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How can I introduce myself in a professional manner?

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Host: How can I introduce myself in a professional manner?

Sean McArdle: The introduction in a public speaking arena is very important. It sets up almost everything that happens afterwards. I believe that every speaker regardless of whether they do this for a living or it is just something they have to do because of their living, should be somebody who writes down an introduction in advance. Preferably you should have somebody else introduce you because that says not only, is this interesting information about you, but somebody else is willing to put it out there for you.

So, my first preference is to have somebody else introduces me from a written introduction that I have developed. The second thing is to remember that if you don t have somebody to introduce you; you want to relate what is important to your audience. For instance, the fact that you are a great skateboarder may not be a part of your introduction because you are there to talk about corporate sales.

Now it is cute, but the fact is you want to leave the extraneous stuff out and ask yourself this question, What about my introduction will make the audience want to listen more effectively to what I have to say and then include it. Introduction should be brief, should state no more than three important things about what you are going to say and why you should be listened to and when it s over, you should immediately get into your talk.

Expert: Sean McArdle

Sean McArdle is a master motivator and speaker in the areas of sales, negotiation, strategic planning and personal development. His distinctions about what makes for a successful career and life come directly from his own experiences. His stories will take you on a personal journey from living under a bridge at 25 to negotiating some of the largest printing contracts in the publishing industry at 28. Since 1992, More »