A good print advertisement should be well written and tailored to the type of media and possible readers.
The same applies to a short biography; it needs to be good to successfully promote a scientist and to communicate
desired information to the intended audience.
Writing a powerful short biography
is challenging. A good short bio
contains information relevant
to a specific audience. This makes it a personal
advertisement and marketing tool, so
should be crafted carefully.
Short biographies are needed for a variety
of professional situations, including
all kinds of imaginable publications, lectures,
competitions, prize nominations,
press releases, professional websites, etc.
The biggest problem of the short biography
is that it’s, well, short. Frequently, a
scientist will be asked to provide “a very
short (maximum of 100 words) biography”,
“a few words about what you’re doing”, or
“a paragraph or two describing yourself”.
What all of these requests are looking for is
a short text of five to six sentences. While
they do not spell out what to write, each
calls for a different approach, a biography
tailored for a certain audience. For example,
when submitting a short bio with an
abstract for a scientific conference, precious
biography space should not be wasted on
writing about your exceptional tennis skills.
To achieve the best possible effects with a
hundred words or so, one needs to choose
an appropriate style and content.
Formal or personal style
There are two basic style