How to Interview Yourself Like a Top Journalist
Lesson 3 from: Writing Bios that Get NoticedMelissa Cassera
How to Interview Yourself Like a Top Journalist
Lesson 3 from: Writing Bios that Get NoticedMelissa Cassera
Lesson Info
3. How to Interview Yourself Like a Top Journalist
Lessons
Class Introduction
08:38 2The Importance of a Good Bio
05:25 3How to Interview Yourself Like a Top Journalist
05:47 4Adding Personality Into Your Bio
12:27 5Echoing Your Client's Language in Your Bio
08:58 6Creating Your Bio-Thesaurus
03:44 7Creating a First Draft & Intro
21:51 8Writing a Compelling Byline
04:36Lesson Info
How to Interview Yourself Like a Top Journalist
And here we go. So let's start with how to interview yourself like a top journalist. This is like step one to doing any type of bio writing work. You need to be your own whoever your favorite interviewer is, I'm just using Barbara Walters as an example but whomever you wanna think of and you need to channel that so that you can ask yourself all of the good questions. So we're gonna go through what those questions are right now. So the first thing you wanna answer is why do you do what you do? Now, let me preface this by saying that you don't wanna answer these questions like you're in like a high octane environment being, high octane, which I love that word, I got from one of our lovely participants, see, (laughs) and you don't wanna pretend that you're in like the room with Barbara Walters and like she's asking you these questions because then you're gonna clam up. This is just like free journaling exercise, right? You could also, if you feel like it's really hard to get things on the...
page, you can also have a friend or a spouse, or a colleague, or anybody, ask you these questions out loud then you answer them out loud and just record the whole conversation. So it's up to you, whatever feels better. So I wanna know why you do what you do. This is a great question to start with because it really is about that, it's not about like the actual thing or the process or the method. There's a deeper why behind it and there's also a great book, by the way, by Simon Sinek called Start With Why. If you guys haven't read it, I highly recommend for everybody in business because if you have trouble figuring out or if your why is like, "I'm just doing this "because I want money," you know, and money's okay, like we are business owners, we need income, right? Like we have expenses, we need to build a life, all normal but if that's the only why, we're just like, "I just want some money," you know, it's just not deep enough. There's nothing really interesting in there to glom onto, there has to be some other reason that you're running your business. Something else that's exciting or some deeper passion or purpose. So, start with that question. Like I said, if it's really challenging for you, you can read the book as a backup. Then what are your surprising superpowers? So like, what are you really great at? Now, I'm gonna give you a warning for this question too because this happens a lot where I ask people this question and they're like, "I don't know, "I don't really know what my superpower is, "I'm at a loss." We all have superpowers, all of us. All of us have things that we're really awesome at right, and you may not even know sometimes because we are so devoid of thinking of all the things that are so great about us, right? We think about it externally for other people but we don't often like celebrate our own successes and the things that we're good at. So if you're struggling with this question, go ask people in your life. Ask your spouse, your partner, your friends, your colleagues, whoever. Go take a little journey and even if you're like, "This is silly that I'm doing this, who cares?" Just go ask them and say, "Look, this teacher told me "I have to do this weird exercise "and I have to ask you what my superpower is, "what do you think it is?" Because everybody else knows what it is. All the other people in your life can see it clear as day but you don't always see it, right? So, if you're struggling with that, that's the little trick at getting around that. Then what's your proudest accomplishment? See, usually we all know this. It may take you a little bit to like think about it but we usually know like what the highlights are of our lives, like something really big. So you may already have that little bing in your mind right now like, "Oh, of course, it was when I had my child," or, "When it was my business made this bench mark," or whatever it was, right, or, "When I marched "for a cause that I cared about." Whatever it is, you just figure that out, what your proudest accomplishment is. And then, what problems do you always solve for your clients? This should be a super easy one to answer. I bet all of you could probably answer this right now is like you know, your clients are coming to you, they know exactly like what they're saying, what they're struggling with, they're telling you constantly. So, this is an easy one. But you just want to write it from your perspective, like, "What am I always fixing for my clients?" And so, this is giving you all this great juice that we're gonna work from for our bios. Alright, and then, what do you do when you're not working? So, like I said earlier, it is important to talk about passions or interests or guilty pleasures. And then, we're not gonna fuse all of them into your bio but where appropriate and we'll get into that, we will be. So, make a list of things that you do when you're not working. Also a warning, lots of us when we're entrepreneurs in the beginning phases, we don't do anything but work, right? So this question may trigger you and you may be like, "I don't know, I love my work," like, "I'm so obsessed with work that that's all I care." And I've heard that many, many, many times where people are like, "But my passion is my work." No, it could be but there's other things in your life, right? You may be shirking those things because you're so obsessed on your business right now but you certainly have other passions and things going on. So, whatever that is. Are you spending time with your family? Are you romping with your dogs? Are you taking a dance class? Are you, you know, whatever you're doing, are you binging on Lifetime movies? You know, whatever you're doing. (laughs) You know, whatever that is, just jot it down and have it for yourself.
Class Materials
Bonus Materials with Purchase
Ratings and Reviews
Victoria
Short, sweet and simply amazing! Melissa has such great energy, conveys her messages across with the right amount of information mixed with animation and humour, and provides helpful best practice templates for you to put what you've learnt into use right away. Highly recommended.
Margaret Lovell
I find the tips in this class helpful because while I'm a good writer, I hate writing about myself. Melissa's template is perfect for someone like me. I recommend this course.
Bettina Palazzo
What a life saver! I got so much inspiration and fun practical help our of this course, when I was stuck on writing a bio that would make me feel confident.