Having sat through plenty of training in my day, both as an observer and as a participant, I’ve come to realize that not all corporate trainers have a good sense of what makes for a good introduction. 🤔💼 Some introductions I have seen are far too brief, and some are far too long and drawn out. 😩⏰ Some that I have seen have been downright inappropriate! 😱❌
For example, I recently observed a seasoned corporate trainer deliver a twenty-five-minute introduction to share a little about themselves with the class before jumping into the content. I was blown away. This is way too long and completely unnecessary! 🤯🚫
What on earth do you talk about for twenty-five minutes when it comes to a simple introduction, I hear you ask? Well, they decided to dig deep into their past. We heard about divorces, we heard about health problems, we heard about a child that was a bit of a miscreant, and we heard about in-laws. We got the whole life story! 🙉📚 This is not a therapy session, friends!
I really couldn’t believe my ears. This is far too much information to share for a corporate training classroom. Not only does it have a high potential for making your participants feel uncomfortable, it also sets the expectation that your participants should be sharing similar intimate details about their lives. Not only that, it could also land you in the HR office. Do not take this approach! ❌🔒
Instead, make your introduction short and sweet. It should be somewhere between 1 – 3 minutes in length. You should share your name, relevant work history including certifications if necessary (I never do), maybe your title, some history with the company, any relevant information about you that makes you an authority on the training, and a personal item or two. 🙌💼✅
When you share personal information, stay away from things like health issues or family issues. No one cares; you’re only diminishing your authority by talking so openly about these topics. This is a moment that you need to keep things positive, hopefully, drum up a little excitement, some engagement, and set an appropriate tone for the session. 👍🔊💪
It doesn’t hurt to practice your intro a couple of times before you lock it in either. Everyone has a cellphone with a camera these days, so use it. Record your intro, listen back, and adjust as needed. It only takes a few minutes. 🎥🔁🕑
Jordon
