We live and work in a casual age, and you might be forgiven for wondering why that rather old-fashioned custom of the formal introduction for a speaker still takes place in meetings and conferences around the globe.
Old-fashioned or not, an introduction is a very good idea – in fact, without it a speaker must work much, much harder and is even set up for failure. The reasons lie in the audiences’ expectations.
Audiences want several things from a speaker, and some of them right away. First, audiences begin by asking why – why should I pay attention? Why should I care? If a speaker is successful, they’ll start asking how – how do I get started? How do I make this my own? That’s success for a speaker – moving the audience from why to how.
Second, audiences test speakers for a few things: trust, credibility, and likability. On these items, they’ll give a speaker a little time, but they make unconscious decisions very quickly, and those unconscious decisions are hard to turn around. So it’s better to get it right from the start.
That’s where the introduction comes in. An introduction can help answer the why question. And an introduction can help establish credibility, especially, but also trust and likability. The result of a good introduction is to greatly increase the likelihood that the speaker will do well. At least, she’s off to a good start.
A good introduction should answer 3 questions: why this speaker, on this subject, to this audience? A little humor is permitted, but an introduction should never denigrate the speaker, even in fun. The idea is to build the speaker up in the audience’s mind.
I’ve often noted that a celebrity speaker can be mediocre and yet the audience can report that it had a good time. The reason is that the celebrity has already been ‘introduced’ to the audience – the audience knows the celebrity. The work of a good introduction is to raise the speaker to celebrity status for the purposes of that occasion.
A couple final points. Always end with applause for the speaker, to allow her time to get up on the stage and ready to go. And it’s a very good idea to shake the speaker’s hand as he or she goes by on the way to the lectern. Shaking another person’s hand is grounding and comforting, and will help the speaker get off to a good start.
So don’t neglect the introduction. And speakers, prepare a good one. Don’t assume that the folks in charge will have a credible intro ready to go. Make it easy for them and write it yourself. You need the boost so that you can show up in front of that audience with credibility, trust, and likability.
As a frequent speaker, I always prepare a brief, written introduction on a notecard and hand it to the host so there is no ad libbing and no mistakes in name, experience or background. Conference organizers don’t have the time to research speakers, and if left to their own devices will typically launch into an extemporaneous intro that may or may not position the speaker correctly and positively with the audience. So, if you’re going to speak, write your own intro so your presentation starts out exactly the way you want.
Great point, John — exactly what we advise. But stayed tuned for an even better idea in tomorrow’s blog!