The Introduction

This is not about how to handle a double opt-in introduction.  This is about how to introduce yourself on a phone call or a public engagement.  If you go to a conference, sometimes it takes 15 minutes to introduce the panel for a one hour panel discussion.  That sucks for the people that paid to go to the conference.

We have this thing called the internet so it’s pretty easy to search a background on someone.  I think that introductions should be 30 seconds or less, no matter who you are.  The fact that you are there gives the panel credibility, and you can always publish full bios on a handout or even put them on a poster board.

If you ever took a speech class, you know how hard it is to put together a meaningful, impactful 60-120 second speech.  Same with panel introductions which is how I came up with 30 seconds.

I am headed to San Francisco tomorrow and will be at a conference all day on Thursday.  I am looking forward to meeting a lot of new people and learning.  My fear is that I will just learn about people’s backgrounds and not the reasons they are thinking and doing the things they are doing.

“Get to know you phone calls” are another thing.  Sometimes people will tell you their entire work history and go into detail.  That’s boring.  Just tell me what you do with the firm you are with now.  Time is limited, and we need to get to the meat of the reason we are having the phone call in the first place.

You might not know this, but a lot of panels are totally scripted.  I prefer it when it’s off the cuff.  It is fresher.  I did a podcast the other day with a friend and there was no prep.  Just come in at noon and he fired away.  I also think that the more the audience engages the better it is for them.  Moderators of panels should have some opener questions and back up questions, but the more the audience gets to ask a question the better.  If someone in the audience asks a question that is off point, or is trying to dominate the venue, the moderators job is to quench that down. Being a moderator means actively listening and reacting.

If you are a person that takes the stage and needs no introduction, then you are probably a person that should be on that stage.