How to Introduce a Guest Speaker
Gerry Sandusky
Voice of the Baltimore Ravens. Leadership Communication Coach. I empower leaders and rising leaders to improve their communications and tell their story in ways that grow their influence, income and career.
The speaker, a 55-year-old CEO with a raspy voice and salt and pepper hair stood at the podium for what seemed like forever. He gripped the sides of a podium like a man anticipating an earthquake and looking to anchor himself to someplace secure. And he read line after line after line of the introduction to the event’s keynote speaker.
The introduction was so long and so boring, I felt bad for the speaker knowing he would have to work harder to engage an audience already deflated by an interminably long introduction—and I was the keynote speaker!
That was the day I stopped leaving my introduction to chance and started to think about speaker introductions in a different way.?
The mistake too many people make with speaker intros is using the opportunity to impress either the speaker or the audience with how much you know about the speaker. Believe me, the audience doesn’t care about that.
A successful speaker introduction doesn’t start with the speaker. It starts with the audience and what the speaker will do for the audience.?
You may never have to give a keynote speech or run a full day seminar, but as a leader there is a pretty good chance you’ll have to introduce a speaker or a seminar host.
Here’s my three-step formula for doing it in a way that sets the speaker up for success and gives the audience a reason to listen:
To establish empathy you connect a pain point or goal that most of the audience has in common with the speakers background, experience, or expertise. Here’s an example: “Our speaker today knows first hand the struggles tech entrepreneurs face finding investors,? having started three tech firms of his own.?
That connects the audience to the speaker before he or she even hits the stage. It creates the feeling for the audience that the speaker gets their pain (or their goal).
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Then let the audience know what’s in it for them to sit through this talk or seminar.? “Today our speaker will show us the three biggest failure traps facing tech firms that are looking for investors.”
Bam. Now the audience has a payoff to look forward to.
And finally, add a line or two about what makes the speaker credible, personable, or unique. Note I said a line or two. Do not read their entire resume, CV, or list of accomplishments.?
“He is a New York Times best-selling author, a graduate of? MIT,? and a successful guest on the hit TV show Shark Tank. Please welcome…”
Three parts, four sentences. That’s it. Short but meaningful. The audience gets? a connection to the speaker, a promised outcome from the speaker, and enough of a sense of who the speaker is to care and be engaged.
That sets up the speaker and the audience for success.
If the speaker or seminar host sends you a long bio or long intro, use my formula to trim it down.
Give it a try.
Try to keep it under 30-seconds. Forty-five seconds max. The audience will thank you. The speaker will thank you and you’ll probably get asked to do more introductions.
CEO @ Bob-L-Head Art, retired teacher
10 个月You STILL da man Gerry wit a G!!!!!
Should be mandatory reading for anyone who has to introduce a speaker. And if Mark Jankowski -- who is one of the best and most audience-engaging speakers I've met-- thinks this is spot on, I pay attention.
Levade for Leaders - Connecting to elevate success
10 个月Good wisdom here. Many people who are introducing set the wrong tone and kill the energy for the attendees as well as the speaker
Illuminating your path to innovative thinking, a future-proof mindset, and leadership prowess. | An international speaker & consultant. | TED Speaker | TV Villain
10 个月I suggest two things: First, shame on the speaker who doesn't provide their own intro. Why are they leaving it to chance that someone else will say just the right words to set the speaker up for success? Second, hopefully your idea of personality includes saying something funny or even quirky. The number one purpose of an intro is as a mini-commercial for the talk. To get the audience fired-up to hear what the speaker has to say. To already get the audience to lean in. But the intro also serves another important purpose: it helps the speaker read the audience before saying a word. It let's the speaker know quickly how the audience is likely to respond. Giving the speaker time to adapt as needed. For example, if we accept the old truism that asks whether a speaker has to be funny, with the answer of , only if they want to get paid, having something humorous in the intro let's the speaker gauge the audience's sense of humor. As a professional speaker, I send my intro in advance, include a phonetic pronunciation of my name, and add parentheticals that indicate what supposed to funny, and where to pause. I also often rehearse the introducer, to ensure a passable delivery. I'm a speaker. They usually are not.
Chair of ACE CEO Peer Advisory Groups. Award winning author and Master Negotiation And Sales Trainer. Coachsultant.
10 个月I am going to introduce Verne Harnish - who is one of those $50,000 a speech types and have been wondering how I would do it... Wonder no longer, because after this advice, "THE HAY IS IN THE BARN" and my intro is written - thanks for saving me hours of anguish.... Like I had in the first half yesterday against the Texans....