??Me, Myself, and I – Why writing your LinkedIn About/Summary section in the first person is important.

As you may already know, your LinkedIn profile is an extension of your resume.?The resume states the facts, and your LinkedIn profile tells your story.?The former is cut and dry; the latter should evoke a more emotional reaction (hopefully curiosity, joy, etc.).?The former is usually written in the third person, and the latter in the first.?“But why?” You may ask.?

Imagine you’re at a cocktail party, and you’re meeting a bunch of prospective clients.?The CEO of a non-profit organization you’ve wanted as a client approaches you and strikes up a conversation.?He asks you to tell him your elevator speech.?Let’s pretend your name is Jackie, and you are an awesome social media influencer.?From the following scenarios, choose an introduction you believe reflects a more approachable person:

a.???“Hello, this is Jackie.?She is a social media influencer with a following of 23,000 people. She likes to talk about volunteering, non-profit organizations, and helping underserved communities.”

b.???“Hello!?I’m Jackie.?I’m so honored to meet you! I wanted to share with you a bit of my background.?I am a very active social media influencer.?I started three years ago when I saw a need to bring attention to underserved communities and the companies and people that help support them.?I’m passionate about volunteering through these non-profit organizations because it gives me a chance to participate in programs that provide much-needed aid to these communities.?I’ve developed a following of about 23,000 people, and my goal is to reach millions with my message.?I would love to get the chance to work with you and help your organization get the merit and publicity it deserves.”

If you go for “a,” you’re fired!?Or at least not employed by anyone I know!?Just kidding!?But seriously, why would you choose “a”?

Here are 8 reasons why using the first-person approach vs. the third-person approach is better for your About/Summary section:

1. ?Using the first person makes your story more personal.

2.?Using the third person makes you sound cold, callous, fake, distant, heartless, uncaring, unsympathetic, insensitive, and all those other descriptive words that basically mean the same.? Alright, maybe not that bad, but definitely not as personable. You get my drift.

3.?It’s YOUR profile.?You want it to sound like you wrote it.?It seems unnatural to write about ourselves in the third person.

4.?LinkedIn still is a social network.?I don’t know about you, but I certainly don’t write about myself in the third person in other social media platforms. It’s weird!?It makes you look weird plus all those words from point 2.

5.?Using the first person helps you build your personal brand.?Remember, this is about you and not about some stranger out there.?

6.?You sound conceited or arrogant (I can go on and on with other synonyms for these two words!) ?if you use the third person.?Oh yeah! And you sound like a “know-it-all.”

7.??It allows you to build rapport with the reader.?Keep in mind that you only have a couple of sentences to grab someone’s attention in the part of the profile that represents your story.

8.?It helps you showcase your accomplishments, vision, skills, or whatever you’re showing in this section in a manner that is more engaging.

True story:?My sister-in-law (sis for short) went to a Feng Shui class some years back.?When the instructor introduced herself, she started talking about herself in the third person.?My sis describes the experience as very bizarre.?The instructor came off as arrogant and unapproachable.?It was difficult for my sis to fully engage in the class and to take the teacher as seriously as she deserved despite the value of the information.?All because she talked about herself in the third person and sounded as if she thought she was better than the rest of the attendees.

Now, I’m not saying that you can’t use the third person in your profile.?That’s just silly.?Free speech and all that!?Others may have different opinions about it, and that’s OK.?You’ll just have to figure out how you want your audience to see you (remember number 2 above). ?Approachable? Engaging? Caring? Or not??

Loribeth thanks you for reading this blog post in its entirety…Gotcha! Wink, wink!?So, if you have no clue how to write your LinkedIn profile, send me a DM (Direct Message).?I can help.

Thanks?for taking the time?to read my newsletter today.?If you?have any stories (good?or bad) that relate?to today's post, I would love to hear them in the comments below. If you find yourself in the need of a new resume, cover letter, or LinkedIn profile makeover,?let's talk.

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I wish you the best of luck! ??

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