The Nutshell Resume System
Prepare multiple versions of your self-introduction tailored to each audience
The Nutshell Resume System is the practice of preparing multiple, audience-specific versions of your answer to the question 'What do you do?' rather than relying on a single generic description. Just as a savvy job applicant customizes their resume for each position, a skilled communicator prepares different verbal introductions that highlight the aspects of their work most relevant and interesting to whoever is asking.
Lowndes observed that most people give the same flat answer to this question regardless of audience — a one-size-fits-all job title that reveals nothing compelling. Big players, by contrast, have mentally prepared several versions of their story. They read the situation, assess the listener's likely interests, and serve up the version that will create the most connection or intrigue.
The system also addresses how you ask others what they do. Lowndes advises replacing the blunt 'What do you do?' with more inviting forms like 'How do you spend most of your time?' This opens the door for people to share whatever aspect of their life they find most interesting, not just their job title.
- A generic self-introduction is a wasted opportunity to create connection.
- Different audiences care about different aspects of what you do — your job is to surface the relevant one.
- The question 'What do you do?' is not a request for your job title; it is an invitation to make yourself interesting.
- Preparation is invisible to the audience but obvious in its effect — tailored answers feel natural and compelling.
- Audit your full range of experienceMake a comprehensive list of everything you do, have done, or are passionate about professionally and personally. Include roles, projects, skills, industries, hobbies, and causes. This is your raw material.
- Identify your key audiencesThink about the types of people you regularly meet: industry peers, potential clients, people at social events, people in adjacent fields. For each audience type, identify what aspects of your background would be most interesting or relevant to them.
- Craft audience-specific nutshellsFor each audience, prepare a concise, engaging version of your answer that highlights the most relevant aspect. Keep each version to two or three sentences. Practice them until they feel natural rather than rehearsed.
- Read and deploy in real timeWhen someone asks what you do, take a split second to assess who they are, what they might care about, and which version of your nutshell will create the most connection. Deliver that version naturally.
Roberto was out of work and applied for two positions: sales manager at an ice cream company struggling with sales, and head of strategic planning at a fast-food chain with international ambitions. He tailored his resume (and verbal pitch) differently for each. For the ice cream company, he highlighted turning a small company around by doubling sales in three years. For the food chain, he emphasized his European experience and knowledge of foreign markets.
Lowndes tells the story of her friend Roberto, who was applying for two very different positions: sales manager at an ice cream company and head of strategic planning at a fast-food chain. Roberto did not send the same resume to both. For the ice cream company, he highlighted his experience doubling sales at a small company. For the food chain, he emphasized his European work experience and knowledge of foreign markets. Both firms offered him the job. Lowndes saw this as a model for verbal self-presentation — your answer to 'What do you do?' should be just as strategically tailored.