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Similar to NCET Biz Cafe | Shawna Guarino | How to Build Your Bio/Elevator Pitch | Oct 2019
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NCET Biz Cafe | Shawna Guarino | How to Build Your Bio/Elevator Pitch | Oct 2019
- 1. Building a Professional Bio Presented By: Shawna Guarino Branch Manager
- 2. Professional Bio Basics • Build a Foundation • Use a standard format • Write with aThird PersonVoice • Use First PersonVoice for Elevator Speech • Be Mindful of Length • Remember which media platform you are using • Customize asYou Evolve • Add your personality • Use a Photograph that RepresentsWhoYou Are • Remember this is who you are as a professional
- 3. What Information is in a Professional Bio? • First Introduction toYour Audience • Who you are • What you do • Who you do it for • How you do it • What you believe about the work you do
- 4. ShowcaseYourself • Competencies • Behaviors that make you successful • Used primarily when your audience are recruiters • Areas of Expertise • Specialization within a given role/position • Professional Organizations • Other organizations that you are part of • Previous Roles/Positions • Prior roles that are relevant to your audience • Education • Showcase your degrees or certifications
- 5. Who isYour Audience? • Someone you want to add to your professional network: • Job Seekers or Recruiters • Prospects • Potential clients/customers • Peers • Industry/Field/Role • Centers of Influence • Referral Sources
- 6. Shawna Guarino Branch Manager, 160 DrivingAcademy After working for the last 13 years in the financial industry, Shawna Guarino has taken a new path towards creating a better community. As the Branch Manager for 160 Driving Academy, Shawna is helping connect members of the community to their future by guiding students through the process of establishing a new and exciting career as a commercial truck driver. Having served clients in the financial industry for over a decade; she has the unique ability to help the members of her community achieve their goals. Being able to apply her knowledge and expertise in human resources, sales, and employee development, she knows her students will achieve the greatest success. With her guidance, her students can build a better future for themselves and their families and she is passionate about helping them find solutions for any obstacle that may stand in their path by supporting them every step of the way. In addition, Shawna is attending Grand Canyon University as a Graduate Student studying Communications so she can better support her students. Cell: (775) 455-1010; Email: sguarino@160drivingacademy.com
- 7. Elevator Pitch/Speech Hi. My name is ShawnaGuarino and I am the Branch Manager for 160 Driving Academy. I guide future truck drivers through the process of establishing a new and exciting career. Having served my community for over a decade in the financial industry, I saw people experiencing all types of life changes and I knew that I had to help my community in a more meaningful way. Using my knowledge and expertise in human resources, sales, and employee development, I know my students will achieve the greatest success. As a dedicated mother of two, I know how important it is to have security and be able to provide the best life for my kids. I am passionate about helping my students find solutions for any obstacle that may stand in their path by supporting them every step of the way. I’d love to schedule time to talk about how I can help those you know who are experiencing a life change or want to explore a new career path.
- 8. Questions?
Editor's Notes
- By a show of hands, who here has been asked to write a bio? And, who has been asked to present a 30 second elevator speech or pitch? Often times we don’t think about these as being our professional bio; however, these presentations of ourselves along with press releases, ”About Me” pages, or commercials represent us are all linked together. Today we are going to talk about what a professional bio is, how our audience can require us to modify our bio, and a simple structure you can customize to make yourself stand out. We are also going to apply the same principles to an effective elevator speech. First, let’s talk about some bio basics.
- Building a foundation by using a standard format in your bio or elevator speech is key to being able to make adjustments and changes as the audience or your experiences change. One example is how my bio recently changed because I went from having 13 years of experience in one field to a completely different field. My bio had to change but with my foundation I was able to smoothly transition my bio. When writing your bio, write in a third person voice. Using she/he pronouns brings the bio out of first person and moves it to be a piece about you but doesn’t sound like it was written by you in a showy way. However, when using your bio in an elevator speech, always speak in a first person voice because you do not want to be “that person”. Be mindful of the length: Some social media platforms have word count restrictions that could hinder you posting a full press release bio so adapting your verbiage and content to the platform being posted or published on, will enable you to have a cohesive bio. This is where the foundation really comes into play. Keep it short and to the point, you can always expand it but it is harder to consolidate it. Customize as you evolve: This is where you add your personality that speak to your audience depending on who that is. Remember that relationships are built by people, your audience wants to know who you are in an authentic way. Also, remember that in your professional bio, your photograph is the first impression an audience has of you so this photo should represent who you are in your professional capacity. The content of your bio will contain your personal traits, hobbies, or accomplishments but the photo used should be a representation of how you will take care of your audience. If using a photograph on your About Us or About Me page, remember to use a photograph that will attract the audience to interact with your organization. Now that we have discussed some basics, let’s look at how to identify your audience, what is in a bio, and a sample bio. Then we’ll look at how to apply this to your elevator pitch.
- This is your first introduction to your audience. Your bio is going to tell us: “Who you are” – Your name first and last because if the audience doesn’t remember anything else, they will remember your name. “What you do” – Typically contains your current job title, or name of your role with the organization or your company “Who you do it for” – This is your current company or organization “How you do it” – Use key descriptive words that represent your professional attributes. For example: honesty, devotion, communication, focus, knowledge, etc. Lastly: What you believe about the work you do – This is your passion point. Why is it that you do what you do? ***Before we continue, can someone share their “Why?”*** Thank you for sharing. I can see we have a passionate group. Now let’s talk about who your audience is and how to showcase yourself in your bio.
- Competencies are the behaviors that are required or desired to be successful within a role. For example “innovation management” or “business acumen” are competencies. Areas of Expertise are the subjects or categories within a role or organization that a person knows more than others. For example, a doctor would say his/her area of expertise is “oncology” if they were a doctor who specializes in the treatment of cancer. The showcase of your areas of expertise and competencies should also be tailored towards who you want as your audience. Showcasing professional organizations you belong to or participate in show a sense of community and willingness to go above and beyond your specific role. Outlining or highlighting previous roles show support of your competencies and areas of expertise. And finally, showcasing any degrees or certifications you have increase confidence from your audience. Now let’s talk look at how to customize based on your audience.
- Your audience should be the people you want to add to your professional network. These could be: Job seekers or recruiters: this is where competencies come in to focus Prospects (such as potential clients and/or customers): passion points may help you attract your next client because they can relate to you Peers in your industry, field, role, etc: areas of expertise would appeal to those that may reach out to you for that expertise Centers of influence who could lead to being a referral source for your business: are driven to you by your experience and knowledge because they need to be confident in you. Each social media platform, website, or in an article could target the same audience or new and different audience depending on what your goal is. Being able to tailor your bio as you target your audience will help you appeal to that specific person and/or company. You can also create a bio that meets many of these needs. I will show you mine a little bit later and we will discuss who it targets. ***What questions do you have so far?*** Great questions! Let’s look at my bio and how I also use it to guide my elevator pitch.
- ***What are some things that stand out to you?*** ***Is there anything that would evoke you to contact me or reach out?*** Now let’s convert this into an effective elevator speech.
- ***What are some things that stand out to you?*** ***Is there anything that would evoke you to contact me or reach out?*** Awesome! Thank you for your participation today. Let’s wrap today’s conversation up with questions.
- ***What questions do you have?*** Thank you so much for your time and attention today. I really appreciate the opportunity to speak with all of you. My contact information is on my business cards so please feel free to reach out. Thank you again!