Introduce a speaker or colleague briefly and get the details right.
A good introduction is a handover of under a minute. It tells the audience who the person is and why they should listen, and gets them ready to pay attention. Thirty to forty-five seconds is often enough. It is not a full biography, and it is not your own talk.
Introducing someone is a small job that is easy to do badly. Take a host at a company learning session who stands up to introduce a guest speaker. She glances at her phone and mispronounces the speaker's surname. She reads three paragraphs of biography that include two previous employers nobody has heard of. She tells a story about how she and the speaker met at a conference, and ends with "So without further ado, over to you." The speaker walks up four minutes late into her own slot, after being introduced as part of someone else's anecdote.
You will be asked to introduce people more often than you expect. It happens at town halls, panel discussions, client meetings and team offsites, and when a new colleague joins a call.
The most important part of an introduction is the person's name, said correctly and clearly. In Singapore and across the region, names come from many languages and naming traditions. Some people put their family name first and some put it last. Some use an English name at work and a different name elsewhere, and some have names you have only ever seen written. Guessing is risky, because getting a name wrong in front of a room is awkward for both of you.
Ask the person directly how they want to be introduced. A simple question works: "How do you say your name, and do you prefer a particular name at work?" Most people appreciate being asked. If you can't ask them, ask someone who knows them well. Write the pronunciation down in a way that makes sense to you and say it aloud a few times before the event. On the day, say the name near the start. Slow down a little and say it clearly, which sets a respectful tone for the person you are introducing.
After the name, give two or three relevant facts and say why this audience should listen. "Relevant" is the key word. Relevant facts are ones that connect the person to this particular audience and topic. Say the session is on warehouse automation. The speaker's eight years running distribution centres is relevant, and their degree and first job probably are not relevant to that room.
Then write one sentence that says plainly why these people should listen to this person today. That link turns a list of facts into a reason to pay attention. For example, you might say that a speaker designed the training trial at Tuas, which is the trial most of the audience's sites will adopt next year.
Check the facts with the person beforehand. Job titles change, numbers get rounded wrongly, and old biographies on company websites are often out of date. Send them a quick message with what you plan to say and ask whether it is accurate, so you avoid an awkward correction from the stage.
The introduction is there to hand over to the speaker, and under a minute is the limit. Introductions usually run long in four ways: reading a whole biography, telling a personal story about the speaker, giving your own opinions on the topic, and previewing what the speaker will say. Previewing is especially unhelpful because it uses up the speaker's material before they can.
Write the introduction out, read it aloud with a timer, and cut until it fits under a minute. The approach to cutting in Lesson 1.3, "Cut what you love but they do not need", works here on a small scale. Leave out stock phrases such as "without further ado" and "this person needs no introduction". They take up time, and the second one is rarely true of the person you are introducing.
End with the person's name, for example "Over to you, Arjun." or "Please welcome Wei Ling." Saying the name again does two things. It gives the audience the name one more time, and it gives the speaker a clear cue to start. At a larger event or formal session, lead the welcome: start the applause as you finish speaking, then step aside so the speaker can take the space. In a smaller meeting, a warm "Over to you" while looking towards the person is enough.
Arjun is introducing Wei Ling at a cross-company learning session on onboarding. He says:
"Our next speaker is Wei Ling, who runs operations at a logistics company with sites in Tuas and Johor. Last year she ran a trial that got new warehouse staff working on their own about two weeks sooner, and she's here to share what worked and what didn't. If you're bringing new people into your team this year, this talk is for you. Please welcome Wei Ling."
His introduction has her name, her role and the trial result. It has a line telling anyone bringing new people into their team this year that the talk is for them, and it closes with "Please welcome Wei Ling." It takes under thirty seconds to say.
Think of a colleague, a guest speaker, or someone you might introduce at your next team meeting. Write a 45-second introduction for them, check the details with them, and practise it aloud.
Write a 45-second introduction for a colleague or speaker, check the details with them and practise it aloud.
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