Make your self introduction count

We meet new people all the time; so introduce ourselves often so much so that we do not give much thought to it. But if you are looking to create opportunities for yourself, learning to put your best foot forward via how you introduce yourself to new contacts is important. Here are your options;

BY TITLE: This is by far the most common way and works if you’re meeting someone familiar with your industry or organisation and can tell just by your title what your job entails or your level of responsibility. What it doesn’t do is to allow you to give some idea of what exactly the value you bring to that role so effectively becomes just a label.

BY FUNCTION: This is where rather than mention you title only, you explain the function. For example instead of saying ‘I am the sales manager’ you may say ‘I am responsible for ensuring achieving over xxxx in sales per annum’. This is more helpful because it qualifies the title by communicating what you are capable of or at least entrusted with.

BY IMPACT: This explains what your job achieves. So again as sales manager, you would say something like ‘My job is to increase the profitability of keep my organisation by increasing sales by xxx per annum. In a few seconds it says who you are, what you do and achieve. Of course some jobs are easier to explain ‘by impact’ than others but whatever you do, ensure you are able to explain what you job achieves.

BY YOUR STRENGTHS: This is ideal where your day job does not reflect your range of skills. For examples if you are the junior officer at work but chair an important committee in your community or are involved in other influential activities, you can introduce yourself with that.

The Bottom line is your self introduction can do what your business card can’t and that is by communicating more than your title and organisation.

Now take action: How can you improve the way you introduce yourself?