Maki

ngI
ntr
oduct
ions

Ef
fect
iveSel
fandPeeri
ntr
oduct
ions

Whatar
eint
roduct
ions?

Ani nt
roducti
onisapoli
temethodofstartingaconver
sati
onand
establ
ishingaconnect
ionbet
weeny ourselfandsomeoneelseorbetween
twoormor epeopl
eyouknowwhodon' tknoweachot her.I
ntr
oduct
ions
explai
nwhot hepersonyouareint
roducingisandwhatthepeopleyouare
i
ntroducingthem t
oneedtoknowaboutt hem.

I
mpor
tanceofi
ntr
oduct
ions

Intr
oducti
onsar eimpor t
antbecauset heyhelppeopl ef eelcomf ort
able
aroundeachot her.Wheny ouar emeet i
ngsomeoney oudon'tknowf orthe
fir
stti
me, ani
ntroductioncanhel pyoust artaconv ersati
onwi thsomeone
youdon'tknow, expandy ourprofessi
onal networkandcr eateapositi
ve
fir
stimpressi
onofwhoy ouare.Wheny ouareintroducingt woormor e
peopletoeachot her,agreatintr
oductioncanl eadt oameani ngful
discussi
onandal ast
ingconnect i
onbei ngbuilt
.

Whati
sSel
f-
Int
roduct
ion?

Astr
ongself
-i
ntroduct
ioni
ncludeswhoyouar
e,whatyoudoandwhat
ot
hersneedtoknowabouty ou.Whenyoudel
i
verapowerful
sel
f-
i
ntr
oducti
on,
y oucanmakeal asti
ngposi
ti
vei
mpressi
on.

Youshouldoff
erasel
f-i
ntroducti
onanyti
mey oumeetsomeonenewand
ther
eisn'
tsomeonepresenttointr
oduceyou.Thefol
lowi
ngar
especi
fi
c
i
nstanceswhereasel
f-i
ntr
oductionmightbehelpf
ul:

Att
hebegi
nni
ngofani
nter
view

Whi
l
eat
tendi
ngahi
ri
ngev
ent

Whennet
wor
kingwi
thnewconnect
ions

Whi
l
egi
vi
ngapr
esent
ati
on
Whenmeet
ingpeopl
eatat
radeshoworconf
erence

Aself-
introducti
onshouldi
ncludey ournameandoccupation(ordesi
red
occupation)andkeyfactsthatwil
lhelpyoumakeanimpr essiononthe
persony ou'
recommuni cat
ingwith.Inafewsent
ences,cov ert
hemost
i
mpor tantthingsot
hersneedt oknowaboutyou.

Wheny oui ntr

oducey our
selfprofessi
onall
yinaninter
view,startwitha
poli
tegreeting,st
ateyourfullname, menti
onyoureducat i
onalbackground
andrelevantwor kexperi
ence,highli
ghtkeyski
ll
sandst rengt
hs, bri
efl
y
shareyourcar eerobj
ecti
ve,andexpr essgrat
it
udefortheoppor tunit
y.Keep
i
tconcise,conf i
dent,
andf ocusedonshowcasi ngyourqualif
icati
onsf ort
he
posit
ion.

Howt
opr
epar
easel
f-
int
roduct
ion

Whetheryouplantodel
i
veryoursel
f-
int
roduct
ionverbal
l
yorinwri
ti
ng,
dr
aft
ingasampl eofwhatyouwanttosayinadvanceishel
pful
.These
st
epswi l
lhel
py oucr
eat
eanef f
ecti
veself
-i
ntr
oducti
on:

1.Summar
izey
ourpr
ofessi
onalst
andi
ng

Thefi
rstsentenceofyourself
-int
roducti
onshouldincl
udeyourname,job
ti
tl
eorexperi
ence.Ifyou'
reunempl oyedandseekingajob,youmight
menti
ony oureducati
onaldegree,cer
tif
icat
ionl
evelorcurr
entpl
aceiny our
j
obsearch.

2.Br
ief
lyexpl
ainy
ourwor
kexper
ienceandkeyaccompl
ishment
s

Customizethi spartoftheintr
oductiontohi ghl
ightthedet ai
lsmost
rel
evanttotheper sony ou'r
ecommuni cati
ngwi th.Ifyou'r
einaj ob
i
ntervi
ew,discussy ourprof
essionalskil
lsandaccompl ishments.Ifyou'
re
givi
ngapr esentation,off
erinf
ormat i
ont hatsuppor tsyourauthor i
tyi
nthe
areayou'
redi scussing.Wheny ou'r
eintroducingy ourselftoapot enti
al
cli
ent,
ment iony ourproductsandser vi
ces.

3.Endwi
thal
ead-
int
othenextpar
toft
heconv
ersat
ion

Keepy
ouri
ntr
oduct
ionshor
tandconcl
udei
tbyl
eadi
ngi
ntowhaty
ou'
dli
ke
tohappennext .Forapresentati
on,y
ouwoul dsummarizewhatyoupl
anto
discuss.Inaninterv
iew,mentionwhyyou'r
ethebestpersonfort
hej
ob.A
self-i
ntr
oduct
iont oanewclientorcoll
eagueshoul
dendwi t
hacallt
o
action.

Howt
odoi
ntr
oduct
ions

Fol
l
owt
hesest
epst
odel
i
veragr
eati
ntr
oduct
ion:

St
atet
henameoft
heper
sony
ouar
emaki
ngani
ntr
oduct
iont
o.

I
nfor
mthem ofy
ouri
ntent
.

St
atet
henameoft
heper
sonwhoi
sbei
ngi
ntr
oduced.

Of
feraddi
ti
onal
inf
ormat
ion,
asappr
opr
iat
e.

1.St
atet
henameoft
heper
sony
ouar
emaki
ngani
ntr
oduct
iont
o

Thepol i
tewaytobeginani ntr
oductionist ostartwiththenameoft he
persony ouaremakingtheintroducti
ont o.Inmostsi tuati
ons,thisi
sthe
personwhoi solder
,hasahi gher-
rankingpositionort hatyouhav eknown
thelongest.Youcanski
pt hisstepifyouar eintroducingyourselfto
someoney ouaremeeti
ngf orthefir
stt i
meandy oudon'tknowt heother
i
ndividual'
sname.

2.I
nfor
mthem ofy
ouri
ntent

Thenextst
atementyoumakeshoul
dinfor
m bothpar
tiesofyouri
ntentto
i
ntr
oducethem t
oeachother
.Herear
eaf ewexamplesofstatementsyou
canusetoinf
orm ot
hersy
ouaremakinganint
roduct
ion:

 "
Iwoul
dli
keyout
omeet
..
."
 "
It
'sapl
easur
etoi
ntr
oduce.
..
"
 "
Iwoul
dli
ket
oint
roduce.
..
"
 "
Iwoul
dli
ket
opr
esent
..
."
 "
MayIi
ntr
oduce.
..
"
  "
MayIpr
esent
..
."
 "
Thi
sis.
..
"
3.St
atet
henameoft
heper
sonwhoi
sbei
ngi
ntr
oduced

Afterinfor
mingt heparti
esofy ourintenttomakeani ntroduction,stat
ethe
nameoft hepersony ouar ei
ntroduci
ng.I nmostsit
uations,thisisusuall
y
they oungerper
son, hasal ower-r
ankingt i
tleorwhoyouknowt heleast
about .I
fyouarei ntr
oducingmor ethant wopeopletoeachot her,stat
ethe
nameofeachper soninrankingorderbegi nni
ngwiththehighestr ankand
wor ki
ngy ourwaydown.

4.Of
feraddi
ti
onali
nfor
mat
ion,
asappr
opr
iat
e

Fi
nall
y, of
ferbothpart
iesi
nfor
mati
onabouteachot herthatcanhel
pthem
est
ablishaconnectionorbegi
naconversati
on.Youcanusedet ai
lssuch
ascommoni nter
estsbothpar
ti
esshare,y
ourrelat
iontoeachpartyorhow
l
ongy ouhav eknowneachpersonfor
.

Exampl
esofi
ntr
oduct
ions

Hereareafewexampl
esofgoodi
ntr
oduct
ionsy
oucanusei
nav
ari
etyof
si
tuat
ions:

 I
ntr
oduci
ngpr
ofessi
onal
sorcol
l
eaguesofdi
ff
erentr
anks

 Int
roduci
ngabusi
nesspr
ofessi
onal
ory
our
sel
ftoacust
omeror
cli
ent

 I
ntr
oduci
ngpeopl
eincasual
andsoci
alset
ti
ngs

 I
ntr
oduci
ngoneper
sont
oagr
oupofpeopl
e

I
ntr
oduci
ngpr
ofessi
onal
sorcol
leaguesofdi
ff
erentr
anks

Wheny ouarei
ntr
oduci
ngbusinessprof
essional
sorcolleaguesofdif
ferent
rankst
oeachother,
iti
susuall
ybesttoint
roducetheper sonwhohast he
l
eastamountofexperi
enceorwhohast helower-
ranki
ngt it
lewi
thi
nthe
organi
zat
ionori
ndustr
ytothepersonwhohast hemostamountof
experi
enceorwhohasthehigher
-r
ankingti
tl
e.I
fyouar
eint
roduci
ng
yoursel
finaprof
essi
onalset
ti
ng,i
tisusual
lybestt
ost
ateyourfi
rstand
l
astnameal ongwit
hyourti
tl
e.

I
ntr
oduci
ngabusi
nesscol
leagueory
our
sel
ftoacust
omerorcl
ient

Wheny ouareintr
oduci
ngabusi nesscolleagueoryourselftoacustomeror
cli
ent,alwaysbeginbyaddressingthecustomerorclientfir
st.Thi
sisthe
professionalst
andardevenwheny ouar eintr
oduci
ngcl i
entsorcustomers
tohigh-ranki
ngmember swithinyourorganizati
on.

I
ntr
oduci
ngpeopl
eincasualandsoci
alset
ti
ngs

Wheny ouareintr
oducingf ri
ends,colleaguesorfami l
ymember st oeach
otherinacasual orsocialsetti
ng,itisusuallybesttoint
roducet heper son
youhav eknownf ortheleastamountoft i
meort hatyouknowt heleast
abouttot hepersonyouhav eknownt helongestorwithwhom y ouhav ea
strongerpersonalconnection.I
fy ouar eintr
oducingyourselfi
nacasual or
socialsetti
ng,i
tisusuallyacceptablet ostateonlyyourfi
rstnameort he
namemostpeopl euset oaddr essy ou.

I
ntr
oduci
ngoneper
sont
oagr
oupofpeopl
e

Wheny ouareint
roduci
ngoneper sont oagr oupofpeople,theor derof
i
ntroducti
onmaynotbegi nwitht
hehi ghest-r
ankingperson.Instead,i
tis
commont obegi
ntheseintr
oducti
onsbyf irstaddressi
ngthegr oupand
thenint
roduci
ngthem t
ot heindi
vidualperson.

Ti
psf
orI
ntr
oduci
ngSomeone

 Lookatthepersony
ouarespeaki
ngtofi
rst
,thent
urnt
otheot
her
personasyoucomplet
ethei
ntr
oduct
ion.

 Speakcl
ear
ly.Mumbl
i
ngdef
eat
sthepur
poseoft
hei
ntr
oduct
ion.

 Usecourteouslanguage.“
I’
dli
ketoint
roduce…,
”“MayIi
ntr
oduce…,
”
“I
’dli
keyout omeet…”areal
lgoodopti
ons.“MayIpr
esent
…”isthe
formalv
ersion.
 Usepr
efer
rednamesandt
it
les.

 I
nmor eformalsi
tuati
ons,orwhent here’
sanobv iousage
di
ff
erence,i
t’
sbesttousecourtesyt i
tl
esandl astnames:“
Mrs.
Samson,I’
dli
keyout omeetMr .Jacobs.”ThisletsMrs.
Sampsoninvit
eMr .Jacobstouseherf ir
stname, ornot
.

 Evenininformalsi
tuat
ionsorwit
hcontemporaries,i
t’
shel
pful
tousefi
rstandlastnames: “
Judy,t
hisisTom Jacobs.Tom,
thi
sisJudySamson. ”Youcanuseani cknameify ouknowthe
personprefersi
t.