Tell Me About You

Sometimes I get asked to ‘share’ stuff about myself. There are loads of types of ‘sharing’ prompts and the most common one is right here on social media. It’s the ‘About Me’ prompt when you start a blog or a site.

In the past, during a job or group-project interview, I’d get a “Tell me about yourself” prompt which gave me a sinking sensation just below my diaphragm and a kind of inner ‘oh-no’ frown. I’d never understood what the interviewer wanted to know, or when I should stop talking – oh dear! 

Talking About Yourself

In 2006 I started my first blog and WordPress asked me to ‘tell us about you’. There I was again, in front of the ‘Tell me about yourself’ prompt. A few blogs later, and many ‘About Me’ posts as well, I was still uncomfortable with this kind of blog post.

Fast-forward to a few weeks ago, I got a big fat pleasant surprise when a friend messaged me after she’d read my most recent ‘About Me’. In that post I’d shared a little of my experience in the field of voice. It’s not something I walk around talking about, believe it or not [said as Ripley’s 1982 American TV series voice talent]. My pal commented that she was really happy to learn new things about me. She expanded, saying it was really interesting that there is so much we don’t know about each other and how lovely it is to keep discovering. I agree. 

This got me more curious about how you feel about ‘talking about yourself’, face to face and online. 

A Quick & Dirty Research About Sharing

Digging into how you feel about this ‘sharing stuff about me’ thing, right now, in 2022 started to yell loudly in my head. What is the vibe on how you feel about sharing stuff about yourself? 

After chatting to people in person and online, I got the impression that there are two beliefs that cause us to share or not share stuff with each other, in person as well as online. In different ways, people said the following statements were true or not for them:

Everybody knows all there is to know about me; and

Nobody wants to hear about me (and my life). 

One Form & Six Countries

An extremely scientific research was conducted across six countries. In layperson’s terms I made a google form and asked people for their thoughts and feelings. I know, so incredibly technically advanced. You can definitely do this too 😉 

A huge thank you to everyone who responded! 

The results came out with some really pretty charts and most interesting information. See the lovely coloured wheels below.

The Results

There is a huge trend shown in the pinkish circle graph below. It says that 36.8% of you used to think that everybody knew all there was to know about you although now you realise there is a lot you haven’t shared, I’m also in this group. Extra comments were hugely interesting about the difference between sharing personal and private information.

The second pop-out number in the same pink circle graph said loudly with a massive 31.9% that hearing other people’s stories was compelling reading. “Get outta here, that’s a contrast”, I said to myself.

As I read through all the optional ‘tell me more’ comments, I got a sense that reading real-life stories about people is still alive and well in 2022. In general, we like reading about you. Phew, loads of bloggers and publishers just sighed a sigh of relief.

Everybody Does NOT Know All About Me!

Check out the responses to this statement. What surprises or interests you about the results below? Which camp or colour-pieces are you in?

In the cute circle-chart above, it shows that many of us are aware that we don’t share a lot about ourselves. Many said they would like to know how to share bits of themselves without sounding boasty or big-headed. Loads of people wrote about about holding back information, almost as if there was an editor in their heads. I know I’ve experienced this when I’m writing, speaking and also singing. It’s a part of us that helps us have engaging conversations and not have monologues – partly governed by our autonomic nervous system, although when we ‘let other people talk’ too much, we get a one-way conversation and almost zero human exchange. This can mean we get an overly-edited version of you especially if you are the listener. 

You Talk, You’re More Interesting

I’m curious about the last time you read something about a person and found it interesting. If you changed the owner of the content as being you, would you feel the same? It seems that ‘boasting’ is a judgement we make on ourselves and possibly block others from knowing us just that little bit better – with the personal not private stuff of course.

I’ve got a suggestion for a way to play with this. It’s coming up below and I think you’ll enjoy it.

I Want to Hear About You!

A whopping 36.2% really believes that ‘nobody wants to hear about me’ which is an interesting contrast to really enjoying hearing about other people as you can see in the pink circle graph above. 

Imagine a world of listeners. I mean I know we don’t live in that kind of world although maybe, we’re heading that way. There is a trend that I see in my quick & dirty research that we’d rather read about you instead of participate. If we’re all only reading or listening and not sharing, we’re editing ourselves and offering only tiny pieces. Potentially we could be limiting our opportunities too. I say we because I’m in this too.

Sharing is One Way of Connecting

Sharing stuff that is deeply personal, let’s call that ‘private’, is not what you or I want. Recent research showed that you’re not interested in reading ‘private’ stuff either. But when we feel safe enough or comfortable enough, we do share personal pieces – and those pieces are hugely interesting and often inspiring, comforting and encouraging. My friend who sparked my research-quest gave me one of those moments, by sharing what was interesting to her. 

With this sharing-is-connecting thing in mind, below I’ll share 10 Fun Facts About Me below. Where are your ‘Oh me too!’ moments? What memories do these facts spark in you? I am listening, tell me in the comments box below.

Ten Fun Facts About Me

All this research and these connected exchanges with my new and old pals across the globe got me thirsty for uncovering and sharing some pieces of me. Here are ten fun facts:

1. My first stage performance to a live audience was when I was 3 performing ‘How Much Is That Doggy In The Window?’ and I can still sing that tune today.
2. Melbourne radio said yes to me when I was 32 – I got my first paid voiceover gig. 
3. Meeting Dr. Stephanie Burns and her programme Learning to Learn in Melbourne in the 90s sparked my love of adult learning.
4. I played with toy cars more than dolls as a kid – they had better noises attached to them.
5. I’m an incredibly slow eater – it once took me four hours to finish breakfast. I’m a little faster now. 
6. My very first book that I read cover to cover was ‘The Little Red Hen’ and I still love it.
7. I was a backing vocalist in an Italian rock band where I live in Italy called ‘Why Not?’ . I jumped out after 2 months. 
8. My first love was Martin Monkey. I used to put him in a seatbelt whenever we went on long car trips with my family – he’s in the photo and still with me. Although now he doesn’t come on road trips with me. 
9. I hitchhiked alone in France from Val d’Isere to Courchevel at nightfall when I was 21 and just a little naive and pretty damn lucky. 
10. I created my first ‘art installation’ when I was 4 – I woke before anyone else in the house and ran down our freshly painted brilliant white hallway with my mum’s coral-coloured-limited-edition lipstick. I was wildly pleased. She was not.

Fifty Fun Facts About You

Over to you! Respond below in the comments with your Fun Facts or you can just amuse yourself. Choosing to share, daring to connect… what will you choose? Either way, here’s one way to do it:

1. Prepare your favourite writing or recording device (pen & paper, smartphone, laptop or PC) 
2. Set a timer for 7 minutes
3. Write or record EVERYTHING that pours out of your face for 7 minutes.
4. If you feel yourself faltering, write or say again “Another fun fact about me is…”
5. Choose your Top 10 Fun Facts and share them here in the comments, I’m listening – I’m part of that 31.9% that loves to learn more about you!

What’s that, you’ll do it later? Oh go on, grab that timer now! Do it, you know you want to. I sometimes don’t want to sit down and write. My fun-facts above were ‘written’ on my morning walk. I often speak-to-write, movement helps me bypass my inner-editor and just get my ideas out. How about you? 

I am fascinated by how us adults learn or not and how we go about installing habits that help. Talk to me, I’m listening!

If you liked this post, you’ll love my soon-to-hit-the-shelves book about connecting your voice so you’re showing up in your world as much as you want and feeling great about it. Follow me here to get activities that help you do this.