on providing a comprehensive approach in the design, development and marketing of furniture and related products for the contract market place. Complimenting this practice is an ongoing involvement in the design of workplace interiors for select clientele. Brian received a BFA in Interior Architectural Design from California State University Long Beach. He began his career as an interior designer with Gensler in Los Angeles and then San Francisco, followed by a partnership with architect John L. Thiele, AIA until 1999. Brian's work has been nationally recognized with design awards from the American Institute of Architects, The Institue of Business Designers, IIDA, IDSA, ABA and IFMA.

Teresita Cochran
A long time advocate of planet earth, Teresita joined Greenpeace in middle school, and was a member of the Environmental Action Committee at Phillips Exeter Academy from 1989-1993. In 1994-1995 she spent time in India with her mother's family and understood first-hand what "living close to the earth" means by experiencing the daily lives of local villagers.

After graduating with a BFA in photography from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1999, Teresita worked for several sustainability-driven companies and initiatives before attending the Interactive Telecommunications Program at New York University, a two-year Masters program within the Tisch School of the Arts. Her focus there was on finding ways to use interactive technology to create sustainable alternative energy. Her thesis was a business strategy for growing S.M.I.T. into a three-part company, combining product development, education, and environmental consultation. She completed her degree in the spring of 2005.

In May of 2005, Teresita teamed up with her brother Samuel and the two submitted their application to the Pratt Design Incubator program. GROW is their first project.

Kevin McElroy
Kevin McElroy is a product designer with George Schmidt Design, and a free-lance industrial/graphics/web designer for private clients in New York and Philadelphia.

A graduate of Pratt Institute's industrial design program and Denmark's International Design School, Kevin focused his scholastic efforts on product, toy and furniture design informed by sustainability and holistic, user-centric design and research. He was a winner of Umbra's Product Design Competition, and interned with Umbra in Toronto, Ontario. He had the opportunity to collaborate on projects with Acorn Toy Shop, Brooklyn Children's Museum, Fisher-Price, General Mills, DKNY, Autoban and De La Espada.

Kevin conceived of and curated the Young Americans Design Show, and has exhibited original art and design work at the Fellissimo Gallery, Open Haus Philadelphia, Brooklyn Designs, and the International Contemporary Furniture Fair. He has also written on design for the Incubator, and Core77.com, and has had his work profiled on the web and in print.

Jude Heslin Di Leo
Born on a warm sunny afternoon in San Francisco, Jude Heslin Di Leo is an industrial designer, whose energy springs from creative expression. Currently living and working from Brooklyn, NY, he studied graphic design at Rhode Island School of Design, and later graduated from Pratt Institute with a B.I.D. in Industrial Design. He has worked in an array of fields including lighting, furniture, and product design. His most notable professional experiences are with Focus Architectural Lighting and designer Jason Miller, where his ideas were first implemented into product. He enjoys exercising his skills in different mediums, and works in all scales ranging from tabletops to interiors. Jude often works three-dimensionally to explore form, and his work is usually the result of hands-on, tried-and-true experimentation.

Danny Alexander
Danny Alexander graduated in May 2006 with his Bachelor of Industrial Design from Pratt Institute. While working towards his degree, Danny worked with furniture designers Scrapile and Bart Bettencourt before joining the Incubator as a researcher and designer. Since graduation, Danny has been working as a project manager on the Mayor's Project while also working as a design researcher for the research firm NEST. Danny enjoys traveling, learning, orchids and long walks on the beach.

Sergio Silva
Sergio Silva recently graduated from Pratt Institute with an interest in the relationship between Art and Design. Attracted to the notion that beauty can be found in ordinary things, he explores the language of utilitarian objects and experiments with materials perception in order to challenge our conventions of beauty.

Lara's Bio (artist bio)

Lara Bank is an artist, professor, and gallery director working within the Los Angeles area. She produces primarily neo-conceptualist artwork in a variety of mediums. She situates her work into the category of place artwork (self-termed). Place artwork is art that creates and defines a spatial location to be occupied by the artwork, statements, and thoughts of others. Other projects operate as installation (painting, interactive, sculptural) and video art.

Bank received an MFA in Studio Art from Cal Arts in 1998 and an MFA in Painting from the University of Maryland at College Park in 1996. She is the current director and founder of Sea and Space Explorations, a place artwork that operates as a gallery. She teaches Drawing, Three-Dimensional Design (sculpture), Two -Dimensional Design, Experiments in 2D Animation (with a social practice emphasis), and a portfolio development class at Otis College of Art & Design, University of Southern California, Pierce College, and Moorpark College.

Her work has been shown and collected within the following venues: Weingard Gallery at Occidental College, LA; Another Year In LA, LA; Monte Vista Projects, LA; Aurora Picture Show, TX; Hangar 1018, LA; Machine Gallery, LA; Foundation For Art Resources, LA; Crazy Space Gallery, Santa Monica; White Box Gallery, Marina Del Rey; ISEA2004 Inter-Society for the Electronic Arts, Helsinki, Stockholm, and Tallinn; Bodybuilder & Sportsman Gallery, Chicago; LA Municipal Art Gallery, LA; Barnsdall Art Park, LA; Fancyland, CA; Andrewshire Gallery, LA, Rhizome.org; Centro Nacional de Artes (National Center for the Arts) San Salvador, El Salvador; LA Freewaves, LA; Side Street Projects, LA; Huntington Beach Art Center, CA; Viridian Artist Inc., NYC; Bromfield Gallery Boston, MA.

Company bio

Tom's Shoes
TOMS was born in 2006 by Blake Mycoskie out of a commitment to produce stylish, comfortable, and practical footwear while improving the lives of children around the world. Every pair sold is personally matched with a donated pair to a child in need. TOMS collection is inspired by Alpargatas, the trusted utility shoe of Argentine workers. "I was overwhelmed by the spirit of the South American people, especially those who had so little," Mycoskie says. "And I was instantly struck with the desire - the responsibility - to do more." The shoes are composed of high quality, durable materials including lightweight, breathable canvas, resilient soles and soft leather in soles for maximum comfort.TOMS functions under the credo of No Sweatshops and all of the materials and products are produced and manufactured in Argentina under the strictest guidelines, ensuring both fair labor practices and minimal impact on the environment.

About Blake Mycoskie
After years of successful entrepreneurial endeavors, Blake Mycoskie put his life on hold and took a well deserved extended vacation. First stop, South America. Brazil, Uraguay and finally Argentina in January 2006, Mycoskie quickly immersed himself into the Argentine culture; he learned to sail, tango and play competitive polo. He unquestionably felt at home in the foreign land, invigorated and inspired.However, Mycoskie quickly became aware of the difficulties of the impoverished people in Argentina. He was challenged emotionally as he visited villages without fresh water and where few, if any, of the children had shoes. The lack of basic needs contributed to many health issues, infections, and in the most extreme circumstances, even death. "Inspired by a traditional Argentine shoe and challenged by continent's poverty and heath issues, I created TOMS with a singular mission: To make life more comfortable," says Mycoskie. TOMS accomplishes this through a unique shoe and Mycoskie's commitment to match every pair purchased with a pair to a child in need...no complicated formulas, it's simple’Ķyou buy a pair of TOMS and TOMS gives a pair to a child on your behalf.