How your professional bio may be holding you back

I wanted to share with you an experience I had with a client that really opened up my eyes.

This particular client is a Company Director and was pitching herself to be a Board Member of a high profile committee. She tasked me with the job of ensuring her CV and professional bio made her look and sound as qualified as possible. 

Once we were done her exact words were "wow I sound so professional!".

Now please understand, I cannot magically give someone credentials and while I am one to use impressive adjectives, I don't believe in writing anything misleading or untrue. What my client was seeing on paper was who she was, she just had never seen it written out that way. 

I then started to think back to other clients in the past who, in a bid to avoid coming across as too "up themselves" or one self promote, had written professional bio's that lacked any excitement or zest. 

Just as you would dress to impress, use words to 'dress up' your bio and remember they can elevate and enhance. Words and numbers are symbols and those symbols can carry influence. When writing a professional bio, you ultimately want to use those symbols to harness the flow of influence. 

Some things to consider that may add 'influence' to your bio are-

Commanding and influential adjectives-  think words such as Leading, Sought after, Celebrated, Award-winning (if true), Powerful, International, Global, Cutting Edge, and the list goes on and on.

Big and impressive numbers- could be the number of years you have been in the industry to demonstrate your experience or is there another number you might be able to use? A client of mine, for example, worked out she had profiled over a 'billion' dollars worth of real estate!

Influential people or clients you have worked with- nothing wrong with a bit of name dropping. Remember we are borrowing influence and if you have worked with high-profile clients, it is a great way to develop your own influence. 

There are no prizes in life for blending in and trying to avoid making others uncomfortable because you are allowing your light to shine bright. Dress up and let others see you for who you are and if that means using big words, impressive numbers, and dropping a name here or there so be it!

You are here for a purpose. You have a message, ideas and experience to share and you are the vehicle to share it; the only way you can do that is to effectively put yourself out there. Stop getting in your own way.