How to Write a Good Self-Introduction with a Product Approach

A good professional self-introduction is needed not only for your LinkedIn page, a profile summary in the cover letter when applying for a dream job or in a short bio on all your favourite social media. Even if you are signing up for a dating app, you also need an attractive self-introduction that explains who you are and what you are looking for.

We all know that ‘sex sells’ used to be a motto of many advertisers, but now it’s a new rule – ‘text sells’. If you often struggle with writing a stronger self-introduction convincing that you are the right person for this job, task or date, it’s worth trying a product approach.

What is product approach?

You should make a good impression from the first lines, so you need a ‘selling’ text about yourself. In this case, ‘selling’ doesn’t mean bragging or praising your merits but rather writing a self-introduction with a reader’s interest in mind and an intention to do a specific job for them.
Briefly,product approach is the method of work that allows a business or a team to get the desired results in the best way.

By applying a product approach, I mean to write a self-introduction while keeping your goal, your target audience and their benefits in mind. With a self-introduction or profile summary, you want to save one’s time and let them understand why they need you or why you turned to them.

Therefore, your first step is to answer three questions:

• Why are you writing it?
• To whom are you writing it?
• How can you help them?

So let's look at how to apply a product approach to write an attractive self-introduction that would irresistibly lead to an action, whether it is an invitation to a job interview or a new network connection (or a right swipe).

What to write about yourself

Imagine that a self-introduction is a logline, a summary of the movie script about your favourite character. A logline for the movie is often three to five sentences at most, and its job is to draw attention to the idea of ​​the film so that the producer would love to read the entire script. The scriptwriter knows his audience (producer or film company) well and his intention (to ‘sell’ the idea and convince the producer that reading the script is worth his time).

The logline should answer four basic questions:

• Who is the hero?
• What is happening?
• What does the hero want?
• Who or what is stopping him?

A good logline:

Over 400 desperate people with debt accept an invitation to participate in a survival game with a big cash prize. Whoever survives will receive US$38.5 million. They all want to win, but they don't know yet what challenges the game masters have come up with for them.

As in the case with a logline, the task of a self-introduction is to get the other person interested to know you better and at least continue the conversation.

Who you are

You can call yourself the master of sales, the tamer of chaos, the fairy of creativity and other high-profile but fictitious titles if you like riddles. But, most likely, no one will understand anything. Just say who you are: position, profession, speciality, area of ​​your professional or scientific interest; if it is important, specify in which department, company or industry you work.

Example:

I am the Head of Communication in business content subscription RBC Pro.

You might not know the product or the company, or my responsibilities. However, you are likely to understand that I have a manager position (not an individual contributor) and do something with communications. It’s a good start.

Simple and straightforward wording may not look so creative and outstanding, but it immediately makes it clear what you are doing.

What is happening, and how can you help?

After you have identified who you are, you can explain what your expertise is and how you can help. When answering this question, think not about yourself but about the other person’s interests, pains, challenges and expectations: who they are, what jobs you can do for them and what results you have to offer.

Example:

I develop growth-related products from idea to production and create compelling communication strategies in the product and across all marketing channels.

Don’t mechanically list all your responsibilities and duties, but rather concentrate on the value and beneficial action for them. So you should explain why it is worth coming to you with a new project, an interesting task or an offer.

What do you want?

Think about what you expect the other person to do next after reading your self-introduction, and end with a call-to-action, like a specific proposal or an invitation to continue the conversation.

Example:

Imagine that you want to share your expertise and write an article for a business media. Study their headings and how the articles published on the site are written. Along with a short story about yourself, please send examples of topics that you can cover, brief abstracts, and indicate in what format you are interested in collaborating and how regularly you are ready to provide content pieces.

How to write about yourself

Finally, we come to the choice of a specific form and wording. Here are the key principles of a good self-introduction. They will work well for any text-based content.

✅ Decency. The universal tone of voice is calm and friendly, without snobbery, self-confident statements or fawning. Ideally, you write in the manner spoken in the environment or in the company where you would love to work. What reads well on your personal blog, social media, or messengers may look out of place in more formal communication channels.

✅ Clarity. The stream of consciousness and the sheet of text is annoying. On the contrary, text with subheadings and a clear structure, where every paragraph has one key message, is pleasing to the eye and saves time. Build your story around the benefits and value that they get from interacting with you, not your unique self.

✅ Reliability. The power of self-introduction is to tell the truth, and save the person’s time by telling them only what they need to know about you. To make the text sound truthful and convincing, give facts: what projects you accomplished and what results you achieved. Diplomas and awards can impress someone; let your deeds speak for you better. They are able to make their own conclusions.

✅ Simplicity. Remember the logline analogy. Be brief and strait-forward. A long text can frighten or tire even the most persistent and interested.

✅ Literacy. It is often equated with intelligence. Therefore, a typo or clumsy wording can spoil the impression of you and even cast doubt on your expertise, although you are a top specialist and have nothing to do with texts at all. Check if there are any errors and readability with Grammarly (Google Docs also has a spell checker).

Questions for self-examination

• Is that exactly what I want to say?
• Does this really need to be mentioned?
• Will they understand me clearly?
• Can I say the same in a simpler and shorter way?
• Is that exactly how it spells?