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Creating Your Bio
At times, a small group or large event may ask for a biography, also known as a bio. Developing a bio for a speaking engagement can seem daunting, but the tips below can help you create one that reflects who you are.
What should you include in your bio?
You should include:
- Your first and last name
- Short summary of your health care journey
- Why you do what you do or your motivation to share your story
- The knowledge or inspiration you want your audience to take away from your talk
Ask yourself:
- What are you passionate about?
- What’s the one point you want to make?
- Is there a misperception you’d like to clear up?
Tip: Never share anything you aren’t comfortable with.
How should you organize your bio?
- Write in the third person.
- Be concise (ideally 75-100 words).
- Keep it relevant to what you’ll be speaking about.
How can you make your bio stand out?
- Have a catchy first sentence. Perhaps include a quote that is meaningful to you or speak to the core of your experience.
- Focus on what your talk can do for others.
- Talk about your passion and why you do what you do.
- Be yourself, and bring your own flair into it.
Example bios
View these examples:
Linda Wortman
Lung Cancer Activist
Linda is an avid bicyclist, cross-country skier, hiker and runner. Linda, who has never smoked, was shockingly diagnosed with lung cancer in 2008. Since then, Linda became inspired to run a 5K race in 50 states and a 10K race in every continent. Linda was also asked by Mayo Clinic and Conrad Anker to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro's 19,341 peak. Passionate about ending the stigma associated with lung cancer, Linda dedicates much of her time to raising awareness about the disease and started the Wortman Lung Cancer Foundation and Running Lungs events to raise critical funds for lung cancer health and research.
Tony Hart
Proud Preemie Father
Severe trauma can happen to new parents. Tony Hart is a father of a premature born girl who came eight weeks early; weighed 2 pounds, 7 oz.; and was hospitalized for 42 days. Shell-shocked from the experience, Tony is passionate about helping other parents with preemies get through the trauma of the happiest day being indefinitely linked to the hardest weeks of their lives. Tony is an expert in skin-to-skin (“kangaroo”) care, spending endless hours at the hospital and fostering hope with his wife as they embrace a new normal.
Bio Template
Use the following elements to pull together your bio.
[Catchy first sentence].
[Name] is a [who you are/diagnosis/experience].
[First name] is passionate/believes [how and why you help with your passion/belief].
[First name] is/has [insert …]
- [A compelling experience]
- [What you want to accomplish — audacious goal?]
- [How has this changed your life?]
- [Where is this work taking you?]
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