Writing about yourself
Whether you’re preparing a submission for an award or simply creating a bio, you may have a difficult time writing about yourself. You may easily be able to write about someone else’s accolades or accomplishments, but get writer’s block when you’re the subject.
I’ve seen this phenomenon throughout my career, and nowhere more frequently than on LinkedIn. The About section of a LinkedIn profile is valuable real estate — offering a great opportunity for differentiation — but many people don’t have anything there, or what they have is really weak.
Here are a few suggestions on how to showcase yourself appropriately in the About section of LinkedIn:
- Let your passion shine through. Don’t recite your job titles or skills — let readers know what really drives you.
- Share your successes. Cite your most significant accomplishments — yes, you can brag.
- Reveal what makes you tick. This can include hinting at traits like humor or humility, and sharing something you do outside of work that reinforces your professional strengths.
- Choose your words carefully. It’s a great idea to include keywords that highlight your top skills, but you should avoid overused words like strategic, specialized and creative.
- Use first person. That means using I and myrather than your full name, e.g., I’m a lifelong writer, not Adrienne Moch is a lifelong writer.
- End with a call to action. Do you want connections? Are you seeking a new opportunity? Ask for what you want, so readers don’t have to guess.
When you authentically put yourself out there, the results may exceed your expectations.
St. Paddy’s Day?
Irish or not, some of you will likely take the opportunity on March 17 to enjoy some green beer as part of celebrating St. Patrick’s Day. But do you know the correct way to abbreviate the holiday, St. Patty’s Day or St. Paddy’s Day? As you may have guessed from the title, the latter is right, because Patrick has been Anglicized from the Gaelic Pádraig.
Pore or pour?
The homonyms pore and pour are never interchangeable, since they mean very different things. Pour means to “flow rapidly in a steady stream” or “come and go in a steady stream and in large numbers.” Pore, when used as a verb (not as a noun, e.g., pores on your face), means to “gaze intently,” “read or study attentively” (usually with over) or “reflect or meditate steadily.” Thus, you would pour yourself a drink, but pore over a book.