Public Speaking: How to Prepare Your Own Introduction as a Guest Speaker

You have been invited to give a speech at a conference or business luncheon. If the person who is to introduce you contacts you a week before, that is a good sign. Confirm with them how your name should be pronounced, and be prepared to give them the information they need to give you a proper introduction.

But go ahead and prepare your own introduction just in case you need to hand it to someone who is "filling in" for the person who contacted you. And absolutely have a prepared-and-printed introduction with you if no one contacts you before the day of your speech. Your prepared introduction should answer some basic questions the audience has about you and your topic. These questions are the three "whys":

Why this speaker?

Why this audience?

Why this time?

Why This Speaker?

This part of the introduction will explain why you are an appropriate person to address the subject matter of your speech. Do NOT simply hand the person giving the introduction a single-spaced page of your educational achievements and professional affiliations from elementary school forward and expect them to read the entire page or pick the most relevant items to read. If you are giving a speech with the title, "Where Have All the Flowers Gone: Effects of Climate Change on Horticulture in the Southern United States," the first segment of the introduction might look like this:

"Our next speaker, Professor Roy Bean, has spent the last 10 years studying the effects of global warming on gardens and crops in the southern United States. He has written on the issue for several national gardening magazines. Professor Bean received an undergraduate degree in Plant Science from Appleton University, and master's and Ph. D degrees in Horticulture from Wheaton University. He has taught advanced horticulture courses in the College of Agriculture at Cornell University since 1995."

If the speech is being given to a conference of other horticulture professors, more detail about the speaker's academic background would be appropriate. Otherwise, a brief overview such as that given above should suffice,

Why This Audience?

This part of the introduction will explain why the topic of your speech should be of special interest to the audience. Pretend the audience is a group called "Gardeners Rule All Southern States," or "GRASS":

"Members of GRASS have a special interest in Professor Bean's topic today because climate change is something that affects gardeners everywhere in the world, but the droughts we have experienced in the south in recent years have been especially severe. As you know, water rationing has made it impossible to maintain a garden in some areas."

Why This Time?

If the members of GRASS recently started circulating a petition in opposition to water restrictions against gardeners, of course you might want to mention that. Otherwise, a more generalized explanation of why the topic is important to the audience now will be appropriate:

"Professor Bean will help us understand what we should expect to happen to our weather patterns in the next few years and what we can do to help our gardens survive."

Please Welcome Our Next Speaker...

If you are the only speaker on the agenda, you are more likely to receive a round of applause when you are introduced than if you are "speaker number four" at a day-long conference. A person who is comfortable making introductions may conclude the introduction by saying something like, "Please join me in welcoming our next speaker, Professor Roy Bean" and then lead the applause as you take control of the podium. If the introducer is not comfortable with this, or if the group did not applaud any of the prior speakers until after their speeches, the introduction may conclude with the introducer saying "I will now turn the program over to Professor Bean" or even simply, "Professor Bean," as your cue to take over.

Print out your proposed introduction on a sheet of paper in 16-point font, and include a note on the proper pronunciation of your name (if needed) at the top of the page. Keep this page with the notes for your speech, ready to hand to the person who is to introduce you. Now, you are (almost) guaranteed that your speech will begin smoothly.

Are you worried about how you will be introduced now? No. It's one more item you can check off as: "Done!"