Casual Intro for Public Speaking

At an association meeting recently geared to human resource professionals, I was asked on the spot to introduce the speaker. I approached the speaker and asked her if she had an introduction. She did not, which is not uncommon. I then asked her what she would like me to say when I introduce her and she gave me some very good information and then said to me, “since you teach public speaking you must know that you are not supposed to read the introduction and it should just be casual.” I told her she was wrong about that and in fact one of the only times you should read, is when reading an introduction. However, she brings up a good point, which was to be casual. I see people read introductions all the time, and it is not casual. It is usually very stiff, dry, and boring. Not the content, but the introducer. Or rather the way the introducer is reading it. So I took her advice, and tried to be more casual, even though I may have been using my notes. Good advice.

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