This is a podcast episode – LISTEN HERE

Choir Nation, you have an assignment.

Write, or rewrite your bio. Share it in a post in the Choir Nation Facebook group (www.facebook.com/groups/choirnation/). Even if you can’t think of any need to have a bio, this is a great exercise for self-reflection and personal development. The goal of this particular bio should not be to impress us. It should be to reveal yourself to us.

This is a podcast episode – LISTEN HERE

Ready to write your own? Here’s how to do it:

Step 1: Know who you are.

That is not the same as knowing what you do. This is about identifying your brand, whatever it is that makes you special. If you cannot articulate in a few clear sentences exactly who you are, then you need to go back and listen to Technique Tuesday episode 16, where Ryan explains how to find your “Why.”

Step 2: List your wins.

You are good at something that no one will ever give you an award for. Make a list. Maybe you make a great martini. Maybe you are ambidextrous. Maybe you once performed an original kazoo solo in a talent show. Don’t tell us the things you are best at; tell us about those things that best reveal your brand.

Step 3: Consider your flaws.

Vulnerability can be very attractive. This isn’t therapy, or confession; it’s just a time to acknowledge that you are a complete human, which means you aren’t perfect.

Step 4: Think non-linearly.

This doesn’t mean to slice up your regular bio, shuffle all your achievements, then deal them out randomly. It just means focus on balance rather than chronology. Take some bad with the good, some serious with the fun.

Step 5: Delete something.

Coco Chanel infamously recommended, “Before leaving the house, a lady should stop, look in the mirror, and remove one piece of jewelry.” Once you’ve written your bio, go back and delete something. Maybe two somethings. Your bio is too long. I don’t even have to look at it to know it’s too long. It’s a fact: no one is as interested in you as you are. Make it shorter, please.

This is a podcast episode – LISTEN HERE

Links mentioned

Sell out your concerts and create raving fans, with Stevie Berryman

Technique Tuesday: To get your “Why”, start with who, what, where, when, and how.

10 proven ways to prevent Choir Zombie Syndrome, with Ryan Main