Craft a strong About section

Checklist

✅ Capture attention in the first 2 lines

✅ Establish trust through social proof

✅ Use story telling technique (like the Gary Provost technique)

✅ Make it clear who you help, what you do, and why it matters

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How to optimize your about section

The About section is your elevator pitch. It sets the tone for your entire profile and often determines whether someone keeps scrolling or leaves.

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Study what works before you write

A strong About section usually starts with inspiration.

• Review 4–5 profiles of people in your industry
• Identify structures you like (hook length, paragraph rhythm, storytelling approach)
• Reverse-engineer them into your own voice
• Use AI to help brainstorm structure or opening hooks (prompt attached below)

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Open with a strong hook

Your first 2 lines determine whether readers click “See more".

Common hook styles to test:

• Credibility Builder – years of experience, achievements, metrics
• Value Proposition – who you help and how
• Point of View – a belief or perspective that frames your work
• Origin Story – a short glimpse into why you do what you do
• Quick Snapshot – punchy summary of your top skills

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AI prompt for hooks generation:

Your input goes between the {} signs. It includes your background, business, and industry terms.

Input {
[insert your background, services, and keywords]
}

Your task is to write 5 opening hooks for the About section of a LinkedIn profile. Each hook should follow a different style:
1. Credibility builder
2. Value proposition
3. Point of view
4. Origin story
5. Quick snapshot

*Keep each hook to 1–2 short sentences.
*Use clear, industry-relevant language.

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Use storytelling to make it human

Use alternating sentence lengths to control rhythm and engagement.

A common technique to do that is the Gary Provost technique - use the Gary Provost Custom GPT to help you re-write your text in a similar rhytmic flow.

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Add Social Proof

Types of social proof to include:

• Numbers
  • Revenue grown (“lead a SaaS company from 0 to $2M ARR”)
  • Team size managed ("managed a department of 15 engineers")
  • Countries served ("worked with EMEA and LATM")
  • Projects delivered
  • Audience reached
• Name dropping
  • Companies you worked with ("Worked with Fortune 500 companies")
  • Notable leaders you collaborated with ("In collaboration with Elon Musk")
  • Institutions you studied or taught in
  • Influencers you learned from
• Quoted inspiration
  • Referencing a quote can reinforce what you stand for

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Add Skills Inside Your About Section

LinkedIn allows embedding skills directly into the About section through the editor.

To add skills:

1. Open the About section in edit mode
2. Scroll below the text box
3. Click Add skill
4. Select the most relevant skills from LinkedIn’s suggestions
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Consistency in messaging

When optimizing the cover image it's very common to include a message, and it's recommended to keep it to just a few words. If you stay consistent between the sections, you can mention the message again, and expand it, then the profile page visitors read your message again ang again...

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Include (or don't) contact details

Some people choose to add their email of business phone number to the about section. It's more common to add it to the contact info where you can also include a link to your website, but if you work in a very traditional industry, you might prefer not to expect for people to look for your contact info - and give them that ifromation also in the about section.

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What to optimize next

Next, optimize your work experience