Presenting is difficult, and you already know that. It is also incredibly rewarding and beneficial to your career, but that’s not important for this post.

As difficult as it is to stand in front of a real or virtual room of folks and speak about a subject, there are several other difficult things about presenting that most of us don’t realize until we start preparing. There are technical concerns like trying to fiddle with Powerpoint or some other slide-related software or crafting demonstration code for scenarios.

There are also procedural concerns like figuring a title, an abstract/description of your session, and your biography. In fact, writing a simple biography can become one of the most frustrating and time-consuming parts of the entire process.

Let me help you with that.

Like a Stranger

First, if you’ve never written a two or three sentence biography, you should really try it out. It’s mind-bending for several reasons.

You have to make it seem like people should pay attention to you. If you haven’t spoken often or at large events, folks don’t know who you are. So, you have to say something that gives you instant credibility, which means you talk about your professional experience. And talking about your professional experience means…

You feel like you are writing a resume. Most folks don’t like writing a resume, because most folks don’t like distilling their identity to job titles. We are more than that, but we aren’t sure how to express “I am more than a Developer III” in a few sentences.

You have to write in the third person. Jeff doesn’t like writing about himself in the third person, because he never, ever does this in real life. It’s like some kind of verbal out of body experience. You likely feel the same way, unless you are LeBron James.

I feel your pain, so as to help you through the process of writing a short bio for a slide that no but your mother will care about, here’s a template for you to fill out and quickly. Yes, it’s basically a Madlib.

Only a Game

Sentence #1 – Who are you and what do you do?

{Your name here} is {your job title here} at {your employer here}, where {your pronoun here} has/have been {what you really do} for the last {your employment time}.

Sentence #2: That’s nice, but why should I listen to you?

{Your pronoun here} has/been in the {your industry here} for over {total time you’ve been toiling away}, and has been {awarded/honored/featured} as a {your accomplishment} ({quantity of your accomplishment})/ in/since {the year of your accomplishment}.

Sentence #3: But who are you, really?

When {your pronoun here} is/are not {whatever your normally do}, you can find {your pronoun here} {whatever you’d rather be doing} (or {something else you’d rather be doing} .

This is just a starting point, and you can certainly add more if you feel it would help describe yourself. But don’t add more stuff just for the sake of adding more. This is like an elevator pitch to introduce yourself, not your obituary listing your life’s accomplishments.

The Ghost In You

Oh, and one last tip if you dare: when you actually present, use a surprising sentence to describe what you do. Like what you REALLY do, but in a very broad sense. For example, I’m currently on the database team for a large automotive sales and finance company, so when I present I say “Hi, I’m Jeff Iannucci, and I sell used cars!”

Maybe it gets a few chuckles (chuckles are good!), and maybe it adds a little more fun in what can otherwise be a boring session. At any rate, don’t be afraid to be creative with your introduction. Your audience will thank you, because you are definitely more than your job title.