I am a huge fan of audio books. On the plane, in the car, on the subway, anywhere. I am catching up on my favorite business books and for pleasure books. A colleague introduced me to John Scalzi, who is primarily a sci-fi writer. As I do every time with new authors, I read reviews on Amazon, biographies on Amazon, and ask the referring person more about style and substance.
Reading Scalzi’s bio on Amazon really piqued my interest. Reading the bio shows me he’s a bit wry, funny, well-liked (he’s won several awards), and has an interesting call-to-action at the end. Here’s his bio…
John Scalzi writes books, which, considering where you’re reading this, makes perfect sense. He’s best known for writing science fiction, including the New York Times bestseller “Redshirts,” which won the Hugo Award for Best Novel. He also writes non-fiction, on subjects ranging from personal finance to astronomy to film, was the Creative Consultant for the Stargate: Universe television series. He enjoys pie, as should all right thinking people. You can get to his blog by typing the word “Whatever” into Google. No, seriously, try it.
I indeed typed, “Whatever” into Google and John’s blog came up first. I’m convinced. Now I have to figure out what book to read first.
Moral of the story: If you have a personal bio on your website, LinkedIn profile, speaker one sheet, etc., have you considered, seriously considered changing it? Most bios are factual and chronological splashed at the end with the “Ira’s married to the love of his life, has a wonderful daughter, and enjoys photography in his spare time.” When I thought conservative was better, I didn’t stand out. Today, my bio helps me be more memorable and more engaging. My bio gives people reasons and give people opportunities to talk with me more about my background.
Scalzi’s LinkedIn profile summary reads as such: “I write. I edit. I get paid. I fight crime! I lied about that last one.” As a side note, this is an excellent example of Asyndeton, a figure of speech used to dramatically enhance the impact of your communication.
Try changing your bio….even if it is just a little.
Updated July 2019
Photography Source: John Scalzi’s LinkedIn Profile