Since I'm running a Kickstarter for the Effective Public Speaking book, here's another public speaking myth: the one where you introduce yourself so you look impressive to an audience.
Uh, sorry, no. Here's why:
- Most conferences or meetups have a facilitator who will read the bio you sent them in advance.
- The audience chose you to be there, so they want you to succeed. (See Public Speaking Myth 1 for a little more on that.) That means they want you to get to the point of your presentation. How fast can you, as a speaker, get to the relevant part of your talk?
- What makes you impressive is not what you did in the past. Instead, it's how you can support the audience to solve their problems in the future. Yes, public speaking is all about the audience.
Here's my short video and the transcript on how to be impressive without spending time on an introduction.
The Video
Myth 2 (Do Not!) Start by Introducing Yourself Transcript
Public Speaking Myth Two: Start by Introducing Yourself.
Some speakers start their presentations by spending a slide or two—or more—introducing themselves or the company. These speakers assume their accomplishments will impress the audience.
Here’s why that’s a myth: Your audience does not care about you yet. They care about how you will solve their problem and offer a vision of a new future.
That’s why I like to hook the audience with a story about their problem or a vision of the future. That’s how speakers connect with their audience: I see you and your problems. Here’s what I can offer you.
Deliver on that promise and you’ll be impressive enough.
Speaking is About the Audience
Introductions allow the audience to sit back and be ready for you to speak. Let the facilitator do that. You, as the speaker, need to get to the good stuff right away. Do not introduce your past accomplishments first. Instead, focus on the audience's future.
Like this? Back the Kickstarter. That link will redirect to the book page after the Kickstarter is over.
My Kickstarter got a #ProjectWeLove from the nice Kickstarter folks. I'm thrilled. I will collect these myths and facts into a book in many formats once I'm done writing and recording them. The Kickstarter backers will get these first.