Tips And Resources That Make Creating A LinkedIn Intro Video Something You Actually Want To Do

by Shea Ki

What if you could do something to boost your career momentum that didn't cost anything but some courage and a little time? 

You can! It is creating your LinkedIn Intro Video and pinning it to the top of your LinkedIn Profile in the "Featured" section.

I hear a lot of different reasons that many still have not recorded and posted theirs.

"It feels weird talking about myself like this...."

"I don't know what to say...."

"I'm fine until I hit the record button, then I start not sounding like myself...."

It can be an overwhelming step to take. 

However, I also believe that when we share communication about our work that is authentic, captivating, and effective, it opens the door to more possibilities. 

As I offered in my previous blog post, when you learn how to ACE your message of professional value, it quickens the journey to aligning with work opportunities that fit and feel good.

But life gets busy. Trying something new, no matter how beneficial it may be for our career growth, can be hard to find time to execute. Even as a coach who constantly helps other professional women learn and practice how to communicate with impact, I kept putting creating my LinkedIn video intro off.

When you invest the time to learn a few tips on how to do your intro video on LinkedIn, you can experience a big return of benefits back. Reflecting on what you will say, practicing it, and then creating a video that you are proud of will serve you in so many ways, including:

1) The clarity you will gain in talking about who you enjoy doing work for brings much relief.  Getting more clear on this is also extra useful if you have been feeling stuck in your career journey or not sure what next best step to take. 

2) You can use all or parts of your video intro at networking meetings, to help kick off any interview, or as a post to help clarify to others what your work is about on other social media. 

3) The boost in confidence I saw myself, my clients, friends, and colleagues experience once we posted our LinkedIn intro video is priceless.

🌟There is a new energy that comes from knowing for sure we have given ourselves time to look inward so we can clearly express outward on video a highlight about our professional value. 

For me, getting out of my own way to get this done felt empowering. ​

The incredible professionals I list below all created their first into videos on LinkedIn and volunteered to share their lessons learned for this article. I hope these examples, tips, (and resources listed later) will spark you up about the advantages that adding a video intro to your LinkedIn profile can provide. ​

Examples & Tips

Cathy Francois

The idea of me doing a video intro on LinkedIn was made possible first by Cathy Francois's willingness to be a good sport when I asked if she wanted to challenge each other to get this task done. I knew I needed an extra supportive nudge to commit to recording and posting mine.

Cathy and I gave each other one month and checked in every week to see how it was going. If something was holding us back, we could share that with each other openly whether it was a tech issue or feeling like maybe we should get our hair done first.

I highly suggest to start a LinkedIn Video Intro challenge with a co-worker or friend as it makes the journey to get it done SO much more enjoyable. Having someone else to share your excuses for not doing something that you know will be helpful to your career momentum can spur you to GET IT DONE. 
​
As Cathy put it best in one of our recent conversations, "it's nice to get an external push and support from someone who can relate."

Here are time-saving and practical tips from Cathy about creating your LinkedIn Video Intro:

► Recording it in SnapChat is a useful alternative to be able to add in text easily
► Natural light is the best
► Eye contact and clean background
► Camera position centered and from the neckline up

One more suggestion that resonated with me that she shared was, "I adjusted the pitch of my voice to bring a level of excitement because I can sound monotone in my relaxed voice." I also set an intention of how I want the tone of my voice to sound before recording and it helps every time. 

When you click on Cathy's picture on LinkedIn, her intro video will play. It is an excellent example of someone who is offering lots of value to others through several professional roles as well as being the founder of Rezume Forward. 

Alison Bucklin

Have you ever crossed paths with someone who right away you can tell they are golden from the inside out?

It's such a great feeling! Alison Bucklin is one of those brilliant bright lights on LinkedIn who is just as warm, caring and positive in person as she is in her inspiring content she shares. 

When she agree to share what she learned, I did a little happy dance in my home office. I know for sure this is a professional, energizing woman who walks her talk and would share some fantastic guidance.

And here it is:

"When creating my video intro on LinkedIn, I approached it as a welcome to my profile and an introduction to me and who I am. What was important for me was to incorporate my values into the video. As a suggestion for someone who is thinking about what to say, I would suggest they bring their values into it! A short video welcoming viewers to their profile and stating what their top five values are would be a simple way to utilize this feature as well as attract those with similar values!"

In Alison's intro video on LinkedIn, you can see the powerful difference it makes to talk about your top values and how it engages others into wanting to learn more about your work.

Philip Wilkerson III

Another fantastic professional on LinkedIn who stepped up to do their video intro when I asked includes Philip Wilkerson III. With his SUPER full plate working at the Career Center at George Mason University, running his own podcast, and much more, Philip still made the time to create and post his LinkedIn intro video.
 
We can all benefit from his guidance on getting this type of task done:

​"Don't overthink your video. It is just a brief introduction of who you are. You can always update the cover video in the future. Now, I plan to update my video at least once a year to keep it fresh and current with what I am doing."

I appreciate Philip's way he helps us not take these types of things too seriously, as that often makes us our own worse enemies in getting something new like this recorded and shared with others.

​Keep the pressure to get it exactly right in perspective, or as Philip shared with me, "Nothing is permanent, so don’t trip if your cover video is not perfect.”

View Philip's LinkedIn intro video on his profile. Notice how engaging it is when someone shares their genuine self and offers a specific call to action to the audience they most want to connect with. 
​

Sabrina Woods

I knew I would come up with excuses to keep procrastinating from posting a LinkedIn intro video and I did. ☺️ But once Sabrina Woods joined in the challenge to make one and share what she learned, it shifted my thinking and lack of action. I admire her work considerably and consider her a good friend, so I wanted to make sure we both recorded our videos feeling proud of ourselves. 

I think Sabrina's lessons learned demonstrate the type of grace we all need to give ourselves when creating a 30 second LinkedIn Video Intro.

​Since for many it is outside our comfort zone, she advises:
​
"Try not to over think it. But of course easier said than done. Also, it doesn’t have to be perfect. I looked back at mine and thought I looked kind of tired, but I’m just letting that go. I’ll also add that it can be really short, you don’t have to use the full amount of time."

When you see Sabrina's LinkedIn intro video, you may notice how being concise and open about what lights you up can add a new, powerful dimension to your introduction on LinkedIn. 

With everyone who participated, it took some nudging back and forth and at times helping each other with tech issues in figuring it out. Other priorities in work and life also rose to the surface and needed our energy and attention, but remembering the benefits of getting this short but powerful video done kept us all on board.

Here is where you'll find my intro video on LinkedIn or you can view it on my Instagram, too. It took me way more takes than I expected. ☺️ I had to re-post it a few times because of tech issues, my brain freezing up, or words going too fast. Thankfully, when I remembered to treat this professional activity more like an interview and do some energy work with a pre-ritual, like the one I talk about here, it got much easier and enjoyable to do.  

Resources To Help

Getting your LinkedIn intro video completed is a brave action that will boost your career momentum. Perhaps you have already posted yours already (🌟Bravo!) and you now desire to take your introductory video messaging to a whole new level.

​Below are generous experts who share excellent resources about how to create your LinkedIn intro video. They each have fantastic intro videos on their profiles to get inspired by, too. 

Kamara Toffolo gets you ready for some up-leveling tips
In under 15 minutes, in this video, Kamara walks you through the ins and outs of setting up your intro video on your LinkedIn profile and brings you tips beyond the basics. When this feature was first rolled out, it was limited to 20 seconds but since that time another 10 seconds has been added on.  (It was also first called "LinkedIn Cover Story"). I think a lot of Kamara's guidance is still spot on. As she emphasizes, your video intro is an "ENHANCEMENT to your profile, not a REPLACEMENT...to the well-written stories in your about or summary section."

Nick Raeburn provides a resource like no other with humor
Nick shares a post with a template that includes helpful scripts for video intros. Please DM him while you are on LinkedIn to thank him for putting all this together so we can all shine brighter in our 30 second intro video.

Kristin A. Sherry told me the number one tip to keep in mind
As the extraordinary creator of YouMap®️ and author of many award-winning transformational books focused on maximizing potential, I knew tips from Kristin would be exceptional.

​But this time she provided insight that to me turns out to be a number one tip.

​Kristin sums up best what to laser focus on when creating your LinkedIn profile video intro:
​
"Ultimately, you are going to connect with people on your values and your passion. You don't connect with people by trying to figure out 'how do I explain what I do in 30 seconds?' Movie trailers don't try to cram the whole movie into the trailer. People can find out all about you if they like what they see in the 30 seconds. So just focus on sharing something that is important to you that will add value to them."
​

Your turn! I'd love to know when you get your LinkedIn video intro on your profile. DM me on LinkedIn or on Instagram. 

☯️ Keep growing and glowing,

About The Author

​Shea Ki is the creator of the Upgrade My Interview™ method and other resources that help you gain the calm, clarity, and confidence needed to boost your career momentum. Her holistic approach and practical guidance have been featured in several publications and she is often included on lists of professionals to follow for career success and inspiration on social media.