A cartoon about editing the introduction for a speaker

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today’s Pearls Before Swine comic strip has Rat doing some drastic editing. The dialogue says:

 

“Pig: I have to give a speech introducing someone but I’m not sure if it’s the right length.

Rat: Lemme see.

 

Pig’s script says:

Hi, everyone, it’s an honor to introduce our next guest. If you’ll just indulge me, here is his incredible background….Four years at Berkeley, three years at UCLA, seven years teaching at Georgetown. Winner of two Pulitzer Prizes and four distinguished fellowships. An avid fly fisherman. Father of four children. Devoted collector of stamps and model trains. Hero to millions. Help me give a warm welcome to our guest, the incomparable Ned Johnson.

 

Rat changes it to just be: Hi…Here’s Ned.

 

Pig: Editing is such a skill.

Rat: Or just point and say ‘Ned.’ “

More seriously, you might try describing Topic, Importance, and Speaker, as is discussed by Kim Harrison at Cutting Edge PR on June 1, 2020 in an article titled Use this great way to introduce a speaker – it’s more important than you think.

 

The image of a pen was adapted from one at Openclipart.

 

A teleprompter worst moment for an introducer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When she was asked about the worst moment in her career, actress Abigail Breslin replied it happened back in 2009. She was just thirteen, and was supposed to introduce her idol Jane Goodall at an event in Washington D.C. Abigail described it in an article by Nina Metz in the Chicago Tribune on July 27, 2021 titled My worst moment: Abigail Breslin and the time she mistakenly impersonated Jane Goodall.

 

Abigail read the introduction from a teleprompter. But she didn’t stop until coming to a passage about going to the rainforest in 1972. Then Abby (who is dyslexic) finally realized she had read almost half of Jane’s speech. Whoever prepared the teleprompter script forgot to annotate it to show where the introduction ended and the speech began. Abby was so mortified she ran offstage and cried in the bathroom. Luckily when she went to apologize to Goodall, Jane just laughed it off.

 

At her Knockout Presentations Blog on March 9, 2022 Diane DiResta has a post titled 10 Tips to speak with a teleprompter. The sixth says:

 

“You’ll know the end is coming because it will be color coded. Usually the script will be in white and the final message will be in yellow.”

 

The cartoon of a teleprompter was adapted from one at Wikimedia Commons.

 

Giving a better wedding speech or toast

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the New York Times on June 15, 2021 there is a succinct article by Dina Gachman titled Struggling to write a wedding speech? It’s all in the details. Her main points are:

 

Ask yourself, ‘why me?’

Don’t do it alone

Ditch the thank yous

Find a theme

Cut the cliches

Know your audience

Keep it short, and speak up

 

Of course Brides magazine has articles. On April 2, 2021 there is one by Elizabeth Mitchell titled Public speaking experts share how to give a killer wedding speech. But the web address more helpfully has amazing rather than killer in the title.

 

Back on July 1, 2014 there was a brief press release from Toastmasters International titled 10 Tips for the Perfect Wedding Toast. An edited version with 9 tips later appeared on page 8 of the July 2019 issue of Toastmaster magazine, titled Tips for the Perfect Wedding Toast. It left out Tip #8:

 “Limit alcohol consumption. You'll want to be in top form when delivering the toast.”

 

Wedding toasts or speeches are one type of speech for special occasions. In this blog I have discussed introductions repeatedly, but not many other types. The December 2016 issue of Toastmaster magazine has an article on pages 22 to 25 by Maureen Zappala titled It’s a Special Occasion which discusses their former advanced manual, Speeches for Special Occasions.

 

The 1881 painting by Wojciech Piechowski of a wedding toast was cropped from an image at Wikimedia Commons.

 

Should you call me Doctor, or not?

 

When you introduce someone, courtesy calls for giving their title. Sue Fox says in Chapter 5 (Meeting and Greeting, on page 76) of her book on Business Etiquette for Dummies, 2nd edition, 2008 page 76:

“If you know that the woman is a physician, a PhD, or a military officer, use the appropriate title.”

 

But that’s not what Joseph Epstein said in a nasty Walls Street Journal op-ed article on December 11, 2020 titled Is there a Doctor in the White House? Not if you need an M.D. He began by whining:

“Madame First Lady - Mrs. Biden – Jill - kiddo: a bit of advice on what may seem like a small but I think is a not unimportant matter. Any chance you might drop the ‘Dr.’ before your name? ‘Dr. Jill Biden’ sounds and feels fraudulent, not to say a touch comic. Your degree is, I believe, an Ed.D., a doctor of education, earned at the University of Delaware through a dissertation with the unpromising title ‘Student Retention at the Community College Level: Meeting Students’ Needs.’ A wise man once said that no one should call himself ‘Dr.’ unless he has delivered a child. Think about it, Dr. Jill, and forthwith drop the doc.”

 

Quite properly there was lots of negative feedback for Mr. Epstein. At Wonkette on December 12, 2020 there is an article by Robyn Pennacchia titled WSJ guy takes brave stand against Dr. Jill Biden calling herself Dr. Jill Biden. At NPR on December 13, 2020 there is another article by Rachel Treisman titled Op-Ed urging Jill Biden to drop the ‘Dr.’ sparks outrage online. And at CNN Opinion on December 14, 2020 there is yet another article by Kara Alaimo titled Attack on Jill Biden’s ‘Dr.” title is no surprise for women scholars -- and proof she needs to use it.

 

Taylor Swift’s new song, Marjorie, says to: “Never be so clever you forget to be kind.”

 

Mr. Epstein has written so much previously that we can easily use his own words to refute his claim about needing to deliver a baby before you can be called a Doctor. On page 38 of his 2002 book, Snobbery, he said:

 “Within each of the professions – medicine, law, clergy, engineering – there was a hierarchy, and even a hierarchy within each element of the hierarchy. In medicine an M.D. was above an osteopath, an osteopath above a dentist, a dentist perhaps above a veterinarian, a veterinarian above a chiropractor, a chiropractor tied in a panting dead heat with a podiatrist.”

 

So the medical hierarchy goes:

Medical Doctor (MD)

Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO)

Dentist – Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS)

Veterinarian - Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM)

Chiropractor - Doctor of Chiropractic (DC)

Podiatrist - Doctor of Podiatric Medicine (DPM)

 

You wouldn’t expect a dentist, vet, chiropractor, or podiatrist to deliver a baby - but you still would call them a “Dr.”

 

Although Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) is the best known non-medical title containing doctor, there are at least a half dozen others:

Doctor of Arts (D.A.)

Doctor of Divinity (D.D.)

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

Doctor of Engineering (Eng.D.)

Juris Doctor (J.D.)

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Doctor of Science (Sc.D.)

 

Mr. Epstein clearly is suffering from a case of envy. In 2003 he wrote a book on it titled Envy (in the Seven Deadly Sins series). On page 12 he referred to the psychoanalyst Melanie Klein as Dr. Klein, which is hilariously overblown. Harriet Pass Freidenreich’s 2002 book Female, Jewish, Educated (the lives of Central European university women) says to the contrary on page 87:

“Although some woman psychoanalysts, including Anna Freud and Melanie Reizes Klein, did not have university degrees, most held doctorates in medicine.”    

 

Horror stories about being introduced

In the September 2016 issue of Speaker magazine (from the National Speakers Association in the U.S.) there is a useful article on pages 30 to 32 by Glenn Strange titled When Introductions Go Bad. Glenn tells some horror stories about how he has been introduced, and why you need to write your own introduction. In a sidebar he provides 15 Tips to Ensure Success. 

The Toastmasters International web site has a web page linked to a downloadable guide for Creating an Introduction from their Better Speaker Series.

The Frankenstein image by André Koehne came from Wikimedia Commons.

Beware of anything labeled as a Complete Guide

My Google alert on the phrase “public speaking” pointed me to an article from July 9th at Clapway by freelance writer Jonathan Emmen from Copenhagen titled How to Avoid All Possible Flops in Your Public Speech - The Complete Guide.

It’s just over a thousand words, so his title is a hilarious overreach. (Back on February 29, 2016 he wrote a LinkedIn Pulse article on why 10 Bits of How To Success Advice Are Absolute Twaddle).

What are some things Jonathan left out of that Clapway article?

The first one is a written introduction for your speech. Back on November 9, 2009 I blogged about what can go wrong in a post titled An unforgettable introduction for a professor. 

The second one is technology like a PowerPoint presentation, assuming the venue provides a computer and projector. You need to have that presentation file on a thumb drive, and a backup CD or online version that can be loaded and run through well before your speech is scheduled to begin. You also may bring printed handouts.

A third is what to look for if you are bringing a computer. In a blog post on July 12, 2014 I mentioned Three things to check so your presentation doesn’t go up in smoke:

“Before you head out the door with your laptop, check that:

1. Your desktop display has appropriate wallpaper and no naughty icons like My Porn Files.

2. Your screen saver isn’t Not Safe for Work (NSFW) like the one shown in this video.

3. Your PowerPoint handout doesn’t contain an embedded Excel workbook full of unrelated but proprietary data. (Save it as a .pdf file, or just include the spreadsheets you used for that presentation).”

A fourth is to prepare by having a checklist. I discussed that topic in a February 1, 2011 blog post titled Is your speech ready for takeoff? Are you sure? For example, if you are bringing a laptop you need to also have your wireless presentation remote and spare batteries, etc.

Back in 2009 Joseph A. Grippo wrote a 56 page book titled A Complete Guide to Public Speaking. It isn’t complete. In 2007 Jeffrey P. Davidson wrote a 336 page book titled The Complete Guide to Public Speaking. It’s also not really complete.

Lessons on stage performance from singer-songwriter Livingston Taylor

Earlier this year Livingston Taylor released the revised edition of his book on Stage Performance, which came from a class he teaches at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. You can look inside it at Amazon.com. He discusses how we should have a conversation with our audience. The July 29th issue of the Vineyard Gazette has an article which describes how he practices the Gentle Art of Audience Seduction.

In the first meeting of class (page 15 of the book) he teaches how to introduce yourself, and says you should:

"1. Walk onstage.
2. Face the crowd.
3. Find a spot where you’re comfortable and well lit.
4. Be still and see your audience.
5. Say your name. (This is the performance).
6. Be still and look at your audience. Make sure they received what you gave out.
7. Bow slightly.
8. Accept applause, if appropriate.
9. Leave the stage."

Livingston is a compelling speaker. Watch here to see how he interacts with some students.



There are more YouTube video clips from his summer lectures in 2005, 2006, and 2007, and a 2011 faculty interview.

I found the first edition of his book from 2000 (indexed under the subject of public speaking) at my public library, and read it from cover to cover.

One story about professionalism that impressed me appears on page 56 of the revised edition. He discussed arriving at a small theater in Sarasota, Florida before headlining a show. The glass front doors were smudged, so he started washed them. Two hours before the show the opening act walked right past him, without saying hello. Their image of a professional didn’t include a window washer. (On page 52 he also mentioned once cleaning the bathroom of a club, since he didn’t want his audience putting up with the dirt).

Will your introducer have a meltdown?

A speaker occasionally will encounter an unprofessional introduction. When drinks are served with an evening meal, the introducer for the after-meal speaker may be slightly incoherent. Sometimes the introducer even may be completely incoherent, and melt down like the wicked witch in the Wizard of Oz.

Paul Tobey, a Canadian pianist and motivational speaker, tells a story about this type of a public speaking nightmare in Toronto. The introducer rambled on for over twenty minutes, never did a proper introduction, ignored hand signals, and finally stopped when the audience began heckling loudly. She didn’t just have issues – she had a whole subscription. Most people handling introductions display a lot more common sense.

That story beats the one I mentioned last November about a professor being introduced as having killed one of her advisers!

How would you like to be introduced?

That was the title for this Wednesday’s Unshelved comic, one of a series of four on that topic.

Unshelved chronicles work at a branch library located in the mythical Seattle suburb of Mallville. In Monday’s comic the young adult librarian, Dewey, waited while a teacher gave a long rambling introduction for his school talk. In Tuesday’s comic he was writing his own intro because, “I’ve been called ‘sweetie’, ‘honeycake’, and in one horrifying instance ‘lamb chop’.” In Thursday’s comic he insisted that the next teacher read his introduction word for word (or else).

If you don’t write your own introduction, then you are at the mercy of your introducer. He or she may not have thought ahead at all. I’ve discussed writing introductions in a previous post.

Every Sunday Unshelved does a Book Club poster. Every year they have a contest to see who can come up with the most creative customized book cart. It’s called Pimp My Bookcart, and last year’s entries were awesome.

An unforgettable introduction for a professor

On October 15th the Chronicle of Higher Education had an article about introductions (Speaking of Speaking) written by someone who blogs as a Female Science Professor. As an invited speaker she has encountered seven distinct types. They cover a range from the terse to the epic. Her last type was the most unforgettable:

“The most interesting introduction I ever had was years ago when an introducer informed the audience that I had killed one of my advisers. The introducer explained that my research had disproved part of my adviser's lifework, and the shock had killed him. It was a memorable introduction, but, given the choice, I prefer not to be accused of murder when being introduced for a talk, even if it does get the audience's attention. Perhaps I should just be happy that I wasn't introduced as the best female adviser-killer.”

An epic introduction just recites the CV in chronological order and includes much “information that is unlikely to be of interest to anyone other than the speaker's department chair and mother.” The worst introduction type was the condescending “best female X” - a brief version of saying that she’s really pretty good for just a girl.

In a post on September 25th I pointed out that an introduction should cover:

Who is she?
What will she talk about?
When will she take questions?
How long will she talk?
Where is she from?
Why should you listen?

The quote shown above is a stunning answer for both who she is and why you should listen to her!

A flare for introducing speakers?

Sometimes you find typographical errors that are unintentionally hilarious. A spelling checker may not catch them all. In July, I mentioned finding pubic speaking in the title of a blog post. You also can become aroused if you listen to National Pubic Radio (NPR).

While preparing last week's post on Introducing a Speaker I found this gem on page 242 of Jeffrey P. Davidson’s book, The Complete Guide to Public Speaking:

“Start with the basic assumption that your introducer is not skilled in this area, ill at ease in making introductions, and prefers to do anything else. Then, if you encounter someone who has a flare for introducing speakers, you’re ahead of the game.”

If you encounter someone who has a flare for introducing speakers, you should proceed with extreme caution. When you shake hands, you might get badly burned! Of course, Mr. Davidson meant to say flair. The striking image is from Peacemaker.

We have added something the ancient Greeks did not mention about public speaking. Along with ethos, pathos, and logos we now have typos.

Introducing a speaker

 


An introduction for a speaker may barely be noticed if done well, but can be glaringly obvious if done poorly. This week I gave a speech at my Toastmasters club on the topic of Creating an Introduction. It is one of ten topics in The Better Speaker Series of educational speeches. I began with their prepared script, and then updated it.

An introduction is a brief speech, just a minute or two long, which should be prepared and practiced before it is given. Either the speaker or the session chairperson may prepare it. (Some professional speakers even provide a prepared introduction that must be read exactly as written).

An introduction is like a TV news bulletin, because it should include the following six elements: who, what, when, how, where, and why.

Who is he (or she)?
Begin the introduction with the speaker’s name. Start with something like” Our speaker today is…” Check with the speaker and find out how to pronounce his name correctly. End the introduction by repeating their name, like “Please welcome…”

What will he talk about?
State the speech title, and briefly describe what the speaker will talk about. In other words, give an abstract. For Toastmasters club meetings we also always announce what manual the speech is from, the name of the project, and the objectives. For example, Project #5 of the Competent Communication manual is called “Your Body Speaks,” so the audience will pay particular attention to stance, movement, gestures, facial expressions, and eye contact.

When will he take questions?
Let the audience know when the speaker plans to take questions. Will it be during the talk, or at the end? If it is at the end, then he can defuse a heckler by just pointing out that remarks will be addressed later.

How long will he talk?
Tell the audience both how long he will speak, and how much time will be set aside for answering questions (if they will be at the end).

Where is he from?
Let the audience know where the speaker is from. State the organization name, the speaker’s position in it, and describe where it is located.

Why should you listen to him?
Your introduction should establish the speaker’s credibility and authority, based on his background and qualifications. Contact him, and get his biography, resume, or curriculum vitae. Then summarize it briefly. For example, the top award in Toastmasters is Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM). Someone with a DTM has instant credibility in discussing public speaking because they have gone all the way through both the communication and leadership tracks of the educational program. Mention if the speaker has written magazine articles or books, etc. on the topic.

What should you avoid in an introduction?
Don’t recite the speaker’s biography in chronological order. If you start by saying that he was born in a “little house on the prairie”, your audience may fall asleep before you get near the present day. Don’t upstage the speaker by using video or PowerPoint in the introduction. Don’t surprise the speaker, or steal his thunder. Don’t leave his name until last. If you say that the speaker needs no introduction, then your next words just should be: “and now, here’s Johnny!”

The Toastmasters web site has a brief discussion about introducing a speaker here. There is a longer article, “Rx for a good speech introduction,” by Michael Varma, in the November 2008 issue of Toastmaster magazine, which you can find here. There is another excellent article from September 1997 by Marie Wallace, in her Guide on the Side series – “How to Introduce a Guest Speaker: Tips and Templates” here. There also are a couple of articles by John A. Kline on introductions (including examples) here and here.

Denise Graveline, in her Eloquent Woman blog, discusses - When you introduce a speaker take 5. James Feudo’s Overnight Sensation blog also discusses Speech Introductions.

Tracy Goodwin has produced a series of ten one-and-a-half minute eHow Videos on introductions which you can see on YouTube:

What are introduction speeches?
Purpose of introduction speeches
Introduction speech information
Introduction speech structures
Consulting the speaker
Biographical Information in introduction speeches
Introduction speech time limits
Praise in introduction speeches
Practicing introduction speeches
Introduction speech sample