Introducing a speaker, a guest or yourself, and hosting a program

Build an introduction of under a minute from facts the speaker supplied, say the name last and correctly, hand over cleanly, and run a short program as the emcee.

What an introduction is for Understand

An introduction is a short speech that presents a speaker to an audience. Whatcom Community College's open textbook gives it three jobs: build the speaker's credibility on this topic, introduce the topic, and make the speaker feel welcome (Whatcom Community College, introducing a speaker). Oklahoma State's textbook treats it as a complete mini-speech with an opening, a body and a close, and adds the audience's question: why should we care (Oklahoma State, types of special occasion speeches). The University of Minnesota's business communication text puts the first job another way: the introducer says what the speaker could not say about themselves without seeming arrogant (University of Minnesota, introducing a speaker).

That list of jobs also tells you what an introduction is not. It is not the speaker's talk, it is not a biography, and it is not about you. The University of Puget Sound's speaking center says not to give the speaker's talk in the introduction, and cautions that overblown praise costs the speaker credibility (Puget Sound, ceremonial speaking).

The two ideas from Shaping a short talk that you need here are small. A talk has one main point, and for an introduction it is "this speaker is worth hearing on this topic." And a talk has a close, which for an introduction is the handover: the name, then applause. Both come up below.

How long it runs Understand

Convention Our default: under a minute for a short talk, and well under the talk's own length. At 130 words a minute, a planning figure and not a measurement of you, a minute is about 130 words. Three or four plain sentences fit. If your speaker's talk is five minutes, an introduction of a minute is already a fifth of it.

The published figures run from 45 seconds to four minutes, and they apply to different situations: a club evening, a classroom exercise, a formal ceremony. They are laid side by side under Go deeper. We chose the short end for a reason that has to do with you, not them: an introducer often does not know exactly how long the talk will run, and an introduction that is too short costs the speaker a few seconds of warm-up, while one that is too long costs the speaker the audience's patience.

Getting the facts from the speaker Understand

Introduce a speaker with facts the speaker supplied or approved. Ask early. Whatcom's textbook says to ask the speaker for a bio and the talk title, and to ask what the speaker wants to be called, whether Dr., Professor, Mr. or Ms. Toastmasters' magazine adds a courtesy for events outside a club: the speaker may ask to write their own introduction and hand it to the introducer well before the event, so the introducer can practice it and ask questions (Toastmasters, step up your speaker introductions). If the speaker has not written one, the magazine's advice is to contact the speaker and get what you need (Toastmasters, the impact of a strong speaker introduction).

A short email does it. Our convention, not a published form:

• The talk's title, and in one sentence what it covers.
• Two or three credentials that bear on this topic, in the speaker's own words.
• One human detail the speaker is happy to have shared: a first garden, a hometown, a reason they took up the subject.
• How to say the name, and how the speaker wants to be addressed.
• Whether the speaker has written an introduction. If so, use it, and practice it.

Ask a week ahead if you can. Oregon State's event guide says to give introducers the bios at least a week in advance, and to circulate the master script a week ahead (Oregon State, tips for presentations and speakers). An introducer who gets the facts the afternoon of the event has no time to confirm a name.

What goes in, what stays out Understand

An introduction built from the facts has four parts, in this order: why this audience should care about the topic, two or three credentials that bear on it, one human detail, and the talk's title. Then the name, last.

Convention Most of the right column comes from three sources that agree. The Minnesota text says to avoid the "laundry list" of education and experience and not to pull attention to yourself. Puget Sound says not to preview the talk and not to overpraise. Toastmasters' emcee article says introductions should be only a few sentences long, written out and read, with no ad-libbed jokes. A Toastmaster magazine writer, a professional speaker, adds a reason for choosing credentials: a long list of them prompts the audience to wonder what is in it for them, so keep the ones that bear on the topic (Toastmasters, introduction construction). That is one practitioner's method, and it matches the textbooks.

Read your introduction from the page, or from cards with full sentences. Whatcom says most introductions are read from a manuscript or detailed notes, which is different from advice for a toast or a talk. An introduction is short, it contains facts and a name, and a slip in either one is noticed. If you want to see how to make a page easy to read aloud, Notes in Shaping a short talk has the method.

The name, and the handover Understand

The name

Say the name correctly, and say it last. Toastmasters' emcee article says to find out the correct name in advance, including a middle initial or a hyphen, and the pronunciation. Write it out phonetically, practice it aloud, and confirm it again with the person on the day. Agnes Scott College's center says to pronounce the name correctly and make sure every fact is accurate (Agnes Scott College, how to introduce a speaker).

A respelling is the name written the way it sounds. Missouri University of Science and Technology's commencement office gives a method you can borrow: capitalize the syllables that are stressed and put spaces between syllables. Say what not to say, where that helps, and record yourself saying the name (Missouri S&T, name pronunciation). Ask the speaker to say it into a voice memo, if they can. The names sheet has a column for the respelling and a check for "confirmed with the person." Finding what to say covers names in general, including the ones inside a eulogy or a toast.

The handover

End with a line that tells the audience what happens next. Agnes Scott's handout gives "Please join me in welcoming" as the kind of line to use, and Oklahoma State's textbook says to close by welcoming the speaker, then clap or shake hands. Say the name as the last words, so that it is the thing the audience hears before the applause.

Then stay where you are. Toastmasters' emcee article says to wait for the speaker to arrive before stepping aside, to start the applause, and to keep it going until you greet them, so the stage is not left empty. A speaker who walks up through silence while the introducer walks off is starting a talk from a cold stop. Greet the speaker, shake a hand or nod, and then sit down.

If there is a lectern or a microphone, the speaker will want to use it. Tell them where the microphone is, and do not move it yourself once they have set it. Oregon State's guide adds that a technician may need about 15 seconds to adjust the level. Voice, microphone and the room covers the microphone.

Thanking the speaker afterward

Our convention, which we did not find in a published rule: when the talk ends, thank the speaker in one sentence that names something specific they said, and say what happens next in the program. Then start the applause again. If there are questions, you moderate them, and the end of the questions is when you say the thanks.

Introducing yourself, and two people to each other Understand

You may need to introduce yourself to a group that does not know you: a new committee, a class, a table of guests at a dinner. Matt Abrahams, a Stanford lecturer, writing in the Toastmaster, offers three questions: who you are, what interests you, and what invitation you extend to the other person to engage (Toastmasters, an introduction to masterful introductions). That is one practitioner's method. He also advises adapting the introduction to the cultural norms of the audience, which, as our suggestion, means asking someone from the group how people there introduce themselves.

The October 2016 Toastmaster piece adds four cautions for self-introductions: plan ahead, be conversational rather than scripted, avoid jargon, and avoid anything "overly comical or cutesy." For a toast at a party where half the guests do not know you, one sentence is enough: "I'm Lena, Ruth's granddaughter, and I'm the one who burned the dumplings." Say who you are to the person of honor, and what you want the room to do.

To introduce two people to each other, speak first to the person you wish to honor. The same article says order follows age, rank, title and relationship. Name each person with one fact the other would care about, such as a shared town or a shared interest, and then step back so they can talk.

Hosting a program as emcee Understand

An emcee is the person who hosts a program: welcomes the room, introduces each speaker, keeps the time and moves things along. The role can fall to you at a club evening, a school event, a dinner or a fundraiser. Toastmasters' emcee article is the fullest checklist we found, and Oregon State's event guide covers the same ground from the event planner's side. Both are one practitioner's or one office's method, and where they agree, we give it as one default.

1. Confirm your role with the organizer. Ask what the program is, how long it is, and who the speakers are.
2. Brief each speaker. Tell them the theme, the audience, their time limit, where the stage is and whether there is a microphone. Ask for their remarks, or their bio and title, a few days ahead.
3. Write each introduction out and read it. A few sentences each. No ad-libbed jokes.
4. Introduce yourself. Oregon State's guide says the emcee introduces themselves, including a title that explains why they hold the role: "I'm Howard Lin, president of the club."
5. Keep a minute-by-minute schedule on the lectern. Build in slack, and know in advance what you can cut if the program runs behind. The program sheet holds one.
6. Agree time cards with each speaker. Oregon State's guide lists the cards as 10 minutes, 5 minutes, 1 minute and last question. Show them to the speaker beforehand and tell the speaker where you will sit.
7. Rehearse on site if the organizer allows. Plan for a fire alarm, a forgotten set of notes and a failed video, and ask for feedback afterward.

A minute-by-minute run has a few columns: the clock time, who is speaking, what happens, how many minutes it takes, and what you can cut. Fill it in the order of the program, add the minutes up, and compare the total with the time the room is booked. If the total is over, the "what can be cut" column is where you find the minutes before the night, not on it.

See it: Howard introduces a guest speaker See it

Free pages that show the method: Whatcom's introducing-a-speaker chapter (the three jobs and what to ask the speaker), Toastmasters' twelve steps for an emcee (the fullest checklist), Agnes Scott's one-page handout (length, accuracy and handover lines) and Missouri S&T's name pronunciation page (how to write a respelling).

Practice: write and time one introduction Practice

Minimum: three sentences and a name, on the introduction sheet, that read aloud in under a minute. Time: about 30 minutes, plus the wait for the speaker's reply. Materials: the speaker's bio or email reply, a timer, and the introduction sheet.

1. Send the speaker the five questions in the facts section: title, credentials, one human detail, the name and the title they prefer, and whether they have written an introduction.
2. Write the three sentences. Why this group, the two credentials that bear on the topic, the title.
3. Write the handover line. "Please welcome" and the name, last.
4. Write the respelling of the name and, if you can, record the speaker saying it. Put both on the names sheet.
5. Read it aloud with a timer. If it runs over a minute, cut a credential. Save the sheet.

Your talk Your talk

Check your work Check your work

Criteria

• Did every fact come from the speaker or get approved by the speaker?
• Does the introduction say why this group would want to hear this topic?
• Does it use two or three credentials that bear on the topic, and no more?
• Is the name confirmed, with a respelling you have said aloud, and said last?
• Does it end with a handover line, and do you know where you stand while the speaker arrives?
• Does it read aloud in under a minute, or in the time the organizer gave?
• If you are hosting a program: does the run total match the booked time, and do you know what to cut?

Worked example

Howard's sheet holds the name with its respelling, three sentences and a handover of about 45 words, and a time of about 20 seconds. The "15 years" is flagged as unconfirmed. The names sheet has "confirmed with the person" unchecked until her reply. It passes on structure and length, and it is not done until the speaker confirms the name and the credentials.

Common mistakes

• Reading the speaker's website bio. A list of credentials is for a program, not for the ear. Pick the two that bear on the topic.
• Saying the name first. The name is the last thing the audience hears before the applause.
• Guessing the pronunciation. Ask, and write it down.
• Walking off before the speaker arrives. Stay until the speaker is at the lectern.
• Taking over the talk. If your introduction previews the conclusions, the speaker starts a point behind.
• Vouching for what you cannot check. Attribute it to the speaker, or leave it out.

What is still unresolved

How long the organizer wants it is the organizer's to say. Whether a title or an order of precedence is correct is the organization's protocol. The speaker settles the name and the facts. How to run the meeting around a guest talk is in Running a meeting, and what to do when the microphone is not working is in Voice, microphone and the room.

Knowledge check and scenario

Checklist

• The introduction sheet holds the name with its pronunciation, three sentences and a time under one minute.
• Every fact came from the speaker, or the speaker approved it.
• The name is confirmed with the speaker, and said last.
• I wrote a minute-by-minute run for a short program. (Go deeper; optional)