You want the audience to remember who you are, so don’t mumble or rush through saying your name. Speak loudly and confidently, and make sure you enunciate every syllable. If you have an unusual or difficult to pronounce name, you may want to add a small remark to help your audience remember it. For example, you can say “My name is Jacob Misen, like ‘risen’ but with an M” Think about how you will help your audience and briefly communicate that rather than just listing your credentials or job title. Your basic credentials will probably be listed on the presentation program, anyway. Ask yourself what special skills and experience you have that would interest your audience and introduce yourself with those. If you are VP of Marketing at a large company, it can actually be much more effective to say something like “I have more than a decade of experience using Facebook marketing ads to target clients in the dance industry” rather than simply stating your job title. If there are other details about yourself that are interesting and relevant to the presentation, you don’t have to list them all in your introduction. Instead, add them to your handout or powerpoint presentation. Your audience can read them there if they want. You can also specifically refer your audience to the handout or powerpoint for more information. For example, if you want to let them know that you have articles in many international newspapers but you don’t want to list them all out, simply say “I’ve written for a number of internationally recognized news organizations. You can find the full list on the first page of my handout.” You don’t have to give the audience everything about yourself right away. Stick to the most interesting and relevant information. If you have other interesting personal details you want to share, you can add them in other parts of the presentation. For example, you could say “when I designed a website for Richard Branson last year …” to inform your audience that you have an impressive resume, without having to list it all for them in your introduction. Once you’ve got a great introduction, it’s important you seamlessly and effectively transition into the meat of your presentation. Having a planned transition will also help you maintain your confidence because you’ll know exactly where you are going and how to get there. Try concluding your introduction by mentioning a client or project you were working on that directly relates to the topic of your presentation. For example: “I’ve had the pleasure of working with NXP Semiconductors for the past three years. Just last week we encountered a problem with our logistical database...” and then lead into your presentation about a new software that will solve everyone’s logistical hiccups.
State your name clearly. Communicate your contribution to get the audience excited. Leave extra details on a handout or powerpoint slide. Save some relevant details about yourself for later in the presentation. Plan a smooth transition from the introduction to your content.