How to Write a Business Biographical Sketch
To write a good biographical sketch, it's important to know what the bio will be used for and who will be reading it. A bio for a grant application or business plan, for example, should emphasize different aspects of the subject's experience and career than a bio for the program at a charity fundraising event.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
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Identify the subject with formal first and last names. If the person is widely known by a nickname, you should use that or indicate it in some way. The name you use in the bio should be what the person wants you to use.
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Indicate the subject's position and place of employment, including any relevant identifying facts that serve to add to the image you are building in the bio. "Branch manager for Bank of America," for example, creates a different image than "Branch manager of the Port of Long Beach World Trade Center branch of Bank of America."
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Highlight what the person brings to benefit the organization or project in terms of experience, contacts, and skills.
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Support the highlights section with a narrative of what the person does at his current job that adds to these benefits and continue to list relevant experience and skills attained during the preceding five to ten years, or if appropriate, longer. Try to keep this to a paragraph unless an extensive or detailed bio is requested.
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List any memberships, directorships, honors, and certifications the person may have as well as any speaking engagements and published books or articles.
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Finish with personal facts such as where the person lives, a charming short description of his family, and his educational credentials.
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Tips & Warnings
Traditional bios are written in third person and use formal names such as Mr. Jones or simply Jones. Many people would rather use their first names in their bios, and unless there is a conflict with the formats of other bios in your document, you should use the form requested by your subject.
A bio should be approximately three paragraphs or 300 words. Sometimes a longer and more specific document is called for, but most biographical sketches are expected to be a half-page to one page in length.
