Most LinkedIn posts read like a press release fed through a thesaurus.
I used to write them that way too.
Then I noticed something: the posts that landed weren’t the ones with the most insights. They were the ones that sounded like a person.
Here’s the system I use now. Five rules. No fluff.
1. Start with the punchline
If your first line doesn’t make someone stop scrolling, the rest doesn’t matter.
The best openers do one of three things:
- Pick a fight. “Most PMs don’t actually do product management.”
- Drop a contrarian fact. “Closet Compass got acqui-hired seven days before my flight back to India.”
- Set up a payoff. “I built Vera in one week. Here’s what I cut.”
If I can’t write a first line that works on its own, I don’t write the post.
2. One idea per post
A post isn’t an essay. It’s an idea you can chew on while waiting in line.
Juggle three points and you’ll lose two. Pick the strongest. Chase it.
Save the rest for next time. There’s always next time.
3. Sentences, not paragraphs
LinkedIn renders for the mobile thumb.
Big paragraphs are a wall.
Short lines are a staircase.
I break almost every line.
It looks weird in a Google Doc.
It looks right in the feed.
4. Specifics over abstractions
“Grew the user base” is invisible.
“$0 to $200K ARR in nine months” stops the thumb.
Numbers. Names. Dollar amounts. Dates. The more specific, the more your post feels real.
Nobody argues with a number.
5. Land it
Most posts crumble in the last sentence. They explain. They wrap up. They wave goodbye.
Don’t.
End on the part that hurts a little. Or makes someone smile. Or asks for one specific thing.
A good ending doesn’t summarize.
It echoes.
That’s the system.
Five rules. Steal them.
If you start writing this way, you’ll fail for a few weeks. Then a post will hit and the dopamine will rewire you.
After that, the only hard part is showing up.