Writing A Short Bio If You’re Not Good At English

Many of the clients for whom I write short bios are lacking in strong English skills. Sometimes it’s because English is not their native language. Other times they may have learning disabilities that make writing difficult for them. And often they simply aren’t adept at writing for any number of reasons.

Whatever the reason, writing a short bio can be difficult for those who aren’t skilled in writing English. Unfortunately, the purpose of a short bio is usually to impress its readers. And it’s difficult to be impressive if even one word is misspelled, much less if there are numerous grammatical errors and awkward-sounding sentences and paragraphs.

It is perhaps unfair that a short bio should be judged in that way. Certainly, highly competent and successful people may not be good at English – but they’re still highly competent and successful. The beauty of a short bio, though, is precisely in the fact that it is a written document that can express concisely and clearly the accomplishments and qualifications of its subject. And like it or not, the BEST-WRITTEN short bio is also the best short bio – best at securing a job, best at convincing, persuading, promoting…

In short, the short bio represents you. And a you that has misspellings and confusion doesn’t represent you well.

So if you do have to have a short bio for yourself, and you don’t feel confident in your writing ability, having a professional do at least the final writing of it is probably wise. (And I would say that even if I weren’t a professional writer, biased as I am.)