Too many busi­ness own­ers write pro­fes­sion­al bios that are the lit­er­ary equiv­a­lent of sleep­ing pills.

Don’t fall into the same trap of writ­ing only about your pro­fes­sion­al his­to­ry. Include a few fun facts about your per­son­al life, like this one: I know all the words to the open­ing song on Tal­ent Roundup Day (Fri­day) on the Mick­ey Mouse Club from the 1950s. When I men­tioned this in a blog post, I was del­uged with com­ments, espe­cial­ly from Baby Boomers who remem­ber the show.

Triv­ia like that gives peo­ple an unex­pect­ed and some­times humor­ous look at your per­son­al side, quirks and all. Whether you’re updat­ing your LinkedIn pro­file or cre­at­ing an About Me for your web­site, be sure to weave in fun facts or include a sep­a­rate sec­tion at the end called “Fun Facts You Did­n’t Know About Me.” If you do pub­lic speak­ing, weave them into your intro­duc­tions. Authors, tuck a page of fun facts into your media kit. You can even include this per­son­al triv­ia in short pro­files for things like your Cham­ber of Com­merce directory.

Here are 13 ideas to get you started

1. How did your childhood prepare you for your job today?

Best-sell­ing author Hen­ry DeVries began one of his bios like this: At the age of 6, Hen­ry began work­ing on the fam­i­ly dairy farm. When his par­ents learned of Henry’s plans for the farm when he inher­it­ed it, they decid­ed to sell. Forced out of the agri­cul­ture indus­try at the age of 12, he turned to writ­ing. Life high­lights include cov­er­ing pro sports for the Asso­ci­at­ed Press, serv­ing as pres­i­dent of San Diego’s third largest PR firm and los­ing $13,000 on the last ques­tion of the TV game show “Jeop­ardy!”

2. What’s your dream occupation — the one job you’d love to have if you weren’t doing what you’re doing now?

3. Describe your first car and what you loved or hated most about it.

4. Do you have hidden talents most people don’t know about?

5. What one accomplishment are you most proud of?

6. What embarrassing mistake have you made that has taught you a lesson?

7. What’s the most unusual item in your desk drawer?

8. What’s your favorite sports team and how far will you go to show your support?

Busi­ness coach Stephanie Sam­mons includes Fun Facts like this one on her “About” page: “I LOVE the Dal­las Cow­boys and I wear cow­girl boots.” (In my own bios, I often refer to myself as a Green Bay Pack­ers fan and con­fess to wear­ing a Cheese­head hat.)

9. Share something funny or endearing about your pet.

10. What’s your guilty pleasure? Mine is reading the National Enquirer online.

11. How did people describe you in your high school yearbook?

12. Who’s your best friend and why?

13. What’s on your Bucket List?

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