Dangle more than participles off bios

For much of my career, profile writing was measured in the thousands of words, which led interviews toward: "And then what did you do in the third grade?"

Writing for the web, every word is weighted as gold. But I find the principle of bio writing is the same: Find the crowning point.

The crowning point for a former executive moving into executive search and recruitment became her fascination with people and their potential.

For partners in marine safety video production who never worked shipboard, their feelings about the devastation of poor training became the thread that gave their related experience meaning. The loss of young merchant marine. The damage to an industry after Exxon Valdez. The mention of those memories showed their devotion to safety.

It's hard to put a lot of meaning into a few paragraphs or bulleted lists. Potential clients primarily want to know accomplishments: What gives this person credibility?

But a whiff of the human being is also important. I try to dangle their knack and know-how off a whispered but meaningful theme.