If you're ever asked to speak anywhere, and there is someone who'll introduce you, make sure you write your own introduction.

Don't leave it until the day and have a ‘word in the chairman's ear.'

He or she will inevitably get it wrong. They'll mangle your name, make up stuff that will embarrass you, and generally make a mess of your introduction.

I was once introduced at business meeting by a lady who said: "Please welcome Alan Fairweather who I hear is very funny!"

The thing was that I wasn't prepared to be funny; I believed they wanted some useful business advice, not a comedy turn. I certainly learned from that one. (And yes; I am funny!)

Write out your introduction exactly as you want it to be heard – large type, double spaced and easy to read. Underline any points you want empathised and explain what you want to the chairman.

This is no guarantee of success however; I attended a recent event where I was the main speaker. I offered my introduction to the chairman and he said, "It's all right, I won't need that I've already done some research on you and I've written your introduction.

Nothing I could do about it; so he went on to introduce me in a way that even I didn't know who he was talking about.

You have been warned!

Alan Fairweather, 'The Motivation Doctor,' is an International Business Speaker, Best Selling Author and Sales Growth Expert. For the past seventeen years, he's been developing the talents of Managers, Sales and Customer Service people, and turning them into consistent top performers.

He is the author of: 'How to Manage Difficult People' Proven strategies for dealing with challenging behaviour at work.

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