How do you introduce yourself effectively?

I am painfully painfully shy.. today I had to speak briefly to a group of orthopedic surgeons.. I thought I was going to die-- it was so intimidating .. I couldn't even take my heart pills to calm down from how dry my mouth and anxious my thoughts..

pls. briefly write here for me how you introduce yourself briefly and effectively to an audience so you can segue into your topic comfortably when you are a guest speaker and know no one in the audience..

just put the introductions bit in a beautiful way so I can practice it because I find that more difficult to discuss than any topic..

Jazakoum Allah khyran

Hi, my name is {n}. I currently work as a {profession} at {workplace}. I have been working there for {x} many years and my area of specialty includes {xyz}. Prior to working at {workplace}, I was at a place called {xyz} where I did {xyz stuff}. I did my undergrauduate in {course name} at {x} university and graduated way back in 200X. I am very to be given the opportunity to speak here today <brief smile as you glance around at the audience>.

Right, now moving on to the topic at hand..

Jazaka Allah khyran.. that is beautiful.. let me take that down...
Today I couldn't speak past the loud thuds of my heart in my ears, I was so out of breath just starting from how fast it was beating...and the guy who introduced me had to do most of the talking on my behalf... (imagine that, I just wanted to cry) also considering he couldn't pronounce my name correctly bwahahaha.. and when he said I am a native New Yorker, only to be corrected by me telling him and the audience that not only am I not a native NY and that my mother tongue is Arabic, silence just fell on the place.. I didn't take it in a good way! :lol:

al7mdlillah it was over and I am not sure how often I'll experience that again, every time is like the first time, and it is such a painful experience that even purging myself right now doesn't make me feel any better...

^im the same with my students. its so scary and intimidating. well at first it was, now that we are all comfortable with one another, its a little more relaxed.

one thing that helps is to know that they are not perceiving you as you are perceiving yourself-i,e shy and awkward. so if they don't think like that, its easier not to act like that.

the worst part is when you suddenly have this mental block and you blank for a couple of seconds and just feel like giving up. its also hard when the lesson doesn't go to plan and you have to think fast so they don't get bored and start playing up and think "omg, how am i going to get through another 2 hours of this hew". make sure you have back up plans as to what to do to fill in this time. and plan your lessons well/well in advance. i write everything down how im going to say it-it helps with the memory and i avoid feeling awkward when i have a mental block.

It depends on the people you are talking to and how educated they are. I think the example that brother Alpha Dude mentioned is a good one to follow. To be honest I don't think about what I will say when I want to introduce myself to others, it just come out naturally.
Next time don't think of it as a test or something, think of it as a normal chat. I think such things will happen frequently in your life as your job will demand that a lot.

All the best sister, may Allah ease your affairs

you are right, it depends on their education ans so they are super educated people.. there was a [''fellow'' post residency] who had to go before me and they ripped into him.. he took it rather well but he was familiar with everyone and comfortable, was sipping his juice while talking at ease.. I really envy people like that.. it doesn't matter what I achieve in life or how far I go or where I go, I carry the same fears and uncertainty inside me =(

p.s .. thank you all for your advise, especially br. Alpha.. I appreciate you breaking it down, I think a ready made intro. maybe monotonous but beats what I have been through today..

τhε ṿαlε'ṡ lïlÿ;1341597 said:

I am painfully painfully shy.. today I had to speak briefly to a group of orthopedic surgeons.. I thought I was going to die-- it was so intimidating .. I couldn't even take my heart pills to calm down from how dry my mouth and anxious my thoughts..

pls. briefly write here for me how you introduce yourself briefly and effectively to an audience so you can segue into your topic comfortably when you are a guest speaker and know no one in the audience..

just put the introductions bit in a beautiful way so I can practice it because I find that more difficult to discuss than any topic..

Jazakoum Allah khyran

Click to expand...

LOL you're speaking to a group of professional people you shouldn't feel intimidated by them - its not like with the youth where you get snidy comments or cheeky smiles, If you mess up just try and laugh it off,

start off with a smile (a big one depending on how nervous you feel, lol) Then say Hi I'm ......... or my name is ......... and I'm here today to blah blah blah....... next thing you know it'l all be over

Try not to focus on how nerve wrecking it would be.

LOL sis you defo remind me of myself, it makes me feeel reallly painfully shy like you said lol

SubhaanAllaah, if i ever did a presentation or whatever, i would either have it all written on paper, and read it all and when im done just get out lol, or i refuse and never fall for that "Oh you will be okay" stuff :-\ or if im not prepared i usually never attend :-\ , and ive done this before :-\, but dont follow my advice tho lol , what Brother Alpha dude posted was excellent! MashaAllaah

May Allaah make it easy for you sistah, Ameen

dear sis,

Here's an alternative one:

"My name is.....and the reason I'm standing here in front of you today is.....

Firstly, before I begin, I'll give you a brief outline of my background.

I graduated in (year) from (place) in (subject)

After that I......and subsequently....

Most recently I have....

This is an area that interests me very much because....

I consider myself fortunate to have this opportunity, and I hope to......

So, without further ado, I'll begin....

What I propose to do is....."

At the end:

"Thank you very much for taking the time to listen to me..." etc

Other tips:

There are very few people for whom good introductions flow naturally off the tongue. The best advice is to prepare beforehand (that is, of course, if you know you're going to have to do one).

Write down your introduction beforehand. Say it out loud as you would in front of the target audience. If you need to change it, do so. Then record yourself, and play it back and listen to it as though you are a member of the audience. What sounded right, and what didn't? Anywhere your voice sounds too monotonous, re- record and try to liven it a bit. Keep going till you're happy (or vaguely satisfied).

Drink water beforehand.

Smile, and even if you aren't feeling relaxed inside, try to look relaxed on the outside (I know that's easy to say!) Don't concentrate on, or speak at, one person as you speak. Try to look around the whole audience from time to time.

Also remember that those whom you're speaking to will probably have been in your shoes at one time or another. If anything goes wrong, try not to look mortified, (chances are they won't be) and carry on.

I always hold a pen in my hand (in an attempt to disguise any minor shakes).

Hope that's of some help ukhtee, and may Allah make things easy for you. Ameen.

Jazaki Allah khyran sweet sister.. you know it took me by surprise, I had no idea I'd be thrust into the scene like that al7mdlillah.. I am not soon to forget the events of this morning but can say without a doubt that on 3 hours of sleep, it doesn't feel as painful as it should.. probably will catch up with me later.. I think the secret is to keep me at minimal sleep forever lol..

I read this funny adage today which goes, the purpose of life is to try to reconcile the glowing views we have of ourselves with the appalling ones others have of us.. problem is I am always so painfully aware of those and without reconciliation

The audience are normal people like us. They have had their share of nervous experiences too. They make mistakes too. They were once students too. If you think of them as one of you, then it helps you to relax. Just remind yourself, 'Its no big deal.'

I hope that helped.

If you are feeling nervous, then I don't think there is any harm in telling your audience so. Something like "I am feeling quite nervous/excited to be speaking to you today, so please bear with me ..."
At least then you have spoken the first few words and have made a start.
It might just help to break the ice a little.
It also helps you to remind yourself that you are only human - and so are the people in the audience.

Pixie has given some great advice. We all make mistakes. Don't put yourself under too much pressure!

I prefer short intro's. The shorter the better, no need for a life story. For example you could just say "I'm Longbranch Pennywhistle and today I'm going to show you the correct way to eat a donut".

Also avoid waving your arms and starting introductions with "Straight outta Compton...".
I learnt this the hard way.

Dagless said:

I prefer short intro's. The shorter the better, no need for a life story. For example you could just say "I'm Longbranch Pennywhistle and today I'm going to show you the correct way to eat a donut".

Also avoid waving your arms and starting introductions with "Straight outta Compton...".
I learnt this the hard way.

Click to expand...

anything is better than being completely frozen before

^ I know what you mean.....the first "real" presentation I had in my first month at University was in front of over a 70 students in a hall! I was like crying out of fear at the first minutes, then subhanAllah all of fear went out of my mind when I started on the topic. Its just the first minutes then everything moved softly without me realizing. And what was cool that day was the Professor who was a bit impressed of me . I am that kind of people who hide their fear in such situations by raising their voice!! is that weird ? :hmm: my friends always wondered how I could do that :?

Sister, you may have a look on an old thread I started here: http://www.islamicboard.com/education-issues/53510-how-give-effective-presentation.html

Well, I just say the minimum, my name, my past work experience, and then wait for anyone to ask me any questions, and then your getting to talk to others and its fine.

What I just think is that these people want to know who you are and what you've done, so I just answer that question, I suppose I treat it like if I'm going to open a bank account, then I know that I have to provide my personal details so I just make it a matter of fact and treat it as a normal thing, instead of worrying how it will be accepted-because no one is going to really be critical of a person's past.

I understand that some people are competitive, but when you start engaging in questions, maybe you'll be to busy thinking of answering the question then worrying about anything else. Just think of what you need to answer, and it'll come out fine when you say it.

Give it a try Sister, you can do it! :muslimah: