Does the Thought of Introducing Yourself at Networking Meetings Make You Panic?

If the thought of giving a brief introduction of yourself and your business at networking meetings makes your palms sweat, read on . . .

When participating, even as a guest, in various networking meetings or functions, the fact is that you will be required to introduce yourself sooner or later.  Preparing a script for introducing yourself will improve your results.  One of your scripts should be an overview of what you do.  Other presentations can address various aspects of your product or service.  Here’s the script sequence I recommend:

  • Your name
  • Your business or profession
  • Brief description of your business or profession
  • Benefit statement of one of your products or services
  • Your name again

Your name and your business profession are easy enough.  A brief description and a benefit statement can be separate items,  but more often they are intertwined in your message.  It’s fairly easy to combine your business with the benefits of your product or service.  I suggest telling people what you do, as well as what you are:

“I’m a financial planner and I help people plan for their future”  or “I’m an advertising and marketing consultant; I help companies get the most out of their advertising dollar.”  These explanations are more effective than saying, “I do financial planning,” or “I plan advertising campaigns.”

In many situations, you’ll be introducing yourself to only one or two people at a time.  Some networking organizations have all the members stand at each meeting, and in round-robin fashion, give a one-minute overview to the entire group.  If you’re a member of a group like this, it is vitally important to vary your presentations.

Many people who are in networking groups that meet every week have a tendency to say the same old thing, time after time.  From what I’ve seen, many weekly presentations are done weakly.  If you don’t vary your presentations, many people will tune you out when you speak because they’ve already heard your message several times.  Your best bet is to give a brief overview, then concentrate on just one element of your business for the rest of your presentation.

If you prepare your brief introduction using these techniques, you will begin to get much more confident at introducing yourself and, what’s better, you’ll begin to get better networking results.  If you try introducing yourself in this way at your next networking meeting or function,

I’d love to hear how it turns out for you–please come back and share your experience in the comments section.  Or, if you’ve already done some things to help you with this issue – share them with us now.  Thanks!

8 thoughts on “Does the Thought of Introducing Yourself at Networking Meetings Make You Panic?

  1. Great tips! Another tip I often teach for those who are uncomfortable introducing themselves to new people is to attend your next networking event with a friend. You should meet with your friend before the meeting to discuss who you may both know at the event that you can introduce the other to. This way it is a comfortable introduction, and if you go prepared as discussed in this blog you will be even more confident during that discussion!

  2. Thank you for the fantastic advise and yes as I am very shy I often make the mistake of giving out the wrong message. I will now start using your advise and keep you informed of my progress.

  3. Thanks for the post! I’ve found that if I do a little research on a specific area or topic in my industry and incorporate that into my description, that typically adds variety, plus gives others a nice tidbit of information to remember me with. More often than not, someone will come up to me and ask me to elaborate more on what I had mentioned. Also, especially in BNI, it helps to rehearse what you are going to say. I typically go over my description the night before. I know that I will not run out of time and feel comfortable with what I am going to say. Thanks again for thin information!
    -Ken

  4. I agree it is also important to change your weekly presentation. Ask yourself if you can’t think of anything new interesting to say this week how can you expect others to be interested in your business and promote you to their contacts.

  5. I’ve found it’s also useful to practice it with your spouse or friends. This will probably feel a bit more “awkward” and when you’re in an environment that’s more natural, like a networking event, you will be more comfortable!

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