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Before a speaker steps up to the microphone, there’s usually somebody who introduces them. And that introduction could be helping to set the stage and prime the audience.

But too many speaker introductions are just tedious recitals of a speaker’s biography. And they’re so loooonnnng. Instead of revving an audience up, they put them to sleep. Let’s kill those introductions off once and for all. This episode, we look at what an introduction can do for you and your audience, by promising some combination of six elements: authority, affinity, attraction, value, intrigue and entertainment. We’ll talk about how to make your speaker intro effective, engaging and — most important — short!

Music:

• All music is by Lee Rosevere. The theme music is “Twitter Will Kill Us All.” Used under a Creative Commons license.