Hype Sheets Are Replacing Resumes and Websites
Here’s what they are and how you can build one
Oh, you used Times New Roman on your resume? Cool, me too!
Resumes have long been unable to properly capture who a candidate is. The rise of social media’s popularity has been leveraged as a career tool, but users can only showcase their individuality with one to two custom photos, the rest is uniform. As are websites. What many think of as their own website, is simply their information shared on a pre-designed template used by thousands of others on the internet. So then, what piece of information can an individual create and manage that is uniquely them?
The answer is a personal hype sheet.
I don’t use the language of this lightly either. Hype as a noun is extravagant or intensive publicity or promotion, and as a verb is to promote or publicize intensively. So, at this point, if you didn’t know you needed one of these, you’re all caught up.
Personal hype sheets are one of the last individual assets we can create, manage, and leverage all for ourselves without the risk of conforming to uniformity.
Hype sheets are resumes, hype sheets are portfolios, hype sheets are populated with live links. A personal hype sheet is a custom website in PDF format that can be attached, emailed, downloaded, and texted.
You need one.
Hype sheets are efficient shareable assets that tell anyone everything they need to know about you. Hype sheets are usually limited to two to three pages, in an effort to respect the reader but also to challenge the creator to surface and share only their best work.
How to Build Your Personal Hype Sheet
The best place to start is in Canva, a tool that allows users to be graphic designers with only drags and drops, not degrees. You also want it saved as a PDF, so I’d suggest creating it here.
Picture
Include a forward-facing image of yourself. Not a full body, but clearly show yourself. Don’t be afraid to dress how you want, or be doing whatever you want. This is your hype sheet. During my bike ride, my image was me on a bike. Now, it’s a regular ole headshot.
Bio
This is your about section. This section introduces you, your story, and what you’re about. Lean further away from the technical aspects of your degrees and professions, and liberate yourself to share your mission, and the impact you are aiming to have.
Partnerships & featured logos
Leverage the work you’ve done. People like pictures, so rather than explain the podcast you were on or the brand you did a campaign with, simply add their logo and then link that logo to the work. You can fit more with less using this tactic and it adds color and layers to your sheet. To decide which logos, like for the entirety of your sheet, think of the biggest and most impactful projects you’ve done and brands you’ve worked with.
Media appearances
You can break this down into podcasts you’ve been on, articles written about you, interviews you’ve been quoted in, or videos you’ve appeared in. This is any type of media, digital or print, that you’ve been mentioned in, not created. The reason for using items you’ve been mentioned in is that this section positions you as a thought leader, which elevates you.
Writing
I believe the best way to cement yourself at a thought leader is to create content focused on the topics you want to be a thought leader of. Simple right? For me, that’s writing so I will select my top writings and link them here.
Speaking
What can you speak to? Being known to have the ability to hold a room is important, even if you’ve never done it. I have three visually supported speakings I perform so I list them with the assets I use to support and a brief write-up of what they are.
Clients
Feel free to exaggerate here, but make sure you’re able to speak to it. If you didn’t have the most important responsibility but were still part of the project then list this here. This is similar to the partnership and feature logos, but this isn’t about content, this is more about the behind-the-scenes work you’ve done.
Backlinks with social logos
Each page should have uniform custom branding and the logos of all your social media and contact information. These are all opportunities to further introduce yourself, so include logos to your: newsletter, website, Tik Tok, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Medium, Strava, Spotify, or Youtube, and your phone and email contact information.
Now you’ve created your hype sheet, and you’re excited to share it. What’s next?
Where Do You Distribute Your Hype Sheet?
The first action is to make it publicly available. Make this sheet appear anywhere you are. So, that means on your website include it as a download, in your emails make it a permanent attachment or be conscious of including it in exchanges when appropriate. Upload it to LinkedIn and keep it on your page, and keep a copy on your phone so that you can text it to someone in an instant.
There will also be more targeted opportunities for you to share this sheet.
Submissions
When submitting anything, in your submission include the words “I’ve attached a bit more about my work,” and then attach your hype sheet. Submissions may look like: submitting yourself to be a guest on a podcast, submitting yourself to be a speaker at a school or conference, submitting an application for a job, or submitting a writing to a publication.
Job Search
Yes, it is appropriate to submit this when applying for a new job. The career process has become so diluted with spray-and-pray job boards like CareerBuilder and ZipRecruiter, which despite pre-roll podcast ad slots, aren’t the greatest places for candidates to find new jobs. The typical submission process for a new job is a few basic questions, your resume, and a cover letter. Boring. Why not stand out? The entire job search process is a staircase of steps that you are aiming to stand out on, so include your hype sheet with the language “I’ve included a bit more about myself and my work below.”
New relationships
Strategic networking is a free tool that can amplify your business or career growth. It returns, clients, referrals, mentors and more. Daily, I aim to make new strategic connections with people I want to learn from. As I open new relationships, a way to cement our friendship is through direct conversation, think email or phone. Either way, in advance of, or immediately after a call, I share with them my hype sheet as it’s the quickest and more digestible piece of content that captures who I am, what I do, and the impact I am aiming to have in the world. This is even appropriate to send to new clients, new social friends, family members, and former professors.
I am a writer, speaker, and idea generator so I devoted the space of my hype sheet to amplify my skills in regards to those opportunities. If I were a photographer, my focus would be on installations, clients, and brand work. If I were a musician, my sheet would include singles, awards, stream counts, collaborations, articles, and videos.
The purpose of a hype sheet is to stand out in a disgustingly restrictive and uniform world.
It will be natural when creating your hype sheet to underestimate yourself in an attempt to avoid being vain, but it’s critical you remove that from your headspace. This is an opportunity for you to truly be your biggest fan. To champion yourself. Hype sheets validate your work. Don’t be boring. Be brave. Be bold. This is your introduction.
Richie. Human.
To be thorough you can download my hype sheet here, or check out the images of it below (The links will only work on the website download).



I want to make sure you get the most useful advice out there, and that’s why I publish with Better Marketing. If you have a few extra minutes, here’s a low hanging fruit of a piece explaining why you should delete your linktree:
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