What does your introduction say about you?
What does your introduction say about you? As presenters, we are obligated to provide introductions to our event planners. Most speakers introductions are lengthy obituaries, and just as exciting for the audience.
Most speaker introductions read something like:
"Joe Soap is wonderful. Joe Soap has written two books. Book one is titled - How to be boring. Book two is titled - How to be even more boring. Joe Soap has lived in Arizona for his whole life and owns three cars and a cat. When Joe Soap is not on his soap box about his XYZ Widget Development Process, he dedicates his time to writing insomnia-curing speeches. Joe Soap has trained 25,000 people in 30 countries across the world. Joe Soap holds a Masters degree in The Anal Retentive Examination of Esoteric Studies from the University of Obscurity. Please help me welcome Joe Soap to the lectern".
This introduction is wrong for the reasons below. Take note and make sure that your introductions are significantly better than the introduction of Joe Soap.
1. The whole introduction is about Joe Soap. Sitting in the audience, thinking "What is in this presentation for me?", all you hear is about Joe Soap. In your heart you are thinking - "Who cares what Joe Soap has done. What is he going to do for me while I listen to his speech?" Make sure that you speech introduction is you-focused and tells the audience what they are getting out of your speech. For example, "In the next thirty minutes, you will learn 3 skills to use in your next conversation".
2. Make your speech active. Do you notice all the passive verbs in Joe's introduction. Study Active and Passive verbs here, and put life into your introduction.
3. Only include relevant certifications in your introduction. Don't bother mentioning your list of degrees and accomplishments unless they directly build credibility for you speech. No-one cares.
Use your introduction to show your audience that your speech is about them, not about you. Make your introduction say the right things about you.
Most speaker introductions read something like:
"Joe Soap is wonderful. Joe Soap has written two books. Book one is titled - How to be boring. Book two is titled - How to be even more boring. Joe Soap has lived in Arizona for his whole life and owns three cars and a cat. When Joe Soap is not on his soap box about his XYZ Widget Development Process, he dedicates his time to writing insomnia-curing speeches. Joe Soap has trained 25,000 people in 30 countries across the world. Joe Soap holds a Masters degree in The Anal Retentive Examination of Esoteric Studies from the University of Obscurity. Please help me welcome Joe Soap to the lectern".
This introduction is wrong for the reasons below. Take note and make sure that your introductions are significantly better than the introduction of Joe Soap.
1. The whole introduction is about Joe Soap. Sitting in the audience, thinking "What is in this presentation for me?", all you hear is about Joe Soap. In your heart you are thinking - "Who cares what Joe Soap has done. What is he going to do for me while I listen to his speech?" Make sure that you speech introduction is you-focused and tells the audience what they are getting out of your speech. For example, "In the next thirty minutes, you will learn 3 skills to use in your next conversation".
2. Make your speech active. Do you notice all the passive verbs in Joe's introduction. Study Active and Passive verbs here, and put life into your introduction.
3. Only include relevant certifications in your introduction. Don't bother mentioning your list of degrees and accomplishments unless they directly build credibility for you speech. No-one cares.
Use your introduction to show your audience that your speech is about them, not about you. Make your introduction say the right things about you.
posted by Wayne Botha @ 7:44 AM
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