Write Your Bio/Summary In The 1st Person.

 

1st person is when you say “I did this…”

3rd person is when you say “Tommy did this…” when talking about yourself.

Writing in the first person is personal, friendly, warm. Writing in the third person is formal, stiff, professional, cold, distant. It makes your LinkedIn page sound like a Wikipedia entry. As Ashley Cisneros Mejia says, “While intended for professional use, LinkedIn is still a social media platform … so be social!” She continues, “I don’t want to be friends with an institution, I want to be friends with an actual person. If you have a bio in third person, there’s still a place for it (for printing in event programs or using as a basis for a speaker introduction, etc.) but I suggest reworking the content into first person highlights for your LI profile.”

If you care about creating meaningful relationships on LinkedIn (which is what the vast majority of those I’ve surveyed say they want) then write the way you speak, as though you were meeting an old friend in a cafe to chat.

Not everyone agrees with me on this, and if you don’t, I’d love to hear your reasons why you think third person is appropriate. Let’s duke it out.