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40 LinkedIn post ideas for professionals who hate self-promotion

Forty LinkedIn post ideas grouped by type, with a first line for each, so you can share what you know without feeling like you are bragging.

· 4 min read

The easiest way to post on LinkedIn without feeling like you are bragging is to teach instead of announce. Share what you learned, what you got wrong, and how you do your work. The forty prompts below are grouped by type, each with a first line you can adapt.

Pick the ones that fit your content pillars and ignore the rest.

Lessons from your work

These are the backbone of a good profile. Each one needs a real detail.

  1. A mistake you made early in your career, and what it taught you. "In my first year I did X. It cost us Y."
  2. Something you changed your mind about. "I used to believe X. I was wrong."
  3. The best advice a manager gave you.
  4. A project that failed, and the one thing you would do differently.
  5. A decision you made with incomplete information, and how it turned out.
  6. What you wish you had known before your current role.
  7. A small habit that made you better at your job.
  8. The hardest conversation you had at work, and how you prepared.

How you do things

People follow those who show their method.

  1. Your checklist for a task you do every week.
  2. The template you use for a recurring document.
  3. How you run a meeting that ends on time.
  4. How you say no to a request.
  5. The first three things you do when you join a new project.
  6. A tool or shortcut that saves you an hour a week.
  7. How you explain a complicated idea to someone outside your field.
  8. Your process for making a hard decision.

Points of view

A view with a reason is what makes you memorable. Be fair to the other side.

  1. A common practice in your industry that you think is wrong, and why.
  2. A popular piece of advice you disagree with.
  3. Something everyone is excited about that you think is overrated.
  4. Something unfashionable that still works.
  5. A prediction for your field, with your reasoning.
  6. What newcomers to your profession should ignore.
  7. The question you wish clients asked more often.
  8. A trade-off people pretend does not exist.

Explaining your field

Teaching is the least awkward way to show expertise.

  1. A term from your field, explained in plain words.
  2. The difference between two things people confuse.
  3. A myth about your job.
  4. What a typical day actually looks like.
  5. The three numbers that matter most in your work, and why.
  6. A beginner's reading list, with one line on each item.
  7. A question you were asked this week, and your answer.
  8. How your field has changed since you started.

People and gratitude

These work when they are specific. Vague praise reads as filler.

  1. A colleague who taught you something, and exactly what it was.
  2. A book or talk that changed how you work.
  3. A customer or client story, with permission, about a problem solved.
  4. What you learned from someone you mentored.

Milestones, done well

Announcements are fine when they give the reader something.

  1. A new role, plus the three things you learned in the last one.
  2. A finished project, with the before and after.
  3. An anniversary, with the lesson from each year.
  4. An event you attended, with the one idea worth passing on.

How to turn a prompt into a post

A prompt is not a post. Use this shape:

  1. First line: the point or the tension, in under twelve words.
  2. Two to four short paragraphs: the story, with one concrete detail.
  3. The takeaway: one sentence a reader could repeat.
  4. Optional: a real question.

Write it the way you would say it to a colleague. Read it aloud once. Cut the first sentence if the second one is a stronger start.

Batch them

Ideas arrive when you are working, not when you sit down to post. Keep a note on your phone and add one line whenever something happens that taught you something. Once a week, turn two of those lines into posts.

If drafting is what stops you, Brand Studio can turn a one-line idea into a draft in your brand voice and hold it for your approval. The idea and the final edit stay yours.

Frequently asked questions

What should I post on LinkedIn if I have nothing to say?

You have more than you think. Start with the last question a colleague or client asked you and answer it in public. That is prompt 31, and it never runs out.

How long should a LinkedIn post be?

Long enough to make one point with one example. For most posts that is 100 to 250 words. If it needs more, it may be an article.

Is it fine to reuse an idea?

Yes. Few people see any single post. Return to your best ideas every few months with a new example.

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