Speaker Bios and Abstracts That Get You Booked
The secret to a successful, memorable bio is that it’s not actually about you; It’s about your audience.
When was the last time you truly cared about a speaker’s bio? Unless you were reading about a celebrity, you likely heard or read their pre-speech bio and thought, ‘Okay.’ Bios rarely stick with us, or make us more excited to attend a speaker’s session.
Speaker bios are notoriously predictable, clinical, and uninspiring. Most deserve little more than a speed read, a distracted skim across a list of achievements meant to impress us but quickly forgotten.
Even when the speaker is deservedly celebrated, their bio rarely reflects an appeal to the audience. That’s because bios usually offer some version of a self-congratulatory CV: Current job title, list of past accomplishments, awards, board positions, publications, and education. The speaker is clearly successful, but how does that success benefit the audience? If they don’t know, they don’t care.
Avoid the Average
An effective, memorable, motivational bio sets us up for a great story to come. Unfortunately, the average bio reads something like this:
[SPEAKER] is a specialist in [SUBJECT] with [#] years of industry expertise.
After graduating from [UNIVERSITY] with a [DEGREE] they started their career with [COMPANY] as a [JOB TITLE] in charge of [IMPORTANT WORK].
[SPEAKER] joined [NEXT COMPANY] in [YEAR] as a [NEW JOB TITLE] and served on the board of directors of [MAJOR BRAND/S] where they led a team of [VERY LARGE #] and was awarded the [IMPRESSIVE HONORS].
At [NEXT COMPANY] they helped design and build [WELL-KNOWN WIDGET] and have been invited to speak at [LISTOF MEETINGS/PUBLICATIONS/MEDIA OUTLETS.]
[SPEAKER] is on faculty at [COLLEGE], is an avid [ATHLETE/PAINTER/COOK/SAILOR/COLLECTOR/ETC], and member of [EXCLUSIVE ORGANIZATION].
As an audience member, how much of that do you really care about? Do you connect with these successes, or see yourself in them? We think, ‘Well, good for you.’ Impressive achievements are fine, but they’re not a story about us, our wants, or the value we hope to hear.
Smart bios go beyond the accolades and self-aggrandizement to demonstrate how a speaker’s vast experience creates obvious and compelling value for the audience they’ll address. Your best bio is filled with passion for your subject, insight into your unique personality, personal and professional motivations to help others succeed, and genuine enthusiasm for making others’ lives better. That’s the bio they’ll get excited about and remember.
Whether your bio is 50 words or 500, it should include five key elements:
Expertise, Value, Experience, Change, and Excitement.
Expertise
The first line of your bio is both an introduction to and inspiration for your attendee. Open with your most impressive area of expertise, the one you are most passionate about and proud of, that makes you want to get up in the morning and get to work on behalf of others.
For instance, instead of opening with your job title, open with why you’re passionate about your area of specialty, and how that passion drives and thrills you.
A standard bio first line might be, “Joan Johnson is Senior VP of Product Marketing at Millennial Capital and a Fellow in Global Finance at Corlear University.” We don’t care.
A memorable bio first line would be, “Joan Johnson is a 25-year veteran of building award-winning marketing strategies for you – the next generation of global game changers.” Feel the difference? Now Joan’s bio proves her expertise plus how it’s about to serve the personal interests and goals of her audience.
Value
Audiences care about one thing; themselves. Until they recognize the clear and compelling value you offer, they’re unlikely to tune in or prioritize your message. Once you’ve successfully introduced your expertise, the next line of your bio should show that you’re speaking for the benefit of your listeners instead of for your own glory.
Connect your qualifications to a series of anticipated audience payoffs. For example, “As a Helbert Award-winning author, Jim has developed new methods of speed and accuracy in security risk remediation. Jim understands and shares the keys to proven success for IT directors and data center managers.” Jim’s bio combines his CV with a promise to deliver value for his viewers.
Experience
Your audience isn’t as interested in your list of achievements as you are. Or your host may be. They’re interested in how your deep experience pay off for them. What you’ve learned is only valuable to others when it directly benefits them; A strong bio redirects your experience to serve those you put it to work for.
For example, we don’t care about Barbara’s accolades. But we care a great deal that “Because Barbara was on the startup team of Barrier Group, and named to Doucy’s 30 Under 30 for her groundbreaking work in analytics streamlining, she now lives to build today’s SMEs into tomorrow’s cloud and infrastructure leaders.” Now we can’t wait to meet and hear from Barbara.
Change
The only talk worth giving is the one that promises positive change for our audience. You’re not in the spotlight to impress, but to create real impact and genuine progress for your attendees. That vision of meaningful change should be confidently stated in your bio.
A list of job titles won’t do that. Neither will a series of humble brags. Offer the skill along with the payoff that skill creates. For instance, “As VP of Sales for Westland since 2014, Martina gives her teams and everyone she meets the power to leap over career obstacles and reach the next levels in their careers.” We hear both Martina’s credit, and how her talks change lives for the better.
Excitement
Too many bios end with university degrees, recent publications, or industry awards. Rather than dazzle an audience, these details leave them flat and bored. Conclude your bio with anticipation, something your attendees can get excited about before you even start to speak.
Close with a challenge, an offer, or an enticement that makes the audience eager to get into the room with you, then eager to get out and get to the new success you offer. “By the end of Arthur’s session, you’ll know the three steps to market differentiation, how to apply them in any customer engagement, and when to make the winning move.”
Wrap your bio with energy and motivation, two things we’ll care about and recall far more than your personal CV.
Ideal Bio Length
How long should your speaker bio be? In most cases, your bio length will be specified or controlled by the event producer welcoming you to their platform. You may only get 50-100 words to tell your story. You may be allowed 1000 characters (roughly 140-250 words or 8-12 sentences). My suggestion is to use the 5-sentence bio rule:
Sentence 1. Name and current job title plus primary area of passion and personal success.
Sentence 2. Years in the industry and largest point of pride in how you create benefit for others.
Sentence 3. 1-2 awards or accolades the audience can relate to and leverage for their own payoff.
Sentence 4. Career-driven focus that offers a better future for anyone you meet and share your story with.
Sentence 5. Closing argument for why your talk is must-see, or a challenge that inspires readers to attend.
Bottom Line
The best bio is as much about the audience as it is about the speaker. They only care about accomplishments when those wins also create wins for them. A speaker’s role, brand, or authority becomes compelling when it serves the viewer’s wants and solves their problems. Education, publications, and awards are how we celebrate ourselves, not how we celebrate our listeners.
A great bio is not a job application; It’s an application to earn trust and connection with those we hope to serve. No one remembers our CV, but everyone remembers how we use our CV to create value for others.
