It’s difficult to keep introductions for Guest Speakers to a tolerable length. It’s hard to cover the basics in a brief yet compelling way.
But a minute is all it should take. Think of an appetizer – just a taste before the main course!
Well-meaning and/or ill-prepared introducers often feel the need to catalog and report on every aspect of a speaker’s life and career:
“. . . and when Gerry was in sixth grade . . . “
They either don’t take the time or they don’t have the discernment to focus on the main points that can relate to the speaking topic at hand. This can result in inadvertently contrasting the speaker’s life with their own:
” . . . Frank was probably a better student than I was, heh-heh-heh. While I was playing football at State he was probably . . .”
Intros should be sixty seconds long, for the sake of :
* the audience members, who don’t need to hear their program chair talk about how clever he was in choosing this speaker; and
*the individual who is nervously awaiting a turn at the microphone, wondering when the moment will arrive!
Our clients are accomplished professionals who love to share their expertise with groups at lunchtime meetings. But we know that stomach butterflies often wake up right before it’s time to speak!
We send our speaking clients with powerful one minute introductions. These are typed out for the program chair to read aloud, without having to do any research.
Because our client has approved the intro, and she knows exactly how long it will take to be read aloud, she can relax and focus on her timing (and breathing!).
Bye, bye, butterflies.
