Haveyoueverbeentoabusinessmeetinginwhichallinattendancehadtostandandintroducethemselvesandyouheardbasicallythesamethingfromeachandeveryindividual?
ethenamesandthebusinesseswillbedifferent,everyonesoundslikeeveryoneelse;and,bysoundinglikeeveryoneelse,wedon’tactuallyrememberanyoneelse.
Theproblemisthatinmakingstatementsaboutourselves,weendupsoundinglikeweareaskingquestionsbecausethepitchofourvoicerisesattheendofeachsentence.
Inreality,youarenotaskingaquestion–youareinformingyouraudiencethatyouaremostuncomfortableandthatyoudonotknowhowtointroduceyourselfproperly.
Tostandoutfromthecrowd,whynotpracticeyourpersonalintrobeforegivingit?Whileonmywaytoabusinessmeeting,oftenIwillopenmyintrowithaquestionandthenproceedtoexplainwhoIamandwhatIdo.
Ifyourvoicegoesupattheendofeachsentence,’swhatyouhearasyougoaroundtheroomandlistentoeveryonespeakinginsing-song.
ThereisaveryinterestingsceneinStephenKing’smovieTheLangoliers(海市蜃楼)’sremarkableaboutthissceneisthatinsayingwhotheyare,omline?Theysoundnatural.
ManyofthepeoplewithwhomIworkhavedifficultychangingfromthesing-songstyletoonemoreakintoconversational;therefore,Irecordthemandplayitbacksothattheycanhearwhatishappening.
ThenIhavethemshakemyhand(justasifweweremeetingonaone-to-one)andintroducethemselvestomegoingthroughtheirintroductorystatements.
ticeyourpersonalintrobymakingstatementsaboutyourselfinaconversationaltone.
peningyourintrowithwordsotherthan,Hello,mynameis.
yourtimewhenyougiveyourintroductionandspeakdistinctly.(Iftheydon’tcatchyourname,theydefinitelywon’trememberyou.)
Nexttimeyouareatthatnetworkingmeeting,businesslunchorchamberevent,whynotstandoutfromthecrowdwhenyouintroduceyourself?Youwilldefinitelybeworthremembering!