Do you get blank when someone suddenly or unexpectedly asks you to introduce yourself? Well, yes, majority of the people do get blank when it comes to give a little introduction about oneself, so is it normal? I don’t think so, because we all agree to the fact that no one knows you better than you know yourself, then what is the point of being answerless or clueless as to what to say exactly? It’s just because we are not prepared enough to speak or talk about ourselves.
An impactful introduction is always the first key to get number of opportunity that you might never knew could be there for you, how? Let me tell you how I came to realize the actual importance of good self-introduction, read as follows:
It was first semester of my M.Phil. degree when one of our professor asked us to introduce ourselves and I could not believe that highly experienced people who were also associated to well-known organization, were not able to give a proper introduction to the class (not because they were not confident enough but because they had no clue as to what to say exactly). I also noticed that professor was more interested and responsive towards those students who gave a little detailed introduction rather than telling their names and previous degrees. Well, my turn came up and I also tried to give a little detailed introduction. After the class, many class-fellows approached me one by one to get more information about me and my profession, many of them even came up with different business collaboration ideas and other work opportunities for me and bam! I was surprised! I felt like a celebrity being autographed or something.
So Find and Grab that Hidden Opportunity!
You too can grab some positive feedback/response and chances to get more opportunities by doing these very simple things that I once followed.
Let’s call the first step of preparation as “self-identification”. I’d suggest, sit down, relax and take some time to think about yourself and your life only. Try to recall your past achievements and future ambitions, then jot it down on a paper (if needed). Write your skills, expertise and interests separately, then write about your career (where you are and where you want to be in future). Then comes your educational details of course, everyone likes to know how literate you are.
Now give these points a neat arrangement – I mean sort out which ones are the best ones so far. Done? Now you just have to memorize them and practice your self-introduction in front of a mirror as many times as you like. Mirror practice helps you in increasing confidence, controlled body language, maintaining eye contact and improving verbal skills.
Your final piece should have a few things that includes:
- Latest educational degree,
- Current professional,
- Your area of expertise,
- Some interests,
- And a few good achievements – to get you noticed in crowd.
Take care of one thing!
You don’t really have to give same detailed professional introduction everywhere. Because need of an introduction may vary from person to person and situation to situation, so you have to quickly analyze these two aspects before giving an introduction because there are number of situations in which we have to introduce ourselves, for example:
- Going to a family or friends gathering,
- Before starting a speech,
- Job Interview
- Any professional gathering,
- Before delivering a presentation, etc.
Now making an introduction an impactful conversation also needs support of other elements like:
Eye Contact: Don’t forget to look into person’s eyes as it shows that you are full attentively telling about yourself and you are interested in talking to that person.
Slight Smile: Smiling depends upon the situation, but I believe slight smile is always a positive impact creator.
Confident Gesture: Body language means a lot in conversation, so make sure you have good gestures while talking.
Whether you are a professional or student, try introducing yourself in better way next time whenever you get a chance to, and you will notice the difference in people’s response towards you. You’ll become the person that everyone would like to talk to and your success will be very close to you.
If I missed anything here please feel free to add in comments and if you want to know more in detail, do contact me.
Good article