Introducing oneself is crucial for anyone who is actively searching for a job. If you go to job fairs, career expos, or have been invited for an interview it is to be expected that they would ask you to introduce yourself. May you be talking to a potential employer or someone who knows hiring, you have to deliver your self-introduction speech. Meanwhile, if you’re not looking for a job but open for better opportunities it is still good to have a ready one since you might just bump into a person who can help you take your career to the next level. A number of occasions in your professional life will require you to introduce yourself, that’s why having this speech pre-prepared helps you to be ready in those instances when you need to provide a snapshot of who you are and what you do. This enables you to be confident in those introductory meeting and a good way to break the ice in interviews and social situations you might find yourself in.

Self Introduction Speech is a short pre-prepared speech that provides a quick summary of your background and experience. It is a concise version of your response to ‘Tell me about yourself’. Despite that it is always delivered verbally, it still has to be planned and written carefully. If you are in a stage wherein you are currently crafting your speech or need some updating on your current one, you may use the guidelines below to draft a speech that you can use in a variety of situations.

Guidelines in Crafting your Elevator Speech

1. If you already have a personal branding statement, you may use it as a reference to draft your self-introduction speech. All you have to do is to extend and tweak it according to occasion and audience.
2. If you don’t have a personal branding statement yet, then start by writing down everything you would want someone you’re meeting to know about you.
3. Once you have the details that you need, filter it. Identify what should be included and what should not. Think of what would you prioritize to say for a first interaction. Omit any redundancies.
4. Remember to prepare two versions of your speech. One is using your first language, while the other is using English. Since English is a business language and sounds more formal, some recruiters would prefer to converse with you using this language. Moreover, in cases when you have to speak with a foreigner, you can introduce yourself easily knowing that they would understand you because you used a common language. If you are having difficulty in writing the English version of your self-introduction speech you may seek the help of English tutors.
5. After determining the details that you want to include in your speech, put it all together. Use the content guide below. What you do – start by presenting a short, descriptive explanation of what you do in an interesting way.

          a. What industry – Tell them the industry that you are still or used to be affiliated with.

          b. Why you do it – You may mention the results that you enjoy achieving for others when you do what you do. 

          c. What makes you different – Talk about your uncommon strategy that makes you different from others or best in what you do.

          d. What do you want – Express what’s your objective.

Example:

I’m a content writer for travel websites. I provide quality content to help readers know the best destinations to visit, the best accommodations to stay in, the best restaurant to dine in and the best activities to do in certain places. My passion is to provide reliable and useful information to readers that will make them consider my clients’ website as a credible authoritative resource and help boost their SEO efforts. Now I’m looking to branch out and do consulting work so I can apply this expertise to many more companies and improve the understanding of the advantage of providing quality travel content.

6. After drafting your speech, read it aloud and time how long it takes. The length can actually vary, but ideally, it should be less than one minute. The point is, when you deliver it, you can talk comfortably without rushing to say all the details that you wanted to share. Keep it concise to avoid monopolizing the conversation. Also by talking too long, you risk losing the person’s interest as attention spans nowadays are shrinking. Make it strategically short to ensure that you can get your message across any time and anywhere.

On occasions when you need to have a really short version of your self-introduction speech, you may use this formula as a guide. 

I do [what you do] for [target market] so that [value].

This is best used for brief encounters. It tells concisely ‘what you do’. If you have more time to speak, then you can add more details about yourself. Remember not to limit yourself when writing your speech as you can structure it in many different ways

Example:

I write 10x articles for travel websites to help them become a credible authoritative resource among their target readers and boost their SEO efforts.

7. Proofread

          a. For anything that doesn’t absolutely need to be there, cut it out. Your speech should be snappy and compelling. You don’t need to get too specific and overly targeted since your speech will be used in many circumstances, and with many different types of people. Delete the sentences that are too long or unclear. Erase and edit any repeating any words. 

          b. Remember to add transitions to connect the concepts and make it flow smoothly and conversationally

          c. Tailor it depending on the situation and audience. Tweak the details slightly to provide information that matches your audience’s knowledge. Use words that are easy-to-understand and a language that’s common to most people’s vocabulary. Avoid jargon or too technical words. While these can demonstrate your industry knowledge they may also be off-putting for those who find these words unfamiliar. Keep it simple and focused, after all, you want your speech to be easily understood by your audience.

Before using your self introductory speech, make sure to test it out. Remember that how you say it is just as important as what you say. Make it sound natural as if something you would say in a normal conversation. Avoid sounding like too formulaic or reciting something you carefully wrote. To determine how you sounded, you may record your voice while delivering your speech and objectively assess it. If you are really having difficulty in making it sound conversational then you may seek coaching advice from tutors or enroll for conversational courses.

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• Speech

Author

Kaycie Yambao

Kaycie Gayle is a freelance content writer and a digital publisher. Her writings are mostly about, travel, culture, people, food, and communication.