How to present yourself to the audience

Speeches are communicative acts that have a logical structure divided into phases: the first of these is the presentation. When we introduce ourselves, we seek to inform the audience about who we are and what our professional background has been.

It is worth noting that some speeches do not require a personal presentation, so in these cases, the process would focus more on contextualizing the fact, event or topic we will be talking about. An example of this type of presentations can be those made at the time of launching a product. In this circumstance, the speaker is not the important figure, so the presentation revolves around the product.

In order to further understand how to make a presentation suitable for each case, we will be conducting the following session. This will be useful to you as you deepen your knowledge about making a well-structured speech.

Types of presentations: As we said at the beginning of this session, there are personal presentations and those in which this phase is dedicated to the contextualization of a product, fact, event or specific topic. When the speaker has an attractive personal brand for his audience, it is recommended to dedicate a few minutes to review his professional career. For this purpose, some outstanding aspects of his or her work are narrated and the previous experience he or she has in dealing with these topics is explained.

On other occasions, the figure of the speaker is not a relevant aspect for the audience. We can think of a wedding, a celebration, a funeral speech, a product presentation, among others, where those present are not interested in knowing who is giving the speech. In these cases, the presentation does not focus on getting to know the speaker, but on briefly contextualizing the general objective of the speech.

A third type of presentation could be one that addresses the speaker's background and contextualizes the topic to be discussed, as both elements are considered equally important. Although it is true that it is not the most common, it is possible that adding some biographical information about the speaker may help to increase the audience's attention to the speech. In any case, this is something that should be valued. Introduce yourself whenever you consider that your experience and background may be of interest for the purposes of the message you wish to communicate.

How do we introduce ourselves?

The presentation is made in a basic way and addressing general aspects. It should not seem that your speech revolves around your person, so it is important that this phase is developed in the shortest possible time and using data that are accurate and necessary. Start, of course, with your name. Then you can add other elements such as your profession and experience. Explain to your audience what motivated you to address this topic and why you think it is important to go into it in more depth. In this way you help to awaken the interest of the audience in what you are going to say and effectively attract attention to the speech.

A good presentation is one that manages to convey the essential elements of who you are, without having to extend or significantly affect the length of your speech. During your pre-show rehearsal, use a stopwatch to measure the time it takes you to present. Adjust this time so that it does not exceed 10% of the length of the speech. In other words, if you have an hour-long speech prepared, try to present in less than 6 minutes.