Feedback

I use a regular excuse to give direct feedback to people that connect with me on LinkedIn by saying that I’m a straight talking Dutchman. The Dutch have a reputation for that, right?

I give feedback because I’d like to help them. I also give it because I see so many dreadful profiles and after having been a LinkedIn trainer for 5 years, I can spot the rubbish instantly.

Why do so many folks write such nonsense on their profiles? What makes them rush the process so much? Is it to just get their profile published quickly? Many then never go back to it to improve it. We are so distracted in our lives that it shows through in the way that we present ourselves online as well.

“Black and white photograph of the back view of street protesters in a rally in Washington.” by Jerry Kiesewetter on Unsplash

Just take a few moments, maybe a few hours to improve what you write about yourself on LinkedIn. It’s not a CV or an advert, it’s an opportunity to present who you are, what your passion is, how you got to where you are now and what vision you have for yourself. Be personal, your story is the most important thing about you.

Whether you’re looking for a job, wishing to further your career or looking for new business relationships, people always buy from people. The way you write about yourself tells us a thousand times more about who you truly are.

The LinkedIn summary is probably THE most important piece of content you can write about yourself.

This is what I witness on a regular basis in LinkedIn summaries.

1. No summary at all!
2. Writing in the 3rd person like you’re some sort of celebrity.
3. Writing one sentence, which says nothing.
4. Writing an advert.
5. Writing a list of skills.
6. Professing that you are some sort of Super(wo)man
7. Using jargon that nobody understands unless they have intimate knowledge of your industry/sector.
8. Telling us how many connections you have and how popular you are.
9. Not writing about yourself only about the company.

And you actually believe it’s good enough?

We must all have higher standards for ourselves and show the world that we care about coming across coherently and that we’ve taken the time to express our intimate world to others.

Happy writing!

Michael de Groot

Profile

I’m no author. I’d like to think I’m a storyteller but I’m more like a story facilitator, helping you to craft your best story and allowing your digital community to have a closer connection with you.

By far the biggest mistake I see people make is that they write profile summaries in the 3rd person, like they are a big celebrity and their agent has written a bio page for them. Maybe you’re a speaker and your agent writes it for you?

It creates such a distance between your reader, your audience and yourself, because it’s not personal and definitely does not create any sense of intimacy.

When you write a profile, bio or summary page about yourself, write as if you are sitting opposite someone, explaining your story. Of course share what you do in business, cool, but make it more personal because that’s the most interesting part of who you are.

Write WHY you do what you do, what circumstances, opportunities got you into what you are doing today or if you haven’t found what you wish to do yet, what is grabbing your interest the most, what aspirations do you have?

Share something personal about your life too, maybe how you have moved around, how that enabled you to see the world in a different light, what effect did it have on you?

Always write in the first person, ‘I’ instead of ‘She/He’.

Got it?

Michael de Groot