Ladies and gentlemen, it is my great honor...
I am so pleased... It is... Don't start an
introduction speech like that. It's not about
you. It's about the person you're introducing.
The key to giving a good introduction is you
want to be relatively brief. You want to give
the information the audience needs in order
to know why they should care about this speaker.
And you want to give the most interesting
information about the speaker to wet the appetite
for the audience.
And don't make it about you. It's not a great
honor for you. Maybe it is, but your audience
doesn't care. You may be just the only person
willing to do it. Do it with a spotlight of
focus on the person you're introducing, not
you.
And try to weave in a little flavor. If you
have a personal story that's brief and isn't
about you that paints a picture of the person
you're introducing, that's great. If you want
to ask someone else what they like about this
person the most, or why an audience member
is so excited about hearing this speaker,
weave that in.
But be brief. People are there to hear the
speaker, not you.