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Plan Ahead
Your introduction should aim to build up a speaker to the audience. It should build trust, credibility and likeability from the off and help your speaker put their best foot forward.
One of the easiest ways to do this is to craft a summary of the individual that clearly explains who they are and why they are best placed to address the audience. Questions you should aim to answer include:
In answering all of these questions you should be able to craft an introduction that elevates your speaker and prepares the audience for their presentation.
Communicate Your Speaker’s Credibility
Your speaker is most likely a leader in their field or industry, so make the most of this in your introduction. Of course, there’s absolutely no need to reel off the person’s whole professional background. In fact, that’s the opposite of what you should do. However, you should aim to give a succinct overview of the person as a professional and summarise their career highlights.
Ultimately, you want the audience to listen to your speaker and engage with what they are saying. Therefore, by summarising their credentials you give them reasons why they should do just that.
Be Enthusiastic
Enthusiasm is contagious when delivered in the correct way. For that reason, it’s so important to deliver your introduction with passion and excitement. It’s not just about what you say either, but how you say it. Smile when you speak and be animated in delivery. If you seem genuinely enthusiastic about the speaker, your audience will feel the same.
Be Brief
While there are no hard and fast rules about how long an introduction should be, it’s wise to keep it short and sweet. To achieve this, seek to answer the questions listed above with no extraneous information. Launching into a complex biography of the person’s life will most likely bore your audience to tears and wonder why they bothered attending in the first place!
Be Accurate
It goes without saying that you should do your research for your introduction. Make sure beforehand you know exactly what the speaker will be talking about so you can summarise it effectively. As well as this, be sure to fact check all the information you have, such as their current job title or how to pronounce their name.
It’s advisable to have a conversation with the speaker beforehand and ask if there is anything in particular they would like you to include – or not include.
Have A Sense Of Humour
It goes without saying that you must not make jokes at the expense of your speaker. However, a little sense of humour can go a long way. That’s not to say that you should channel your favourite comedian for your introduction, though!
Try and find a balance to your humour and read the room. If you’re delivering your introduction and notice a joke has gone down like a lead balloon, it might be best to leave out anymore and stick to the facts.
If you’re planning a conference and would like some help and support, we can help. The KDM blog is packed full of articles designed to support you in planning and hosting a fantastic event. Furthermore, our experienced team of Event Managers are on hand to provide flexible help with event management should you need it, from sourcing speakers to boosting event engagement. For more information, please contact us. We’d love to help!
