5 Personal Bio Examples With Real Personality | Brafton

If personal bios had a personal bio, it’d probably read something like this:

“I’m the digital adjunct who makes you look interesting when nobody asks you to be. By day, I turn mundane Tuesday afternoons into career milestones. Off the clock, you’ll find me pretending you didn’t need the entire afternoon to finally hit publish.” 

Personal bios are the gateway to your personal brand. They make you memorable for the right reasons, whether you’re looking for jobs, networking ops or a touch of street cred. You can pin them to every virtual profile imaginable and add a professional, comedic or pie-in-the-sky spin to show up as your best self.

✔ They’re short and sweet. 

✔ They deliver value. 

✔ They have character. 

✔ They’re a lot harder to write than they look. 

So, why does it take hour upon painstaking hour to string together a few decent sentences about yourself? While it’s a complex question and we don’t have everyone’s answer, we can offer a pathway forward. Let’s take a look at some genius personal bio examples and examine why they’re so damn good. 

What Is a Personal Bio and Why Does It Matter?

A personal bio is a concise blurb that summarizes who you are, what you do and why people should care. It often appears on social media profiles, company websites, event speaker lists, author pages and networking platforms like LinkedIn. Personal bios highlight your experience or professional background and help others decide at a glance whether you’re worth connecting with, hiring or following. 

And that’s just a good bio. No pressure. 

But let’s put the existential dread aside for a moment because your bio should flaunt some personality, too. A compelling bio builds context, curiosity and, most importantly, connection. Whether you’re creating a personal blurb for a social profile or an executive overview that expands on your professional journey, you can be as charismatic, dry or downright inappropriate as the situation calls for. (Or that you call for: It should show who you are.)

Different platforms and purposes each assume their own styles. So, let’s take a look at some personal bio examples from the best of the best, so you can steal their ideas. 

Personal Bio Examples by Platform

Personal Bios for Facebook

Facebook hit the market as a friendly, casual platform where you can connect — this is the vibe to aim for in your personal bio. The platform caps your spiel at about 255 characters, so as a best practice, keep it short. 

Mark Manson, one of the first authors to get the word ‘f*ck’ plastered all over bookstores worldwide, makes for a good bio example on Facebook. In just 75 words, he conveys his accomplishments, professional identity and values. But note how he doesn’t tell you he’s humorous, stoic or humble; He shows it. Manson even adds a half-baked call-to-action (CTA), which is always a good idea regardless of the platform. 

Personal Bios for LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the place where your professional biography lives. It provides a little more breathing room than most others. This platform targets professional networking, which is helpful whether you’re a CEO expanding your potential client pool or an intern seeking a pay raise. A strong LinkedIn bio focuses on your professional achievements, relevant skills and a sprinkling of personal information to set you apart. 

Richard Branson achieves this elegantly. He starts big, talking about Virgin Group, transitions into his professional journey and finishes with a personal touch that helps you see an actual human behind his pupil-dilating lifework. While the writing is slightly clunky as a result, he uses personal pronouns less than 5 times in 175 words. This curbs the “me” factor, making the delivery more palatable. A bio of this length, however, could benefit from some spacing to break up larger chunks of text. 

Personal Bios for Instagram

Instagram bios are cut-throat, allowing just 150 characters to leave your mark. Yayoi Kusama’s bio is almost as genius as her art. Leaving little more than a personal quote portraying her professional philosophy, Yayoi connects the audience with the design motifs upon which she built her career while leaving room for imagination and wonder. The takeaway is that if you’re stuck for words, share a quote or perspective.

Personal Bios for X (Formerly Twitter)

An X (formerly Twitter) bio gives you 160 characters to work with, similar to having a 15 PSI tank of oxygen and expecting to survive underwater — but it’s still more generous than Instagram. Neil Patel offers a strategic, short bio example that speaks to professional accomplishment and expertise. 

This aligns well with his personal brand: polished and authoritative, but still approachable enough that you’d have a chat with him at a conference. Of course, the friendliness likely comes from his photo — a good reminder that your words are not the only thing working hard for personal branding on your social media profile.

Personal Bios for a Professional Website

Your website bio depends on two things: the kind of website you’re writing for and the kind of person you are. Length, style and delivery are basically free-for-all. Rather than going for the classic Tom Robbins sesquipedalia, Robbins embellished his about-the-author bio with a few creative descriptors literary bigwigs have assigned him. 

It’s simple, clean and, true to his professional philosophy, doesn’t include many personal details. 

How To Write Your Bio

Let’s get one thing clear: 82% of all Americans agree that companies are more influential if their executives have a personal brand they know and follow. I’d add that individuals are also more influential when they have a personal brand others know and follow — and influence isn’t just limited to the office. 

Case in point, let’s talk about Sir David Attenborough. I wanted to use him as an example above, but could I find his personal X account? Nope. What you’re more likely to see are the ‘BBC Earth’ and ‘A Life On Our Planet’ accounts. Everybody knows about these shows because they’re awesome — and they’re awesome because of David Attenborough.

That might explain why his personal Facebook and Pinterest accounts are also flying under the radar: He doesn’t need to be found there. And that’s fine if you’re as accomplished as David Attenborough. 

But if you’re not, it’s probably time to get writing. Here’s what to do:

1. Start with the basics: Cover topics like who you are, what you do, why you do it and what sets you apart. If you can’t get through them all, stick to one main achievement or your quirky personal interests. 
2. Add some character: Carefully select your words, get creative with a quote or descriptor and focus on connecting the delivery with the message. 
3. Customize the message: Consider your bio’s platform. Think about which audience you’re connecting with and tailor your message to meet them.
4. Don’t overdo it: Keep your bio light and breezy, regardless of the length. A concise, well-structured bio is easy to read, delivering information and a positive engagement experience. 
5. Try to sound like a human, not a robot: Create flow in your bio with natural, conversational language. The less space you have, the more dense words like “arduous,” “grandiose” and “quintessential” become. 
6. Share (but don’t overshare): Personality is a must. However, as with anything on your social media profile, don’t include information you wouldn’t feel comfortable discussing with a potential client, investor, boss or direct report. 
7. Watch the cliches: Everyone’s passionate. About 15 million other bios are talking about creativity and coffee. Too many cliches, and you risk losing your audience. 
8. Choose your voice: As a rule of thumb, use casual and first-person for social or personal bios and third-person for media kits or professional settings.

Bringing It All Together: Final Tips for an Epic Bio

At the end of the day (or at 3 a.m. when you’re still agonizing over your word choice), remember that bios are bite-sized versions of your personal brand. Adjust for context, show off your personality and try not to overthink it. 

Your voice matters. If you’re not sure what it sounds like yet, start experimenting. Write a terrible one. Follow up with a weirder one. Eventually, you’ll find a natural delivery style that shows you living life by your own rules — and pitching that to the world.