A reader asked about the logic of having the event host or moderator introduce a speaker. My comments should have value if you ever need to speak at a professional or industry group event. They even apply if you speak to another department or team at work where most of the audience doesn’t know you or your background.
My speaker intros are short, focused on the topic and group, written for the ‘ear’ – not the ‘eye’ and concisely answer the question on most audience members’ minds – ‘Who is this guy and why should we listen to him?’ It answers their simple and important ‘WII-FM’ question.
The first things we say on the platform are the most important, set the tone, stress the audience-centric value proposition of our content and define audience expectations. So, I don’t ever want those first critical moments to be ‘all about me.’
Once in a while, the host or moderator says something like ‘Our speaker gave me this intro to read to you, but I’ll let him introduce himself.’ The Sicilian child within would like to smack that guy or nail him for being a jerk, but I usually resist that temptation.
And it’s really lame when the host does delivery the speaker-prepared intro and then the speaker says something like ‘As Fred indicated, I’m … ‘ and repeats or expands on the background details. Same urge to smack the speaker.